The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) released a final rule on September 11 that will allow two new types of take permits under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, reports the Wildlife Management Institute. The new rules will allow limited incidental "take" or disturbance of eagles through public safety activities or other development projects. The take permits will only be granted if they will not impact the FWS' goal of maintaining or increasing eagle populations; deliberate killing of eagles is not authorized under either new permit type.

On September 1, the Idaho Fish and Game Department opened the first legal wolf hunt since the animal was removed from the Endangered Species Act (ESA) last spring, reports the Wildlife Management Institute. Four wolves were killed in the Lolo and Sawtooth wolf-management zones in the first days of the Idaho hunt. The Idaho hunt opened despite a pending decision on a request for an injunction to stop the hunts. The judge on the case ruled late in the day on September 8 that the hunts would not irreparably harm the wolf populations in the two states.

A complete list of speakers and presentation abstracts from the 3^rd International Chronic Wasting Disease Symposium held from July 22-24, 2009 in Park City, Utah, are available online at the Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance website. The document can be downloaded in PDF format.

Legislation that would restore the authority of the Wisconsin Natural Resource Board (NRB) to appoint the Secretary of the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) recently moved closer to being enacted. ?Concurrent bills, Senate Bill 113 passed the Committee on Transportation, Tourism, Forestry and Natural Resources by a vote of 5 to 2 and Assembly Bill 138 passed the Committee on Natural Resources by a vote of 10 to 4. They both would authorize the seven-member NRB to appoint the Secretary of the DNR to a four year term.

Lost for a time in Cyberspace, the Transactions of the 73^rd North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference has been recovered and can be obtained as a PDF at the WMI Store. This Transactions contains plenary, special session and workshop presentations at the 2008 North American Conference, which was held in March of that year, in Phoenix, Arizona.

Most books worth reading don't start out scatologically, but this one does. Even so, Steve Rinella's American Buffalo: In Search of a Lost Icon (2008) is enlightening and entertaining. It combines natural history and adventure,?presented in an altogether engaging style that had me riveted, just as did the author's first book, The Scavenger's Guide to Haute Cuisine (ONB June 2006).