April 2015

In the arid southwestern United States and northern Mexico, riparian corridors have long served as key wildlife habitat. The wetlands and naturally sub-irrigated uplands adjacent to rivers and streams provide vital food, water, and cover for hundreds of species of breeding and migratory birds. However, these corridors were also the most attractive for development leading to significant loss of riparian habitat. New research coordinated through the Gulf Coast Prairie Landscape Conservation Cooperative (GCP LCC) evaluated efforts to restore riparian corridors and the implications for native...

In addition to providing power to 4.4 million customers throughout their service area (the southeastern United States), the Southern Company puts their money where it counts when it comes to conservation. Their primary stewardship focus is on building collaborative partnerships to conserve habitat, protect wildlife, and educate children, among other services. At their most recent Stewardship Partners meeting this spring in Pensacola Beach, Florida, the Southern Company and their partners discussed the challenges and opportunities of several conservation issues in the southeast, according...

A significant loss of grassland habitat has been documented recently, likely as a result of high agricultural commodity prices. A study recently released by the University of Wisconsin indicates that 7.3 million acres of non-cropland was converted to cropland in the conterminous United States from 2008 to 2012, reports the Wildlife Management Institute. Slightly over 5.6 million (77 percent) of those acres were grasslands prior to conversion. That total includes 1.6 million acres of native prairie lands. These losses were offset somewhat by the retirement of 4.36 million acres of croplands...

Gordon Batcheller, Chief Wildlife Biologist for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) was honored with the Wildlife Management Institute's (WMI) 2015 George Bird Grinnell Memorial Award for Distinguished Service to Natural Resource Conservation. The award was conferred last month during the annual Conservation Administrators Luncheon at the 80th North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference in Omaha, Nebraska.

The award, established in honor of the acknowledged "Father of American Conservation" - George Bird Grinnell - is WMI's highest honor...