April 2016

David Nomsen, Pheasant?s Forever?s current South Dakota regional office Director, was awarded the Wildlife Management Institute?s (WMI) 2016 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 81st North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The award, established in honor of the acknowledged ?Father of American Conservation? ? George Bird Grinnell ? is WMI?s highest honor for individual contribution...

On April 4, 2016 U. S. District Court Judge Dana Christiansen vacated the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) withdrawal of the proposed listing of wolverine as a threatened species, reports the Wildlife Management Institute. The ruling has a number of significant implications to broader application of the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

The FWS initially proposed to list wolverine in 2010 due primarily to the anticipated impact of climate change on snow cover. Wolverines are believed to require deep, persistent snow cover during the denning season for successful...

The Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (SEAFWA) recently announced the projects that would be funded through the first year of funding for the Southeast At-Risk Species (SEARS) Program. SEAFWA states are working together through the SEARS program because the issues facing many at-risk species cannot be meaningfully addressed by individual states. Initial projects will focus on targeting information gaps and developing information synthesis/analyses.

The SEARS Program was created to implement the SEAFWA Species Action Plan developed by their Wildlife Diversity...

David Nomsen, Pheasant's Forever's current South Dakota regional office Director, was awarded the Wildlife Management Institute's (WMI) 2016 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 81st North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

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

The 82nd North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference will be held at the Davenport Grand Hotel in Spokane, Washington, on March 4-11, 2017. The Conference Steering Committee is seeking ideas and participation from professional conservation interests to help develop the conference agenda. In particular, recommendations for topics, potential co-chairs and presenters for four Special Sessions are invited. Ideas for prospective plenary keynote speakers are also welcome.

Special Session topics address timely policy and program issues and opportunities related to the...

The USGS Virginia Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit recently examined the landscape processes that influence river flooding to better understand the circumstances under which watersheds regulate flooding, as well as the prospects for managing floods by manipulating landscape structure. Led by Beatriz (Tiz) Mogoll?n, in collaboration with Drs. Paul Angermeier, Emmanuel Frimpong, and Amy Villamagna (all in the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation at Virginia Tech University), the analysis focused on approximately 30 watersheds distributed across Virginia...