Conservation Plan for Spruce Grouse Published After more than three years of work, scientists have published the Continental Conservation Plan for Spruce Grouse, reports the Wildlife Management Institute. The plan resulted from a collaboration of spruce grouse researchers and managers, the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies Resident Game Bird Working Group, Wildlife Management Institute, and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. Spruce grouse occupy forests dominated by short-needled conifers ranging from Alaska to Labrador and south into New England, the Upper Great... Read The Article
74th Conference Special Session #2 Examines Universities? Conservation Curricula Are universities adequately preparing the next generation of wildlife professionals? Do today's students get enough hands-on field exposure or is their education too theory focused? How has the academic preparation of natural resource management professionals changed over the years and is it headed in the right direction? If it is not headed in the right direction, what should be done to change it? These and other questions will be addressed in Special Session #2 - The Coursework of Conservation: Are University Curricula on Target - at the 74th North American Wildlife... Read The Article
Missouri Scores Second Major Success for Bobwhite Restoration Missouri's determined efforts to implement the Northern Bobwhite Conservation Initiative (NBCI) have paid off again, reports the Wildlife Management Institute (WMI). On the heels of the first official NBCI success in Scott County, Missouri, the nation's second success story has been documented in Cass County, just south of Kansas City. Cass County has surpassed its NBCI habitat-improvement objectives by nearly 2,000 acres. Immediately after publication of the NBCI in 2002, the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) set a county-level objective of 13,420 acres of restored... Read The Article
Wildlife Management Short Course Offered During the week of March 30-April 3, 2009, Colorado State University will again offer the annual Wildlife Management Short Course mainly for laypersons and agency personnel without wildlife training. The five-day short course, limited to 50 participants, is designed to provide an overview of principles of wildlife (including fisheries) ecology and management. Current programs and issues related to natural resources conservation also will be discussed. The short course consists of presentations by university faculty and personnel from various agencies and organizations. Field... Read The Article
Fast Buck for Fragmented Forests May Mean Fewer Bucks Changes of ownership of large tracts of industrial forestlands have been quietly underway in the United States during the past several decades. This has resulted, just as quietly, in reduced wildlife management capability and public recreational opportunities on those lands, according to the Wildlife Management Institute. This situation is being driven by escalating land values and changes in the tax code, which provide substantial economic incentives for the timber industry to convert ownership of their land holdings to real estate investment trusts (REITs) or sell them outright... Read The Article
74th North American Conference Exhibit Agencies, organizations, businesses and individuals interested in gaining exposure for their conservation programs, projects, products and other outputs are invited to apply to exhibit at the 74th North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference. The Conference will be held March 16-21, 2009, at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Virginia. Exhibitors will be able to display from March 18-20 in high-traffic walkways and close proximity to primary meeting rooms. Spaces for tabletop and free-standing exhibits are limited, so requests will be considered on a first-... Read The Article
Federal Agreement on Bighorns Draws Ire of Western States The Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA) charges that the U.S. Forest Service and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) quietly penned a draft Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) this fall that would usurp state wildlife management authority, according to a December 1 letter WAFWA sent to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), reports the Wildlife Management Institute. The draft agreement between the two federal agencies would require all bighorn sheep that are reintroduced or translocated onto national forest lands to be tested for disease by APHIS... Read The Article
