81st North American Conference Special Session Examines Principles for a Secure Future for Wildlife Management Sustaining and, better yet, growing public support for wildlife management is a high priority on state and national wildlife conservation agendas. Without such support, nothing of much significance is likely to happen; with it, much is possible. Yet how do we grow public support for state wildlife agencies? The answer starts with fundamentals of the approach taken to public wildlife resource governance. A Special Session at the 81st North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference will elaborate on a set of ideas drawn from public trust thinking and good governance that should... Read The Article
CRP General Sign-Up Opens The 46th general sign-up for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is underway. The enrollment period opened on December 1st and will continue until February 26th of 2016, according to the Wildlife Management Institute. This year also marks the 30th anniversary of the program. Enrollment in CRP peaked in 2007 with 36.8 million acres. In the 2014 Farm Bill, Congress downsized the program by nearly one-third to 24 million acres by 2017. Current enrollment in the program is between 23 and 24 million acres with contracts on another 1.6 million acres due to expire next... Read The Article
WMI Landscapes National Academy of Sciences Releases Review of Landscape Conservation Cooperatives The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) released its Review of the Landscape Conservation Cooperatives on December 3. The report concludes that a landscape approach is needed to meet the nation's conservation challenges and that the Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs) provide a framework for addressing that need. The report was conducted at the request of Congress. The Academy's recommendations will further help each agency and... Read The Article
USDA Announces New Initiative for Monarchs The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently announced a new conservation effort to help agricultural producers provide food and habitat for monarch butterflies in the Midwest and southern Great Plains. A targeted 10-state effort by USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will invest $4 million in 2016 to help combat their long-term and steady decline. "Today, the iconic monarch butterfly is under pressure. Habitat... Read The Article
USGS Cooperative Research Unit Corner Rating Fish Habitat Impairment in Our Nation?s Reservoirs The U.S. Geological Survey Mississippi Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit surveyed habitat impairment in U.S. reservoirs and developed a tool for rating reservoirs relative to fish habitat status. The habitat ratings provide a measure of the overall habitat impairment status of a reservoir and can be used for rapid assessment and for comparing reservoirs. The ratings provide a method to quickly identify high-quality reservoirs for protection and degraded reservoirs for rehabilitation. Comparison of ratings among reservoirs facilitates prioritization of restoration activities.... Read The Article