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 81^st North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference will elaborate on a set of ideas drawn from public trust thinking and good governance that should provide a solid foundation for ensuring relevance and ultimately support of wildlife conservation. Titled "Wildlife Governance Principles ? Guidance for More Effective Wildlife Management," this is one of four concurrent Special Sessions to be held on Wednesday, March 16, 2016 from 10:00am-12:00pm at the Wyndham Grand Hotel in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Most in the profession know the bottom line: wildlife conservation is losing ground. Despite restoring several high-profile species (particularly "game" animals) to abundance following decimation in the late 1800s and saving other endangered species from extinction, over 685 animal species are now listed as "threatened" or "endangered" under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Hundreds of other species are candidates for listing. Habitat is being converted to developed land faster than agencies and NGOs can conserve it, and the public is increasingly disconnected from nature. It's not a pretty picture.

Among the many things critically needed to improve this situation is a shift in the primary focus of the wildlife conservation institution (i.e., the entirety of customs, practices, organizations and agencies, policies and laws with respect to wildlife). Priorities must move from an emphasis on harvested or imperiled species and a limited set of interests to a new management paradigm that addresses all species and engages the interests and participation of a broader public. While some steps have been taken toward instigating this shift (e.g., State Wildlife Grants, Landscape Conservation Cooperatives), progress can be boosted through an overarching set of guiding principles adequate to promote conservation of all species for all citizens.

Previous North American conferences have included workshops and special sessions that explored incentives and challenges for agency transformation, discussed ways to communicate relevancy of wildlife conservation, examined societal trends that change what "relevance" means, and demonstrated the ways agencies have addressed their public trust responsibilities. This year's session, Wildlife Governance Principles ? Guidance for More Effective Wildlife Management, co-chaired by Dan Decker (Cornell University), Ann Forstchen (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission), and Chris Smith (Wildlife Management Institute), will describe a set of 10 wildlife governance principles fashioned from the combination of public trust thinking and good governance norms. These principles will be examined for their potential to guide advancement of an effective paradigm that secures broad support for wildlife conservation.

Speakers will discuss the extent to which the principles offer a framework for the wildlife conservation institution with respect to behaviors, processes and decision making that will result in a more focused, cohesive and informed institution that can elevate the importance of wildlife conservation to all public trust beneficiaries. Speakers will provide the background and genesis of the wildlife governance principles. They will explain how applications of these principles can help government agencies fulfill their public trust obligations. Speakers will also provide practical considerations for successful application of the wildlife governance principles by a state agency and its partners, as well as share ideas about how limitations to application of the principles might be overcome. Finally, presenters will offer suggestions on how to encourage adoption and diffusion of the wildlife governance principles, with an eye toward promoting a paradigm of wildlife management that engenders broad public support.