The Wildlife Management Institute is pleased to announce that U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne and best-selling author Richard Louv will provide keynote remarks at the Opening Session of the 72nd North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference next month in Portland, Oregon. The opening session will take place Wednesday, March 21, from 8:30-9:45 a.m., in the Grand Ballroom of the Hilton Portland and Executive Tower.

Secretary Kempthorne was appointed to the Cabinet by President Bush. He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate and took the oath of office at the end of May last year. He succeeded former Secretary Gail Norton, who said her farewell at the 71st North American last March in Columbus, Ohio.

Secretary Kempthorne was Mayor of the City of Boise, Idaho, for seven years, prior to a six-year term in the U.S. Senate. He then served for two terms as the Governor of Idaho. He obviously has a wealth of experience dealing with political, social and resource issues at many levels of government. The Opening Session theme is "Plotting the Course of Conservation: Where It's Been and Where It's Going." The Secretary is expected to address his vision of prevailing conservation priorities and his vision for the future of conservation in the U.S. and North America.

Richard Louv is Chairman of the Children & Nature Network. He also is the author of seven books about family, nature and community. His most recent book, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-deficit Disorder, is a best seller. More than that, it is profoundly insightful about a pervasive and on-going disconnect of children and nature. Richard will discuss the empirical and scientific evidence of societal pressures that shelter children from the out of doors. He will broach the cognitive, social and health issues that result, and he will offer some practical suggestions to a "Leave No Child Inside" movement.

A book signing by Richard is being planned for Wednesday afternoon. Information on that event will be posted near the Conference registration desk.

For more information about the 72nd North American Conference, go to: www.wildlifemanagementinstitute.org.