February 2014

After more than two years of negotiating and over a year of extending the 2008 Farm Bill, on February 7 the President signed into law a new Farm Bill, according to the Wildlife Management Institute. Led by Agriculture Committee Chairs Senator Debbie Stabenow and Congressman Frank Lucas, and Ranking Members Senator Thad Cochran and Congressman Collin Peterson, the four principal negotiators of the 2014 Farm Bill, the new law is largely seen as a victory for conservation.

"This bill includes proactive and common sense conservation programs that will help deter wetland and other...

The Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative (GPLCC) is using focus groups of private landowners to identify ways to enhance conservation of playas in Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado Nebraska and New Mexico. The GPLCC hopes that by engaging private landowners in discussions about their views of current playa conservation programs, they can make the programs more attractive and effective.

Playas, sometimes referred to as playa "lakes" are naturally occurring, seasonal wetlands that form in shallow depressions in the southern Great Plains. Typically, playas have no inlet...

Everything that goes into the term "conservation" within the specific context of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation is becoming more and more abstract to the general public. Many are detached, set apart, non-participatory members of a club most do not pay dues to, and many do not see themselves as directly impacted by or capable of influencing tangible outcomes to what they understand as "conservation." A Special Session at the 79th North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference will highlight some of the actions needed to unify the meaning, importance, and...

For 50 years, the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) has been a one of the most effective tools for federal and state natural resource agencies to conserve valuable habitat and provide outdoor recreation opportunities. But the program has rarely been funded at the full $900 million that it is supposed to receive and detractors argue that the program is no longer a good use of federal funds. On Wednesday March 12 at 10 am, a Special Session at the 79th North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference will take a hard look at the LWCF and examine its potential to meet the needs...

A workshop at the upcoming 79th North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference will bring together new and existing partners in urban wildlife conservation. Titled "Wildlife Conservation in Cities and Suburbs: Western Approaches," the session will take place from 8:30 am to noon on Tuesday, March 11th at the Sheraton Downtown in Denver, Colorado.

For many land managers, the topic of urban wildlife management may bring to mind issues of habitat loss or human-wildlife conflict from the wildland-urban interface (WUI). The importance of conserving wildlife habitat...

During the spring and summer, the brightly colored Golden-winged Warbler (Vermivora chrysoptera) inhabits forested landscapes in the Appalachian Mountains, the Great Lakes region, and adjacent southern Canada. Golden-winged warblers breed in forests comprised of a mix of young and more mature stands, old fields, shrubby wetlands, and disturbed areas where forests are regenerating, such as along powerline rights-of-way and small forest openings. They are closely related to Blue-winged Warblers (Vermivora pinus) and where the two species come in contact on their breeding...