Several controversial regulations are being finalized during the waning weeks of the Bush Administration, making sweeping changes that the new Congress and Administration are vowing to try and stop, reports the Wildlife Management Institute. While the regulations are touching various areas including health care and traffic safety, those that impact natural resources and the environment seem to be most numerous.

In particular, rules that impact Endangered Species Act (ESA) consultation, mountaintop mining and oil shale development are raising substantial concerns.

Wildlife biologist, hunter, trapper, conservationist and former Habitat Specialist at Purdue University, Dr. Zachary E. Lowe has been hired as the National Coordinator for the Conservation Leaders for Tomorrow (CLfT) program. Zach will assume his new post as of February 1.

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CLfT, now in its fifth year, is a program to acquaint nonhunting, upper class and graduate university students in natural resource disciplines with the roles and values of recreational hunting.

The Senate this week held confirmation hearings for President-elect Obama's choices for cabinet positions, including those managing departments impacting wildlife and natural resource conservation. In mid-December, Obama announced his selection of Senator Ken Salazar from Colorado as his nominee for Secretary of the Interior and former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack as his nominee for Secretary of Agriculture.

Both appointees are seen as moderates, with histories of negotiating common-sense resolution to land-management conflicts, reports the Wildlife Management Institute.

The future of thousands of acres of virgin prairie hangs in the balance as the governors of five midwestern states determine the rules for participation in U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) farm programs in the Prairie Pothole Region of the country, reports the Wildlife Management Institute.

Kentucky is raising the ante among states in the growing movement to implement the Northern Bobwhite Conservation Initiative (NBCI). The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources (KDFWR) already has established itself as a national leader in working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, landowners and other partners to promote extensive native grassland habitat restoration on private lands, according to the Wildlife Management Institute.

"Mixed Messages: Media and the Environment" is the topic of Special Session 3 at the 74th North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference. Concurrent with three other special sessions, it will be held from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon, Wednesday, March 18, 2009, at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Virginia. Four presenters will focus on the role that traditional and new media play in the conservation community.

Negotiations have been completed for the 77th North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference to be held March 13-17, 2012, in Atlanta, Georgia. This premiere annual gathering of the continent's foremost natural resource management administrators, managers, researchers, educators and conservation activists will be headquartered at the Hilton Atlanta, considered to be Atlanta's "Best In-house Meeting Hotel."

Registration is now open for the 3rd International Chronic Wasting Disease Symposium, reports the Wildlife Management Institute. Titled "CWD ? Advancing the Science and Developing the Tools," the symposium will be held on July 22-24, 2009, at the Marriott Hotel and Conference Center in Park City, Utah.

Symposium attendees can register via a website developed by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (UDWR) in cooperation with the Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance.

Aside from a personal connection to It's a Long Way from Llano: The Journey of a Wildlife Biologist, I was enthralled by its autobiographical content. It was authored by friend, colleague and wildlife conservation hero, Dr. James G. Teer. Jim not only is a world-class biologist, but he tells a really good story.