January 2024 Edition | Volume 78, Issue 1
Published since 1946
Agencies Asked to Help Complete Fish and Wildlife Agency Profiler
Since 1948, the Wildlife Management Institute (WMI) has compiled information on fish and wildlife agency organizational structures, their authorities, and their priority program areas about once every 10 years. The information provided a once-a-decade snapshot of how North American fish and wildlife agencies were shaped – and how they shaped the conservation landscape. Societal changes and their impacts on fish, wildlife, and habitats – and conservation agencies – are quickening. The diversity of agency responsibilities, authorities, and programs is evolving – and agencies and stakeholders need timely information to aid in local, regional, and national program and policy decisions.
A screen capture from the Outdoor Industry Profiler, illustrating one of the steps agencies will walk through to create their profile.
The once-a-decade, sit-on-the shelf paper report approach is history. WMI partnered with DJ Case and Associates (DJ Case & Associates) to create an electronic systematized Fish and Wildlife Agency Profiler that agencies can use to keep their information current, explore policies and programs in surrounding states or across the country, and better understand how they compare to other agencies. The Profiler also provides data visualization graphics for each question for ease of comparison across agencies.
The Profiler consists of about 120 questions that cover information about agency organization and administration, their commission or board, their regulatory authorities, and agency operations. It takes about 60 minutes to complete the initial agency profile, and in some agencies more than one staff member may need to log in to fully complete the profile. Updates will take considerably less time. Agency staff can only provide input on their agency.
A brief introduction can be viewed below. We are requesting that all state conservation agencies complete their profile before Wednesday, January 31, 2024.
Contact for this effort is Ann Forstchen