The steering committee for the 73rd North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference has added a fourth Special Session. That Special Session will take place concurrently with the three others previously announced, on Wednesday, March 26, 2008, from 9:45 a.m. to 12:00 noon, at the Hyatt Regency Phoenix in Phoenix, Arizona.

The fourth Special Session is:

Conservation Partnerships: Effective Military Natural Resources Conservation

Chair: Chris Eberly (ceberly@dodpif.org); Cochair: Steve Helfert

Abstract: In the overlay of conservation missions in North America and in the United States in particular, the Armed Forces represent a significant partnership opportunity. The military manages a vast and incredibly diverse natural resource base, in addition to training troops for national defense. The Department of Defense (DoD) Legacy Program and its workshops on State Wildlife Action Plans and military installation Integrated Natural Resources Management Plans (INRMPs) have launched effective conservation partnerships in the Southwest. Projects are being carried out by partnership teams focusing on State Wildlife Action Plans, INRMPs, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) mission facets of conservation at the landscape level. This Special Session will highlight how these sorts of projects can succeed in ways not possible in the absence of partners. Administrators of state fish and wildlife agencies, military installations and the FWS will offer perspectives on these effective conservation partnerships. Presentations will be followed by a facilitated discussion and open Q&A.

The previously listed other Special Sessions for the 73rd North American Conference, and their chairs and cochairs, are:

• Covert Operations: Hatching the Game Bird Plans
  Chair: Dan Dessecker; Cochair: Breck Carmichael
• Mitigation: Brokering, Bargaining and Bartering Natural Resources
  Chair: Steve Thompson; Cochair: Joanna Prukop
• Access: The Foundation of a Successful Natural Resource Model
  Chair: Randy Kreil; Cochair: Rebecca Humphries

Abstracts for the above three Special Session can be found at www.wildlifemanagementinstitute.org.