On July 2, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced the release of the final environmental impact statement for two wind farms that could have the combined generating capacity of approximately 2,500 megawatts.

In late June, the U.S. Senate passed its version of the 2012 Farm Bill by a vote of 64 to 35, according to the Wildlife Management Institute. It is projected that this legislation would save about $23 billion over the next 10 years when compared to the 2008 Farm Bill. About $6 billion of that savings will come largely by consolidating 23 conservation programs into 13.

President Obama signed into law a surface transportation authorization bill, the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21^st Century (MAP-21) Act, on July 6 after frenzied last days of negotiations from the House and Senate conference committee.

The Program Committee for the 2013 North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference has announced the event's line-up of four concurrent Special Sessions scheduled to follow the Plenary Session on Wednesday, March 27.

In coordination with the Program Committee, Special Session co-chairs have drafted brief descriptions of the session topics. Persons?interested in presenting at one of these Special Sessions?are welcome to contact the appropriate co-chairs, and should do so as soon as possible.