June 2026

When I started out as a field biologist, my world was the practice of conservation. It was measured in radio collars and transect lines, in trap sites checked before dawn and data sheets filled in by headlamp. What mattered to me most was what I did on the ground, day after day. Policy was something that happened in a building far away and one that I rarely entered, written by people I seldom if ever met.

With Gratitude, as She Retires from the Wildlife Management Institute

After more than three decades devoted to fish and wildlife conservation, Ann Forstchen retired from the Wildlife Management Institute at the end of May. Ann joined WMI in January 2022 as our first, and to date only, Relevancy Specialist, a role she did not so much fill as define. The combination of talents she brought to it is genuinely rare, and the space she leaves behind will not be easily filled.

The Wildlife Management Institute (WMI) and its partners have created a forum to create a refined set of Foundational Elements of Fish and Wildlife Conservation that is current and forward-looking. The questionnaire seeks to gain insights from practitioners, policymakers, and academics about policy items to include in a future list of Foundational Elements. With over 1,200 responses already received and professional societies recently sending a request for more input, WMI has extended the questionnaire deadline to July 1.

The 92nd North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference will be held March 22-26, 2027, at the Hilton Omaha in Omaha, Nebraska. The Conference Steering Committee is seeking ideas and participation from professional conservation interests to help develop the conference agenda. In particular, proposals for the four conference Special Sessions are invited. Ideas for prospective plenary keynote speakers are also welcome.