Representative Norman Dicks, Chair of the House of Representatives' Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, called for a $15 million boost to funding levels for the National Wildlife Refuge System (System) at a subcommittee hearing in late February. The proposed fiscal year (FY) 2009 budget for the System is $434 million, which is equivalent to the current funding levels. With that budget, the U.S.

The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled in February against the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in a lawsuit aimed at reducing mortality to migratory birds caused by communication towers. The case focused on a permitting without public involvement or environmental review of 6,000 new cell towers along the Gulf Coast, reports the Wildlife Management Institute. At issue to the American Bird Conservancy and Forest Conservation Council, who brought the suit against the agency, are the millions of birds killed by towers every year.

As negotiations continue on a new Farm Bill and as the deadline on an extension of the 2002 legislation loomed, Congress passed a second extension of the current law. The first extension of the 2002 Farm Bill was due to expire on March 15. The new extension keeps the 2002 bill in place until April 18, reports the Wildlife Management Institute. The 2002 Farm Bill originally expired on September 30, 2007.

In late April, Opening and Special Session topics, chairs and speakers will be considered for the 74th North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference. The 74th Conference will be held March 16-21, 2009, at the Marriott Crystal Gateway in Arlington, Virginia. Conference steering committee chair Dick McCabe, Wildlife Management Institute, invites program recommendations from the professional community.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and its Farm Service Agency (FSA) have recently approved an additional 45 wildlife-specific conservation projects on more than 250,000 acres under the new State Acres For Wildlife Enhancement (SAFE) practice in the Farm Bill's Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), reports the Wildlife Management Institute.

I am not a big fan of books about game wardens (aka conservation officers, federal agents, woods cops). Most of the fiction works I've read (and a fair number, strangely enough) feature too little plot development and too much thesaurus. The nonfiction treatments, mostly autobiographical, tend to be flurries of anecdotes, with a Joseph Wambaugh-wannabe style to them, but absent Wambaugh's sneaky and wholly effective gambit of avoiding the first-person.

Scheduled to speak at the Opening Session of the 73rd North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference are Secretary of Agriculture Edward T. Schafer and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director H. Dale Hall.

The apparent first-in-the-nation accomplishment of formal habitat restoration objectives for the Northern Bobwhite Conservation Initiative (NBCI) was achieved in 2007 in the lowlands of southeastern Missouri, reports the Wildlife Management Institute.

As economic and environmental impacts of crop-based biofuels are clarified, a case can be made that the costs of this approach to address rising energy demand might exceed the benefits, reports the Wildlife Management Institute. Even President George W. Bush, an ardent supporter of biofuels, acknowledged in a recent speech at the International Renewable Energy Conference that, "The high price of corn is beginning to affect the price of food."

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced in late February that it plans to remove gray wolves in the Northern Rocky Mountains from the Endangered Species List, reports the Wildlife Management Institute. The announcement was posted in the Federal Register on February 21, with anticipation of finalization 30 days later.