March 2012

The 78th?North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference will be held March 24-29, 2013, in Arlington, Virginia.?The Conference Steering Committee is seeking ideas and participation from professional conservation interests to help develop the conference agenda. In particular, recommendations for topics, potential co-chairs and presenters for four Special Sessions are invited. Ideas for prospective plenary keynoters are also welcome.

Special Sessions topics address timely policy and program issues and opportunities related to the practical and philosophical professional...

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) staff recently conducted a two-day workshop to explore the public trust doctrine (PTD) and what it means to the agency. The Public Trust Doctrine is the principle that wildlife resources are owned by no one and are to be held in trust by government for the benefit of present and future generations. It is one of the keystones of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation.

According to workshop organizer Ann Forstchen, FWC Human Dimensions Coordinator, one objective of the workshop was to create a common understanding...

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and Ducks Unlimited announced in early March they will work with the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission to increase habitat protection resources in the Prairie Pothole Region of the northern plains, reports the Wildlife Management Institute. The northern prairies are known to produce between 50 and 70 percent of the continent's waterfowl but are threatened by conversion of native grasslands and isolated wetlands to expanding agriculture.

"The Prairie Pothole Region is vital to waterfowl and other migratory birds in North America. At...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently announced that it is launching a new initiative within the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) to enroll a million acres of grassland and wetland habitats, according to the Wildlife Management Institute. With full enrollment, the initiative will secure 200,000 acres of wetlands, restore 700,000 acres of grasslands and create 100,000 acres of habitat for pollinators.

Currently there are about 30 million acres enrolled in CRP across the country. Contracts on about 6.5 million of those acres will expire on September 30. ?Many...

On March 2, the Department of the Interior hosted the White House Conference on Conservation ? Growing America's Outdoor Heritage and Economy. The conference is part of the administration's America's Great Outdoors initiative and its goal was to strengthen partnerships and identify next steps in advancing community-driven conservation and outdoor recreation. In addition, the conference served as a platform for the Administration to spotlight a number of announcements it made during the week supporting land, water and wildlife conservation, reports the Wildlife Management Institute...