Welcome to the 82^nd North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference here in Spokane, Washington. I thank you all for participating and offer special thanks to our state agencies, federal agencies, non-governmental organizations, businesses, industries, and exhibitors for your financial support to help make this conference successful. In addition, WMI thanks all the special session chairs, workshop chairs, and the speakers, for addressing some of the most pressing conservation challenges facing our nation. Finally, thank you Jim Unsworth for your welcome to the great state of Washington.

Congress is working through negotiations on FY2017 federal spending bills with the goal of developing an omnibus appropriations bill next month. Government agencies are currently operating under a continuing resolution passed in December that maintains spending levels authorized in the FY2016 budget. The continuing resolution will expire on April 28, and members of Congress are working to develop the short-term omnibus bill to fund the final six months of the fiscal year. On March 8, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the FY 2017 Defense spending bill and many members are anticipating that it will serve as the vehicle for the other appropriations bills. Many members of Congress believe that much of the legwork for FY2017 funding has been done, and negotiations on an omnibus appropriations bill should move forward smoothly. However, omnibus bills can present an opportunity for policy ?riders? or major program funding changes to be made since there is limited time for detailed review of the provisions.

The American marten, Bicknell?s thrush, Canada warbler, rusty blackbird, scarlet tanager and wood thrush ? six beleaguered northeastern forest animals ? should get a boost from a new series of publications explaining how best to create and manage habitat for them.

The Regional Conservation Needs (RCN) Grants Program funded project, Developing a coordinated research approach for hellbender conservation in the northeast, was completed in late 2016. The goals of the project were to better document hellbender distribution in the Northeast using environmental DNA (eDNA) surveys and to develop a communication framework and standardized methodologies to coordinate conservation efforts throughout the region. The final report as well as eDNA and egg rearing protocol are now available on the RCN project page.

Each year, nearly 600 graduate students participate in natural resource education and training through the Cooperative Research Unit Program (CRU). Research directed by CRU scientists assists the next generation of professionals to emerge from the CRU Program prepared to be effective members of the natural resource workforce.