The steering committee for the 73rd North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference, which will be held March 25-29, 2008, in Phoenix, Arizona, announced the three Special Sessions that will follow the event's Opening (plenary) Session. The plenary will take place from 8:00-9:30 a.m., Wednesday, March 26. The Special Sessions, which will run concurrently from 9:45 a.m. to 12:00 noon, are:

Covert Operations: Hatching the Game Bird Plans

Chair: Dan Dessecker (rgsdess@chibardun.net)

Seven hearings on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) proposal to delist the Northern Rocky Mountain population (NRM) of gray wolves have concluded, reports the Wildlife Management Institute. All opportunity for public comments ended May 9.

The Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) Alliance and National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) Wildlife Disease Information Node have recently completed an exhaustive on-line bibliography of CWD-related research literature, citations and full-text articles, reports the Wildlife Management Institute.

An excellent, new publication dealing with urban coyotes is now available, reports the Wildlife Management Institute. Urban Coyote Ecology and Management-The Cook County, Illinois, Coyote Project documents research with radio-collared coyotes in Chicago and its suburbs by Dr. Stanley Gehrt of Ohio State University (OSU) and his graduate students.

In the wee hours of May 1, wee Owen Charles Dunfee was born to parents Kayte and Matt (WMI Conservation Project Specialist), in Annapolis, Maryland. The happy and fatigued couple is delighted with their healthy and rapidly growing son/puggle.

Gumption, grit and greed accomplished Manifest Destiny and the transcontinental railroad secured it. A number of wonderful books have been written about the Golden Age of Steam and the men (robber barons and buccaneers) whose vision, brazenness, cunning and ruthlessness enabled "the true alchemy of the age, which transmuted the otherwise useless resources of a country into gold." Hear that Lonesome Whistle Blow (1977) by Dee Brown is one such work.

It has been said that "the only thing constant is change." We at the Wildlife Management Institute (WMI) are experiencing that truism firsthand. As reported in last month's "Outdoor News Bulletin," WMI is entering a new era. Although it has undergone a number of name changes since its inception in 1911, its mission has remained consistent. The biggest differences between the previous WMI and its new status are the source of funding for operation and administrative affairs and the composition of the Board of Directors.