May 2009

The Obama Administration is making changes to regulations finalized in the waning days of the Bush Administration, officially reinstating the Endangered Species Act (ESA) consultation process and formally reviewing a mountaintop-mining regulation, reports the Wildlife Management Institute. On April 28, Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Department of Commerce Secretary Gary Locke announced that they would toss out the controversial changes to the ESA.

The day before, Salazar announced his move to reverse a rule affecting mountaintop mining near water bodies....

As fiscal budgets for land and resource conservation are tightening, the USDA's Office of Ecosystem Services and Markets (OESM) is gearing up to develop strategies that will increase and diversify funding sources for land management by linking economic markets with ecological systems, reports the Wildlife Management Institute.

Formed in the waning weeks of the Bush administration, the OESM has spent the past several months refining its mission outlined in Section 2709 of the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 to "establish technical guidelines that outline science based...

Funding for the Open Fields program authorized in the 2008 Farm Bill is proposed to be terminated in the administration's fiscal year 2010 budget, according to the Wildlife Management Institute.

Language in last year's Farm Bill authorized a $3 per acre additional payment on lands enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program if the lands were opened to public hunting. The Obama administration has reasoned that, because many states pay landowners to open their lands for hunting access, the additional federal payments would simply provide more funds to landowners already enrolled...

Speaking during the March 18 Plenary Session of the 74th North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack touted a plan to create both mitigation and adaptation strategies to address the impacts of climate change. Vilsack stated that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) would work internally across agencies as well as with the Department of the Interior, state, local and tribal governments, and the conservation community to create a vision that would enhance activities for natural resource conservation. The Secretary announced that he...

Legislation aimed at fostering new bird joint ventures and strengthening existing ventures has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives, reports the Wildlife Management Institute. Congressman Frank Kratovil of Maryland introduced The Joint Ventures for Bird Habitat Conservation Act (HR 2188). It has 3 additional cosponsors. The measure has been referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.

The bill is intended to promote sustainable populations of migratory birds by encouraging public and private partnerships to improve and support science-based migratory bird...