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.

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.

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.

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.

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.