North America's conservation community readily acknowledges that climate change poses the greatest threat ever to fish and wildlife numbers and diversity and the ability to manage all natural resources effectively.

On Monday, March 22, 2010, as part of the 75^th North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference, a half-day workshop will be held to examine the major policy decisions and legislative actions related to climate change and natural resources conservation. "A Town Hall Meeting ? The Impacts of Climate Change Legislation on Natural Resources" will feature speakers and reports from the American Farm Bureau, the Department of the Interior, the Western Governors Association, the National Wildlife Federation and former U.S. Senator John Warner (unconfirmed). Speakers will present their views on the current climate change legislation and the long-term impacts of that legislation and public policy decisions that will guide resource conservation priorities over the next decades.

The workshop, coordinated by Douglas Inkley (inkley@nwf.org) of the National Wildlife Federation and John Cooper (jlcoop11@aol.com) on behalf of the Wildlife Management Institute, will conclude with a town hall forum format, including discussion among the speakers and the audience.??

A workshop at the 73^rd North American Conference, held?in Phoenix, Arizona in March 2008, identified the potential consequences to fish and wildlife habitats of climate change in the decades ahead. A 74^th North American Conference workshop, held in Arlington, Virginia in March 2009, examined the planning and actions needed by resource managers to contain or mitigate for negative, landscape-scale climate change impacts on large scale. The "town hall" workshop will take the first two workshop issues and actions to the next essential step for resource managers and agencies ? an open discussion of the major policies and legislative issues and actions that will impact natural resources and the funding priorities needed to deal effectively with climate change.

For additional information about the workshop, contact either of the coordinators. The Wildlife Management Institute Web site contains more and periodically updated information about the 75^th North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference.