The mid-term elections of November 2 coupled with retirements of long-term U.S. House of Representatives and Senate members will bring a very different look to the next Congress, reports the Wildlife Management Institute. According to so-called "casualty lists" assessing the members who lost reelection bids, moved on to different office or retired, more than 20 percent of House members and 17 percent of Senate members will be new faces. This high turnover rate will have implications on natural resource related policy issues for the 112th Congress.

Just days before Hallow Eve last month, the University Press of Colorado released a new and improved version of the Wildlife Management Institute's award-winning book Prairie Ghost: Pronghorn and Human Interaction in Early America. ?First released in 2004 and recipient of The Wildlife Society's Outstanding Book Award for 2005, Prairie Ghost is new because it now is in soft cover;? it is improved because it costs much less than it did originally.

Despite the political sea change that occurred during this month's mid-term elections, voters supported ballot initiatives impacting conservation and hunting and fishing, reports the Wildlife Management Institute. Nationwide, conservation initiatives passed, which will generate more than $2 billion dollars for land conservation and parks. Major statewide initiatives in Oregon, Iowa (see "Iowa Voters Go Proactive for Funding Conservation" in this ONB issue) and Maine won by margins of 20 points or greater.

The Transactions of the 75th North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference is now available in electronic .pdf format from the WMI Store. The volume includes plenary keynote addresses by Steven Williams, Daniel Ashe and Curt Meine. Also included are papers from presentations at the event's four Special Sessions:?

On November 2, Iowa voters easily passed the Water and Land Legacy Amendment, to fund future conservation efforts in the state, according to the Wildlife Management Institute. Sixty-two percent of the voters supported the proposal. By state constitutional amendment, the measure creates the Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund.

The Board of Directors of the Council to Advance Hunting and the Shooting Sports is actively searching for a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to coordinate and conduct the select advisory group's business,? reports the Wildlife Management Institute.