October 2015

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) recent decision not to list the range-wide population of greater sage-grouse for protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) is the culmination of one of the most challenging and politically contentious issues in the history of wildlife management. In my opinion, having served as director of the FWS under President George W. Bush and having worked as wildlife biologist for more than 30 years, the work set in motion to benefit sage grouse represents the greatest landscape-scale conservation effort undertaken in modern times...

The Program Committee for the 2016 North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference has announced the event's line-up of four concurrent Special Sessions scheduled to follow the Plenary Session on Wednesday, March 16.

In coordination with the Program Committee, Special Session co-chairs have drafted brief descriptions of the session topics as can be seen below. Persons interested in presenting at one of these Special Sessions are welcome to contact the appropriate co-chairs, and should do so as soon as possible.

The 81st North American will be held March 13-18,...

The Appalachian Landscape Conservation Cooperative recently concluded a project with the New York Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit and Cornell University to assess the impact of hydraulic fracturing on streams. Hydraulic fracturing has been used in portions of Pennsylvania and West Virginia to increase production of natural gas and there are potential implications for portions of Ohio and New York as well. The study focused on the Marcellus Shale deposit, a geographically expansive shale gas reservoir estimated to contain over 13 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas....

The Wyoming Migration Initiative and the Ruckelshaus Institute will host an emerging issues forum, "Sustaining Big Game Migrations in the West: Science Policy and People," at the University of Wyoming Marian H. Rochelle Gateway Center on November 9 and 10. Big game migrations traverse myriad jurisdictions and land ownership types, requiring coordination across a diverse regulatory and policy landscape. The result is tremendous complexity, but also an opportunity to learn and collaborate. The forum will bring together ranchers, outfitters, scientists, agency leaders, non-...