The Regional Conservation Needs (RCN) grant program has expanded to include a fourth project area focused on documenting advancements made through previous RCN projects for consideration as states begin to develop their next round of State Wildlife Action Plans (SWAPs). The new RCN Project 4 seeks to examine the landscape status, conservation projects, and best practices established over the past decade of SWAP implementation and create products that will inform all elements of the 2025 Northeast SWAP revisions. Specifically, the new project area will result in updating the three tools that have resulted from the previous RCN projects: the Northeast Lexicon, the Northeast Conservation Synthesis, and the Northeast Conservation Status Assessment.

During the recent Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies meeting, a Multistate Conservation Grant (MSCG) proposal to provide funding for the Boone and Crockett Club’s Poach & Pay Project was recommended for approval. Coordinated in conjunction with the Wildlife Management Institute (WMI), Poach & Pay is the first comprehensive research project to review, assess, and address the level of illegal take of wildlife in our country. Initial funding for this project was provided by the Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s Outdoor Fund, Leupold & Stevens, Federal Ammunition, and SCI along with a research and media partnership with International Wildlife Crimestoppers. The MSCG grant will support the research that is underway and, combined with additional partner funding, will allow for a coordinated public outreach campaign using the results of the research. The project is expected to take three years, concluding in Fall/Winter of 2024.

At the September Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies’ (AFWA) annual meeting, the Science and Research Committee and the Fish and Wildlife Health Committee sponsored a virtual Special Session, titled “Advancing CWD Data Management, Mapping, and Surveillance.” Many fish and wildlife agencies and research scientists across North America and Europe are engaged in efforts to understand and manage this disease. While there have been significant advances in chronic wasting disease (CWD) surveillance and data management, there is a pressing need for better communication, coordination, and collaboration among wildlife managers and researchers across the United States and Canada.

In conjunction with the Cook Inlet PhotoID Project and federal agencies, the USGS Washington Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit is aiming to learn more about the fundamental factors that drive changes in beluga whale population dynamics, specifically what affects the rates at which individuals survive and reproduce. Understanding this piece of the puzzle is critical to future conservation and recovery efforts and will help determine the viability and resilience of this population to the persistent human activities and ongoing climatic changes occurring in the region. However, this iconic whale has not made unraveling this mystery easy.