Outdoor News Bulletin

The effects of lead ammunition and tackle on wildlife are complex. Hunting ammunition and fishing tackle containing lead are widely available, effective, and commonly used. However, their unintentional impacts can have harmful health effects for some wildlife species. Fortunately, alternatives are available for hunters and anglers who want to voluntarily reduce those risks.

When the Connecting with Conservation podcast debuted in 2024, its mission was clear: pull back the curtain on how conservation works financially, institutionally, and operationally in the U.S. With hosts Jon Gassett (WMI) and Jim Curcuruto (Outdoor Stewards), the first season delivered 12 episodes focused on conserving the business side of wildlife.

New England cottontail (Sylvilagus transitionalis) (NEC) are imperiled across their range because of land use changes, competition from eastern cottontail and spread of invasive plants. A conservation partnership between managers (state wildlife agencies of ME, NH, CT, RI, MA, and NY; the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; and the Natural Resources Conservation Service) has focused on restoration of early successional habitats on private and public lands. In parallel, there has been an iterative research collaboration (SUNY, UNH, URI) that has tested the assumptions inherent in the habitat management focus on NEC.

I try to get out in nature in some shape or form every day. I stumble around in wild settings seeking to make observations and discoveries unique and novel to me, let my dog do the same, and contemplate this journey we call life. Recently while meandering through a high-altitude coniferous forest near my home, I noted how my route, out of necessity, had changed through time because of downed trees, soil erosion, and other gradual changes in the biotic and physical environments. I considered how long I had been coming to this place and the changes I had witnessed as a result. I looked at large stumps of felled giants of which neither trees of equal size nor species now exist in this patch of forest. I see an increasing number of standing dead and dying trees each year as drought stresses, pathogens, and pests take their toll. I see new conifers pushing up and crowding out the aspens in the absence of aspen regenerating fire.