The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS's) draft recovery plan for the Pacific Northwest's beleaguered northern spotted owl population has been lambasted, reports the Wildlife Management Institute. According to FWS-ordered and independent peer reviews released last month, the plan "failed to make use of the best-available science" and "selectively cited from the best-available science to justify a reduction in habitat protection."

In a move that could end a stalemate that has hindered the delisting of gray wolves in the Northern Rocky Mountain region from the federal Endangered Species Act, the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission (Commission) released its revised Wolf Management Plan for public comment on September 7. According to the Wildlife Management Institute, the plan includes several provisions recommended by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and is expected to be approved by that agency, paving the way for delisting of the species by early 2008.

In late August, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP) filed suit in U.S. District Court against the Department of the Interior (DOI) for the agency's plans to allow 2,000 new oil and gas wells and to build 1,000 miles of road and 1,000 miles of pipeline on the Atlantic Rim of southcentral Wyoming, reports the Wildlife Management Institute. In an assessment of the area, the U.S.

A call for papers has been issued by organizers of the workshop "The North American Model of Wildlife Conservation: Affirming the Role, Strength and Relevance of Hunting in the 21st Century," which will be held on Tuesday, March 25, in conjunction with the 73rd North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference. The Conference will be held at the Hyatt Regency Phoenix, in Phoenix, Arizona, from March 25 to 28, 2008.

In anticipation of U.S. Senate action on the 2007 Farm Bill, Senator Max Baucus of Montana announced that he is assembling a proposal that would shift funding from incentive payments to tax credits, reports the Wildlife Management Institute. The shift would involve payments for some disaster relief, energy and conservation programs, including the Wetlands and Grasslands reserve programs. Baucus sits on the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee and chairs the Senate Finance Committee.

Reports by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) suggest that the retreat of Arctic sea ice could reduce polar bear populations by as much as two thirds within 50 years, observes the Wildlife Management Institute. Furthermore, USGS concluded that the models appear to underestimate the loss of sea ice, which could make the projected decline a conservative estimate.