March 2021

Good morning! I am Steve Williams, President of the Wildlife Management Institute (WMI), and I welcome all of you to the 86th North American Conference. After leaving Omaha last year, we had no idea that a year later we would be hosting the first virtual conference in 86 years. We are sorry that we need to meet virtually rather than in person but obviously due to COVID-19, we have no choice. I thank all our co-sponsors, session and workshop leaders, and all participants in this event. Special thanks go to Cindy Delaney and her team and Matt Dunfee from WMI for planning and organizing this event. We all look forward to a very productive conference. During the welcome address, I normally recap the previous year’s activities. This year I think an appropriate theme is the title of one of my favorite western movies, “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.” It seems to be an appropriate title for 2020.

On February 25, 2021, the World Wildlife Fund-Telmex Telcel Foundation Alliance, in collaboration with the National Commission of Protected Natural Areas (CONANP) and the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), reported the monarch butterfly in Mexican hibernation forests decreased by 26% this year, occupying 2.10 hectares (ha) compared to the 2.82 ha reported during the winter of 2019-2020.