Wildlife Management Institute

Climate change, conversion of native prairie to cropland and reduction of acreage enrolled in the USDA’s Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) appear to be converging and impact substantially the numbers of wetland- and grassland-dependent wildlife in the country’s prairie pothole region, according to the Wildlife Management Institute.

Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey, St. Olaf College and the Universities of South Dakota State, Montana, Nevada and Idaho conducted an analysis of impacts of climate change on hydrology and vegetation in the prairie potholes.  Results of their work are published in the current issue (Vol. 60, No. 2) of “Bioscience,” and predict that, as climate change advances, the region will not be able to support historical levels of waterfowl and other wetland-dependent species due to significantly drier conditions.  The results also project that wetlands in the region will be less full and the water that does collect in the wetland basins will remain for shorter periods.

The Program Committee for the North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference invites and encourages interested persons and parties to submit ideas for the 76^th Conference, to be held March 14-19, 2011, at the Westin Crown Center Hotel, in Kansas City, Missouri.

The Program Committee welcomes recommendations for workshops and Special Session topics, cochairs and presenters, and plenary session keynote speakers.

Late last month, a white-tailed deer harvested in Frederick County, Virginia, tested positive for chronic wasting disease (CWD), reports the Wildlife Management Institute. Taken by a hunter less than a mile from the border of West Virginia’s CWD-positive Hampshire County, the two-year-old doe is Virginia’s first documented case of CWD.

On February 4, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced formation of a new Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Conservation Council (WHHCC) to help promote and preserve America’s hunting heritage for future generations.  The new federal advisory group will replace the Sporting Conservation Council (SCC) and will add representatives from the archery, hunting and shooting sport industries as well as broader representation from the nation’s major hunting organizations, reports the Wildlife Management Institute. The WHHCC’s charter also more clearly defines its responsibilities in terms of supporting the public, the sporting conservation community, the shooting and hunting sports industry, wildlife conservation organizations, and the state and federal governments.

“We will ask the Council to consider key issues of concern within the wildlife conservation community and assist us in maximizing our conservation and public recreation programs for the benefit of all Americans,” stated Secretary Salazar.  “The creation of this Council is but another chapter in the remarkable legacy of hunter conservationists in America. It is clear to me that if wildlife conservation is to remain strong in America, our nation’s hunting traditions must remain strong.”