| Our Mission |
| Delivering conservation through information exchange and working partnerships |
Association Objectives
The objectives of the Association are:
- To protect the right of jurisdiction of the western states over their wildlife resources on public and private lands.
- To scrutinize carefully state and federal wildlife legislation and regulations and to offer opposition to legislative proposals or federal regulations that are deemed inimical to the best interests of the members.
- To consult with and make recommendations to the federal wildlife and public land agencies in order that federal wildlife management programs and programs involving federal aid to the western states shall be so conducted as to be in the best interests of the western states.
- To serve as a clearinghouse for the exchange of ideas concerning wildlife management and research techniques.
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| What We Do |
The Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, founded in 1922, is a quasi-governmental organization of 23 public agencies charged with the protection and management of fish and wildlife resources in the western part of the United States and Canada. The Association has been a key organization in the promotion of sound resource management principles and the strengthening of federal, state and private cooperation in protecting and managing fish and wildlife and their habitats in the public interest. Our mission is, "Delivering conservation through information exchange and working partnerships".
The Association holds meetings, publishes proceedings of the annual conference, and reports to members on issues of immediate or special concern. Through its committee system, and involvement with the Washington, D.C. -based Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, the Association brings its expertise and prestige to bear in behalf of needed advances and reforms in fish and wildlife management at the state, national and international levels.
The meetings promote exchanges of ideas and philosophy between administrators, commissioners, professional fish and wildlife biologists, managers and technical workers in related fields.
The Association has no salaried staff, but relies on the voluntary efforts of its members to accomplish its tasks. The President and Vice-Presidents are elected from the membership, and serve without compensation. The elected Secretary and Treasurer, once elected, serve until replaced, and serve without compensation except for travel expenses.
The Association serves as a strong advocate of each individual state's right to manage fish and wildlife within its political boundaries. It is also one of the very few organizations that represents the interests of states and provinces on fish and wildlife issues. Another very important benefit of Association membership is the opportunity to exchange information and ideas with other states, provinces and organizations, thus avoiding lengthy or costly experimentation on new programs.
The structure and function of the Association also enables the entire cadre of member state and provinces, or a select grouping of such, to undertake major initiatives or projects that otherwise could not get accomplished by a single jurisdiction. These undertakings cover large geographic areas - oftentimes the range of a species or habitat type - and are funded from a variety of sources including member agency contributions and/or match, partner donations, and grants. Examples of ongoing work include: sage grouse/sagebrush steppe; black-tailed, white-tailed and Gunnison's prairie dogs; Townsend's big-eared bat; mule deer; pigmy rabbits; and lesser prairie chickens. This collaborative approach to delivering conservation efforts on-the-ground is also being used to address regional priorities for species in greatest need of conservation attention as recently identified in the 19 individual western states' Wildlife Action Plans. |
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