ON THE HORIZON: July 2016, Issue 1

Posted by WAFWA on July 1, 2016
What's New at WAFWA?

For more than 90 years, the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA) has been quietly working with partners to advance conservation across western North America. Pulling together state and federal agencies and involving landowners, land managers, nonprofit organizations and industry, WAFWA has been a catalyst in developing collaborative conservation efforts across the West.

Sharing these conservation success stories is one way we can build on these efforts and promote more effective conservation of iconic western species like wild sheep, native trout, lesser prairie-chicken and greater sage-grouse.

This is the first edition of a regular e-newsletter WAFWA is producing to keep friends and partners updated. We hope you will find it informative and we encourage you to share it with others in your organization.

Making Progress on the LPC Front
More than two years ago, the Lesser Prairie-Chicken Rangewide Conservation Plan was developed to encourage conservation of the lesser prairie-chicken through voluntary efforts of landowners and industry. The plan is a collaborative effort of WAFWA and the state wildlife agencies of Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. It allows agriculture producers and industry to continue operations while reducing impacts to the bird and its grassland habitat. Permanently protecting lesser prairie-chicken habitat is an important goal of the plan. Just last month, WAFWA finalized the purchase of approximately 30,000 acres of high-quality lesser prairie-chicken habitat in southwest Kansas. Read more about this landmark acquisition HERE.

Aerial surveys for the bird were completed this spring, with analysis completed in late June. The results indicate stable population trends, with increases in areas hardest hit by the drought in 2011 and 2012. Read more HERE.
WAFWA Annual Meeting July 21 to 26 in Cody WY


Forever Wild. Forever West. Pardners in Conservation. That’s the theme of WAFWA’s annual conference, which brings together top wildlife experts from across the West. The conference plenary session will showcase several successful efforts that illustrate the power of partnerships for conserving wildlife in the West. 

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