Across the western Great Plains of North America, groundwater pumping for irrigated agriculture has depleted regional aquifers that sustain stream flow for native fishes. Surface flows over the High Plains Aquifer declined during the past half-century as a consequence of unsustainable groundwater extraction. The Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative (GP LCC) recently funded a study to better understand the impacts of groundwater removal within the Kansas River Basin (KRB).

Natural resource managers are facing the growing challenge of emerging and resurging fish and wildlife diseases. In the past, disease was not a significant consideration in natural resource management, but over recent decades, there has been a recognized need to incorporate disease prevention, surveillance and control into population management strategies. How do natural resource managers deal with these issues?

Although studies and research have provided projections of the effects of climate change on fish species and their habitats, there has been limited synthesis on the response by humans to those changes, and how management agencies should be prepared to cope with those changes. A special session at the 81^st North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference entitled Effects of Climate Change on Inland Fish and Fisheries: Looking Back and Moving Forward, will provide insights on how fisheries management agencies can adapt to an uncertain and changing future.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently announced that it is accepting applications for funding through two Farm Bill conservation programs, according to the Wildlife Management Institute. Project proposals for the new wetland mitigation banking program are due by March 28, and proposals for funding of 2016 projects under the Conservation Stewardship Program are also recommended to be submitted before the end of March.

The Oklahoma Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit and faculty and students from Oklahoma State University are studying spread, population viability, and habitat use of expanding black bear populations in eastern Oklahoma. The research is supported by the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (ODWC) through funding from the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Program.