A report released July 1 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), Status and Trends of Prairie Wetlands in the United States, 1997-2009, estimates that the total wetland loss in the Prairie Pothole Region between 1997 and 2009 was 74,340 acres, according to the Wildlife Management Institute. This amounts to an average net loss of 6,200 acres of wetlands per year.

With the grizzly bear populations in the Yellowstone and Northern Continental Divide ecosystem well on the way to recovery, the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee (IGBC) turned its attention at its June 24 - 26 meeting to restoration of grizzly bears in the North Cascades ecosystem of Washington State and neighboring British Columbia (B.C.). This international ecosystem, centered on North Cascades National Park and the U.S.

Conservation Briefs is a compilation of short news stories of interest to Outdoor News Bulletin readers. The stories cover a number of issues that have developed in the past month or provide updates on issues that were featured in previous ONB editions. Each story includes links to online resources for more details on each topic.

This Month:

In 2011, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) was awarded a grant from the North Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative (NALCC) to apply a classification scheme for marine habitats, the Coastal Marine and Ecological Classification Standard (CMECS), at multiple scales.

The long-anticipated update of the Wildlife Management Institute's classic waterfowl reference guide, Ducks, Geese, and Swans of North America, is now available for pre-order and will be shipped this fall. The full color, two-edition set features fully revised and updated information on the continent's 46 species of waterfowl and includes a CD with reference information and additional maps. An excerpt of the book is available for review.

The Wildlife Management Institute is very pleased to announce that its newly updated, revised and expanded booklet, Placing Hunting in Perspective is now available for purchase from the WMI online store.

Periodically the Outdoor News Bulletin will include job opportunities for projects that the Wildlife Management Institute is coordinating or supporting.

Recently Announced Opportunities:

Florida's coast and surrounding waters provide nesting, developmental, and foraging habitats to five species of sea turtles, all of which are listed under the Endangered Species Act. The leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata), Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys kempi), and green (Chelonia mydas) are designated as Endangered (the green in Florida and Pacific Mexico only, Threatened elsewhere), and the loggerhead (Caretta caretta) is listed as Threatened.