Welcome to the 80^th North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference. WMI thanks you and all the conference partners, exhibitors, and state agency sponsors, who are critical to making this conference successful. I also offer special thanks to Jim Douglas for his "Welcome to Nebraska" address.

A new study and online mapping tool developed by The Nature Conservancy through a grant from the Appalachian Landscape Conservation Cooperative (LCC) assesses energy development potential and current trends of wind, shale gas, and coal and shows where these may overlap with important natural resources and associated benefits ? such as municipal drinking water supplies.

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:

Researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center presented their findings from the North American Amphibian Monitoring Program (NAAMP), a long-term monitoring program that uses data collected by users at roadside locations using a calling survey technique. The data were collected from 11 Northeastern states over 11 years and represent the first regional, long-term assessments of frogs and amphibians.

At their annual convention in February, WMI President Steve Williams received the National Wild Turkey Federation's Lynn Boykin Hunting Heritage Award. The award recognizes Williams' lifetime career achievements that are helping to conserve wildlife and preserve our hunting heritage.

In late December, the New York (NY) State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) released an updated draft list of the state's Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN). DEC used a model developed for them by Dr. Angela Fuller and Dr.