In the News
News articles and events on WLFW and Target Species sites.
Coalition Renews Drive for Federal Funding of Conservation, Recreation and Historic Preservation
Yesterday afternoon, the America’s Voice for Conservation, Recreation and Preservation (AVCRP) coalition sent a broad letter urging Congress to invest in natural resource conservation, outdoor recreation, and historic preservation. More than 500 organizations, representing millions of citizens with diverse political backgrounds and areas of interest, have united behind a shared understanding that federal investments in these critical sectors are vital to the future of our nation and historic heritage.
Helping to Facilitate CASRI and SASRI Coordination
Working at a landscape scale requires close coordination with multiple partners.
Become Part of the Appalachian LCC Network
Contribute to sustainable landscape-level conservation by joining and adding your information to the database!
National Wildlife Refuges Support Over 35,000 Jobs, Pump $2.4 Billion into Local Communities
America’s national wildlife refuges continue to be strong economic engines for local communities across the country, pumping $2.4 billion into the economy and supporting more than 35,000 jobs, according to a new national report released today by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell.
Executive Order -- Preparing the United States for the Impacts of Climate Change
President Obama signed an executive order that will begin to prepare the Nation for the impacts of climate change by undertaking actions to enhance climate preparedness and resilience.
Interior Secretary Offers Vision for Conservation
Secretarial Order underscores LCC role and commitment to landscape-scale planning and design to conserve the Nation's land, water, wildlife and cultural resources in the face of climate change.
EPA Releases Agency Plans for Adapting to a Changing Climate
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today released its draft Climate Change Adaptation Implementation Plans for public review and comment. In support of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan and Executive Order on Preparing the United States for the Impacts of Climate Change announced today, the Implementation Plans provide detailed information about the actions EPA plans to take across the country to help communities adapt to a changing climate.
OSM Launches Redesigned Website
The new site allows users to find information quickly and easily, and applies a consistent look and feel to the bureau’s web pages.
Observed Changes in Phenology Across the United States - Northeast
Phenology — the seasonal timing of life cycle events in plants and animals such as flowering, hibernation, and migration — has been linked to shifts in the timing of allergy seasons, public visitation to National Parks, and cultural festivals. Change in phenology, recognized as a bio-indicator of climate change impacts, has also been linked to increased wildfire activity and pest outbreak, shifts in species distributions, spread of invasive species, and changes in carbon cycling in forests. Phenological information can and already is being used to identify species vulnerable to climate change, to generate computer models of carbon sequestration, to manage invasive species, to forecast seasonal allergens, and to track disease vectors, such as mosquitoes and ticks, in human population centers.
A bold plan: The story of WVU and the salvation of a historic home for brook trout
A team at WVU has been working for years with the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources to examine all of the factors that led to warmer temperatures, a wider and shallower stream and other changes that over time threatened the brook trout productivity of this important natural and economic resource.
Interior Department Proposes Expansion of Hunting, Fishing Opportunities in National Wildlife Refuge System
In advance of National Hunting and Fishing Day on September 28th, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell today announced that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to expand fishing and hunting opportunities throughout the National Wildlife Refuge System, opening up new hunting programs on six refuges and expanding existing hunting and fishing programs on another 20 refuges. The proposed rule also modifies existing refuge-specific regulations for more than 75 additional refuges and wetland management districts.
Appalachian LCC Chair David Whitehurst Receives Seth Gordon Award
David Whitehurst, Steering Committee Chair of the Appalachian Landscape Conservation Cooperative (LCC) and Director of the Bureau of Wildlife Resources for the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, has been awarded the Seth Gordon Award at the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies' (AFWA) 103rd Annual Meeting held September 10th in Portland, Oregon.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Lists Neosho Mucket as Endangered and Rabbitsfoot as Threatened
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is listing the Neosho mucket as endangered and the Rabbitsfoot as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Both species are freshwater mussels found in river systems in the eastern half of the United States.
Downscaling Scenarios of Climate Change Project to Map Entire Appalachian LCC Region
A DOI Southeast Climate Science Center funded project will be evaluating the latest generation of global climate models to generate scenarios of future change to climate, hydrology, and vegetation for the Southeastern U.S. as well as the entire range of the Appalachian LCC.
Welcome Home, Winged Mapleleaf Mussel
An endangered mussel came home to a Tennessee River last week, a monumental reintroduction effort seven years in the making. On Wednesday, federal and state biologists placed 103 winged mapleleaf mussels in the middle portion of the Duck River. The last time the species was seen in the river was more than two decades ago, when empty shells were collected in 1990 and 1991.
Virginia’s Climate Modeling and Species Vulnerability Assessment
The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) is excited to announce the publication of Virginia’s Climate Modeling and Species Vulnerability Assessment: How Climate Data Can Inform Management and Conservation. This report is the culmination of over 4 years of effort by NWF, Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (DGIF), Conservation Management Institute, and Kutztown University to downscale climate data for Virginia and use that in a species modeling effort to project how a selections of species (wildlife, fish, and plants) may change their distribution across the landscape based on climate change.
LCC National Council Convening
The U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution is currently convening the Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCC) National Council, and is currently accepting nominations for one LCC participant on the Council.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Identifies Critical Habitat for Diamond Darter
The endangered diamond darter, a tiny fish that has faced serious threats to its home, depends on 123 miles of habitat for its survival, the Service today announced. Once found along the southern Appalachians from Ohio to Tennessee, this native darter has been restricted to one stream along the Elk River by years of changes from dams, water quality degradation and other threats.
Partners in Flight Consortium Seeks Solutions to Migratory Bird Declines
Scientists who have spent decades trying to reverse the broad decline of migratory birds in the Americas will converge by the hundreds later this month in Snowbird, Utah, to seek solutions to the threats migratory birds are facing at northern breeding grounds, southern wintering grounds, and numerous migration stopovers.
Position Available - Interdisciplinary (Air and Water Program Manager) Ecologist or Physical Scientist
This is a natural resource management position located in the Natural Resources Branch, Division of Natural and Cultural Resources at Shenandoah National Park. The Air and Water Quality Program Manager engages in the study, inventory, monitoring, restoration, and management of air resources /air quality, associated ecological components such as water quality, fisheries, vegetation and wildlife impacts in addition to associated visibility components, and tropospheric ozone.
