News Release - 10/02/08

Representatives from State Fish & Wildlife Agencies Participate in the 2008 White House Conference on North American Wildlife Policy

Conference will finalize 10-year, national action plan for hunting and wildlife conservation.

RENO, Nev. — Today, marked the first full day of the 2008 White House Conference on North American Wildlife Policy. Prompted by Presidential Executive Order #13443, the Conference is bringing together leaders in the wildlife community, including more than 30 representatives from state fish and wildlife agencies, to develop a national direction and strategy for hunting and conservation.

The Conference is a culmination of a year’s work drafting a 10-year Recreational Hunting and Wildlife Conservation Plan aimed at perpetuating and strengthening the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation.  Within this framework, working groups made up of a broad group of interests are discussing wildlife management and coordination at the state, tribal and federal levels; habitat conservation issues including energy development and climate change; funding for wildlife conservation; and perpetuating hunter traditions. The end result of the Conference will be an action plan to drive wildlife conservation forward over the next decade, the first national wildlife policy plan in more than 30 years.

The conference ends on Friday, October 3. For more information, visit http://wildlifeconservation.gov or www.wildlifepartners.org.

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The Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies —the organization that represents North America's fish and wildlife agencies—promotes sound management and conservation, and speaks with a unified voice on important fish and wildlife issues. Found on the web at www.fishwildlife.org .