Conservation Planning Topic of September NRIS Seminar

Wednesday, September 03, 2003
Comprehensive Fish & Wildlife Conservation Strategy (CFWCS)

This article was Archived on Saturday, January 03, 2004

(HELENA)---T.O. Smith, Comprehensive Fish and Wildlife Conservation Planning Coordinator of Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, is scheduled as guest speaker at the next NRIS Seminar.  His presentation is set for Friday, September 26 from 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm in the conference room of the Montana State Library.   

The seminar, entitled, “Montana’s Comprehensive Fish and Wildlife Conservation Plan,” will include background regarding the plan and details on why it is being developed.  The presentation will conclude with an audience question and answer session.

Montana has committed to developing a comprehensive fish and wildlife conservation plan by September 2005.  The plan will consider the broad range of the state’s wildlife and associated habitats, including hunted and fished and non-hunted and non-fished species, with appropriate emphasis placed on species with the greatest conservation need. 

Smith said, “This short-term funding is viewed by many as an important recognition that fish and wildlife science is now concerned with whole communities of wildlife.  By completing a “Comprehensive Fish and Wildlife Conservation Plan” for the State of Montana, our agency has the opportunity to incorporate the management of all species into existing programs, build valuable partnerships, and perhaps gain more secure, long-term funding that will prove as important and revolutionary as the Federal Fish and Wildlife Restoration acts.” 

Natural resource professionals as well as the public are invited to attend.  This seminar is free; no registration is necessary.  For more information, call (406) 444-5357.  Interested individuals are also encouraged to visit the NRIS website. 

The Montana Natural Resource Information System (NRIS) was established in 1985 by the Legislature.  NRIS, a division of the State Library, acts as a clearinghouse for natural resource information.