2012 Cycle Multistate Conservation Grant NCNs

The Association is now soliciting National Conservation Needs (NCNs) for the 2012 Multistate Conservation Grant Program (MSCGP). NCNs are the foundation of the MSCGP and establish the states’ priorities for the grant cycle. Each AFWA committee is allowed to submit one NCN. NCNs are due by February 11, 2011. Committees are encouraged to work together and submit joint NCNs.

Before submitting a new NCN, review the selected NCNs for the 2011 MSCGP since these NCNs may still be of highest importance and priority. Typically, if a committee is considering more than one NCN, the Chair asks committee members to vote and/or the Chair makes the final selection. It may be appropriate to refer NCNs to other committees or regional associations for their consideration.

All proposed NCNs from committees and the regional associations will be evaluated by the National Grants Committee, which will select NCNs to recommend for state directors’ approval at the March 2011 North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference. Letters of Intent will be solicited beginning in April to address the NCNs.

The guidelines for submitting 2012 NCNs, last year’s NCNs and a general timeline for the 2012 MSCGP are available online at www.fishwildlife.org/multistate_grants.html or visit AFWA's MSCGP blog to ask questions, http://fishwildlifemscgp.blogspot.com.

John Frampton Receives ASMFC Captain David H. Hart Award

Charleston, SC – The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission presented John Frampton, Director of the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources and Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies 2009-2010 President, the David H. Hart Award, its highest annual award, at the Commission’s 69th Annual Meeting in Charleston, South Carolina. Frampton received the award in recognition of his long and distinguished career advocating for the greater good of fish and wildlife management and conservation along the Atlantic coast and throughout the entire nation.

The Commission instituted the “Captain David H. Hart Award” in 1991 to recognize individuals who have made outstanding efforts to improve Atlantic coast marine fisheries. The award is named for one of the Commission’s longest serving members, who dedicated himself to the advancement and protection of marine fishery resources.

Frampton has been an a leader in building strong personal and professional relationships within the natural resource community. His actions reflect his fundamental belief that such relationships lead to cooperation among state and federal natural resource management agencies and conservation and industry stakeholders, resulting in more effective conservation and management. This spirit of cooperation is one of the founding principles of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.

For more than thirty years, Frampton also has been a champion for legislation and funding benefiting state natural resource management activities, securing millions of dollars for the states to restore and sustainably manage their fish and wildlife resources. In his own state, he secured significant state funds to acquire tens of thousands of acres of land for conservation easements and habitat restoration.

He was a guiding force in the development of the National Fish Habitat Initiative, directly benefiting Atlantic coastal states through the significant funding awarded to the Atlantic Coastal Fish Habitat Partnership (ACFHP). This coast-wide collaborative partnership strives to accelerate the conservation of habitat for Atlantic coastal, estuarine-dependent, and diadromous fish, and has great potential to restore Atlantic waterways and enhance productivity of many marine fisheries.

Frampton’s efforts to elevate the importance of natural resource management have greatly benefitted Atlantic states and have contributed to the betterment of the marine fisheries of the Atlantic coast.


ASMFC Vision: Healthy, self-sustaining populations for all Atlantic coast fish species or successful restoration well in progress by the year 2015.

From left: Vince O’Shea, Michael McShane, Robert Boyles Jr., John Frampton, Caroline Rhodes and Malcolm Rhodes

Assoc. of Fish & Wildlife Agencies HQ (Highlights Quarterly) -- AFWA Activities for July, August & September 2010

The Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies released today its latest issue of the Association HQ (Highlights Quarterly), a summary of what the Association accomplished in the third quarter of 2010.

Leading off this edition of the HQ, Ron Regan discusses the “Making of” AFWA’s Lead Ammunition and Tackle Resolution and why it gets at the heart of what the Association does best—developing policy and applying it at the national level.

Inside the HQ/3Q, we also identify issues and outcomes from AFWA’s recent 100th Annual Meeting in Grand Rapids, Michigan and report on progress achieved to secure conservation funding; advance favorable Congressional legislation; and coordinate cross-cutting member issues and species-based interests through programs, partnerships, outreach and other initiatives.

On behalf of all the staff at the Association, we hope that you continue to find the HQ beneficial. The HQ/3Q 2010 can be found online at:
http://www.fishwildlife.org/pdfs/StaffReports/AssociationHQ_3Q-2010.pdf

AFWA is Hiring - Two Job Openings!

The Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies is seeking to fill two positions at its Washington, DC office. If you are interested in applying for a position, please read the full job announcements for qualifications, salary and benefits information and specific application instructions.

Teaming With Wildlife Program Associate
The Teaming With Wildlife Program Associate supports state fish and wildlife agency efforts to implement and revise State Wildlife Action Plans. Responsibilities include assisting and facilitating communication between State Wildlife Action Plan coordinators, conducting outreach and developing partnerships with federal agencies and private conservation organizations to improve support for State Wildlife Action Plans. Other duties include assisting with outreach on the State Wildlife Grants Program and management of the 6,300 member Teaming With Wildlife coalition (www.teaming.com). Candidates must be willing to travel. The application period is open until filled.

Read the full Teaming With Wildlife Program Associate job announcement>


Climate Adaptation Research Assistant/Policy Aid (part-time)
The Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies is looking for a talented natural resource professional for a part-time position to assist in developing a National Fish, Wildlife and Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy. The Association is working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Marine Fisheries Service, other federal agencies, state fish and wildlife agencies, tribal agencies and other conservation partnership to develop this strategy. This challenging position will include researching and assembling background information to develop the strategy; communicating with conservation partners; and drafting sections of the strategy in collaboration with other participants. Deadline to apply for this position is November 15, 2010.

Read the full Climate Adaptation Research Assistant/Policy Aid job announcement>

Dr. Sally Guynn Receives Prestigious Paul C. Weikel Award

Dr. Sally Guynn, Project Leader for the Management Assistance Team and Executive Director of the National Conservation Leadership Institute, was presented with the prestigious Paul C. Weikel Award by the Organization of Wildlife Planners (OWP) on September 27, 2010.

The Paul C. Weikel Award recognizes individuals for their outstanding or distinctive contributions to improved agency management, on a national or international level. It was established in 1992 in memory of Paul C. Weikel, whose personal history of innovative management, and desire to improve agency performance, inspired the creation of the award.

Coincidentally, on the same day that she was presented with the Weikel Award, Guynn received one of the Association’s Special Recognition Awards at AFWA’s Annual Awards ceremony.

The Organization of Wildlife Planners is a professional organization concerned with the management and future of government agencies that manage fish and wildlife populations and habitat. It is an Affiliate member of the Association.

Congratulations Sally!

photo (r-l): Dr. Sally Guynn and Verdie Abel, OWP President

AFWA Honors Recipients of the 2010 Annual Awards

The Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies honored nine individuals and two entities for their outstanding and longstanding commitment to conservation stewardship at the Association’s Annual Awards Ceremony held on September 28, 2010 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

John Frampton, Director of the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources and AFWA’s 2009-2010 President received the top honor, the Seth Gordon Award. Wyoming Game and Fish Department and its Deputy Director, John Emmerich, took home the Ernest Thompson Seton Award for leadership in scientific wildlife management.

Cristy Gayle Burch, GIS Specialist with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department was recognized as an outstanding young wildlife management professional with the Mark Reeff Memorial Award and the Bamberger Ranch in Texas received the National Private Lands Fish and Wildlife Stewardship Award.

Lt. Richard Thomas and Investigator Dan Sullivan of the New York Department of Conservation Law Enforcement Division received the Conservation Law Enforcement Award for “Operation Shellshock,” a multi-year undercover operation to stop the illegal reptiles and amphibians.

In addition, special recognition awards were presented to Christopher Estes, Chief of Alaska Fish and Game’s Aquatic Resources Coordination Unit; Dr. Robert Blohm, Chief of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Division of Migratory Bird Management; Dr. Sally Guynn AFWA’s Management Assistance Team Project Leader; and Jay McAninch, President and CEO of the Archery Trade Association.

Congratulations to all of the honorees!

> Read a full description of the achievements of the 2010 Annual Awards recipients

West Virginia’s Curtis I. Taylor Elected AFWA's 2010-2011 President

The Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies elected West Virginia Division of Natural Resources Wildlife Resources Section Chief, Curtis I. Taylor, its new president on Spetember 29, 2010 during the Association’s 100th Annual Meeting in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He is tasked to lead AFWA’s national agenda for sound, science-based fish and wildlife management through September 2011.

Taylor has more than 31 years of experience with DNR, where prior to becoming Chief in 2001, he was the Federal Aid Coordinator and worked on various turkey research projects and other fish and wildlife management programs including serving as co-project leader on the Wild Turkey Population Dynamics Study. He directed the first radio telemetry study of ocellated turkeys in Guatemala for Wildlife Conservation International and Hornocker Wildlife Institute and has served on the National Wild Turkey Federation Technical Committee since 1985, receiving the organization’s highly coveted Henry S. Mosby Award in 2005. Taylor also serves on the Steering Committee for the West Virginia University Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit.

“There is nothing like a 100th Annual Meeting to think about what we’ve done and where we will be going,” said Taylor, the first AFWA President to hail from West Virginia. “We still believe in a cooperative, scientifically sound and legally firm approach to protect and enhance the North American Model of fish and wildlife management that is unique to the United States and the envy of other countries that have tried to duplicate it. Our partnership with industry through the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration and Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration Acts is the cornerstone for funding conservation."

During his tenure as president, Taylor plans to focus the work of the Association membership on fostering better relationships with the angling, hunting and shooting sports industries; recruitment and retention of license-buying hunters and anglers; and the impacts of energy development on fish and wildlife resources.

“Energy does not come without a price,” said Taylor. “We need to make sure that wildlife is not stuck with the bill.”

In addition to his responsibilities as President, Taylor also serves as the Co-Chair of AFWA’s International Relations Committee. In this role, he represented the United States at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species in Qatar in early 2010 to advance state and federal statutory partnerships and work cooperatively on international fish and wildlife policy.

“I appreciate the trust [the Association members] have put in me,” concluded Taylor.

Taylor has served as Treasurer and President of the Northeast Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and is currently on its Executive Committee. He is also on the Executive Committee of the Southeast Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies.

Photo (l-r): The passing of the President's gavel from John Frampton (SC) to Curtis Taylor (WV)