Announcing AFWA's 3rd Annual "Land the Cover" Photo Contest

Chad Coppes from South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks landed the cover of the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies’ Annual Report with this photo last year in a tight competition with runners up Ben Davis from Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation and George Andrejko with the Arizona Game and Fish Department. Who will take the spot and get bragging rights this year?

Submit your best hi-resolution photos of fish, wildlife, habitats, state fish and wildlife agency staff at work or people enjoying your state’s natural resources. Images can be from state publications, personal photography or previous Association of Conservation Information (ACI) Awards entries.

New this year is the “President’s Choice” Award (otherwise known as an AFWA coffee mug) for the best photo of the current AFWA President’s favorite critter. President Curtis Taylor (WV) selected the Gray Squirrel as his choice.

Every photo reproduced in the 2010 Annual Report will include a photographer credit. Photos may also be featured on the all-new fishwildlife.org web site and in other materials (such as fact sheets for Congress and the Administration). You retain the rights to your photograph; however, by entering the contest, you grant the Association use of the image. Digital images must be a resolution of at least 300 dpi and 8” x 10.” To look at previous Annual Reports, visit www.fishwildlife.org/index.php?section=publication%20archive.

Deadline to enter the Third Annual “Land the Cover” Contest is January 21, 2011.

Please email entries to lmaclean@fishwildlife.org. Alternatively, you can mail a CD to the address below. Feel free to forward this announcement on or call with questions. Thank you and good luck!


Laura MacLean
Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies
444 North Capitol St., NW
Suite725
WashingtonDC, 20001
202/624-7744

Happy Holidays!

Dr. Jon Gassett Selected AFWA Vice President

The Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (AFWA) selected Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources Commissioner Dr. Jon Gassett as its new vice president Monday, Dec.13, at its Washington D.C. headquarters.

AFWA's Executive Committee named Gassett to the vice president position when Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment Director Rebecca Humphries stepped down to accept a position with Ducks Unlimited Inc.

Gassett previously served as AFWA's secretary/treasurer and is currently vice-chair of its executive committee. He is an alumnus of the AFWA-managed National Conservation Leadership Institute, a world-class forum for developing leaders in natural resource conservation.

Over the past century, AFWA has emerged as a powerful, effective and collective voice for fish and wildlife conservation. The association consists of fish and wildlife agencies from all 50 states along with more than 100 other representatives from territorial, provincial and federal fish and wildlife agencies, the conservation community and sportsmen industries.

They work together toward achieving AFWA's vision of healthy fish and wildlife resources throughout North America managed by effective, well-funded fish and wildlife agencies and supported by informed and involved citizens.

"We had a vacancy and Jon was gracious enough to step up and volunteer his help," said AFWA President Curtis Taylor, Chief of West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Section. "He and I will be working closely together over the next several months. Jon has always done an excellent job in everything he's done for us."

Gassett came to Kentucky Fish and Wildlife in 1999 to head the agency's elk restoration program. He was promoted to Wildlife Division Director in 2001. He has served as KDFWR commissioner since 2005.

"AFWA is a strong and unified voice for all 50 states, and I look forward to working with all of them in addressing the various issues that can benefit our fish and wildlife resources," said Gassett.

Gassett's term as AFWA vice president begins Jan. 1, 2011.

Article courtesy of Kentucky Fish & Wildlife Commission
Contact:
Mark Marraccini (800) 858-1549 ext.4425

Statement from AFWA on the Nomination of Dan Ashe as USFWS Director

The Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies congratulates Dan Ashe on his nomination yesterday as the Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The Association’s membership has worked with Mr. Ashe on many of the pressing issues facing the conservation of our nation’s fish, wildlife and their habitats. We look forward to Mr. Ashe’s continuing support of professional, science-based fish and wildlife management and policy development and look toward strengthening the cooperation between state fish and wildlife agencies and the Service.

AFWA Releases a Literature Review on the Benefits of Outdoor Skills to Health, Learning and Lifestyle

The Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies today released a white paper Benefits of Outdoor Skills to Health, Learning and Lifestyle: A Literature Review documenting the contributions of outdoor skills and wildlife-related outdoor education to health, learning and lifestyle in general and fishing and hunting participation in particular.

Research into the benefits of outdoor skills education highlights the valuable contribution they make to personal health and wellbeing. When young people are able to connect with the outdoors regularly, the positive outcomes are profound. They are happier, healthier from the physical exercise, effects of attention-deficit disorder are reduced and they score higher on standardized tests when natural environments are integrated into school curricula.

Outdoor skills activities such as hunting and fishing provide opportunities for the connection of individuals with nature (the natural environment), direct connection with other people (interpersonal) and with themselves (personal). Specifically, the benefits of these connections lie in the strength and placement of these connections from the leisure context to everyday lives.

This comprehensive report draws on research from adult learning, education (i.e., adventure, boating, conservation, experiential, hunting, fishing, outdoor, physical and wilderness), health, leisure, recreation, sport, therapy, and at-risk-youth to highlight the evidence of the positive contributions of outdoor skills education on hunting, fishing and other outdoor activities. The white paper includes abstracts for 99 documents; highlights some best practice outdoor skills education programs delivered by state fish and wildlife agencies and other partners; and offers recommendations for consideration when developing new or updating existing outdoor skills programs.

Highlighted Research Findings – The Benefits of Taking It Outdoors:

• A growing body of studies suggests that contact with nature is as important to children as good nutrition and adequate sleep: time spent outdoors correlates with increased physical activity and fitness in children; exposure to green space reduces crime, increases general wellbeing and ability to focus; children as young as five have shown a significant reduction in the symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) when they are engaged in outdoor activities in natural settings. Research indicates that there could be reductions in crime as a result of outdoor education.
  


• Interpersonal and intrapersonal skills developed through engaging in nature-based activities in meaningful ways represent some of the main benefits of outdoor skills education.
  


• The benefits that result from participating in outdoor activities can be enhanced through appropriate facility provision and access to natural resources as well as the design of outdoor skills education programs that work towards specific objectives.
  


• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that children who are more active outdoors and hang out outdoors tend to engage in greater physical activity as youth and later as adults.

Overall, the literature implies the need to adopt a broader-based conception of health from a holistic ecological perspective that moves beyond human physical and mental health to one that includes familial, communal, national, international and global ecological health. Active living is crucial to healthy lifestyles and leads to potentially greater participation in fishing and hunting.

The report was developed by the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies’ North American Conservation Education Strategy under contract with Cottrell & Associates: Environmental Consulting. Designed by experts from state fish and wildlife agencies, the North American Conservation Education (CE) Strategy delivers unified, research-based Core Concepts and messages about fish and wildlife conservation, translated into K-12 academic standards to shape students’ environmental literacy, stewardship and outdoor skills. The Core Concepts identify what every citizen should know, feel and do related to fish and wildlife conservation.

Funding for the report was provided by the Multistate Conservation Grant Program, which is supported through special excise taxes on hunting, shooting, archery and angling equipment, a tax on boating fuels and license fees paid by America’s hunters and anglers.

The white paper can be downloaded from http://www.fishwildlife.org/pdfs/BenefitsofOutdoorSkills_WhitePaper_11-2010.pdf.

NFHAP Meets Objectives Set for 2010 & More

The National Fish Habitat Action Plan (NFHAP) met its ambitious objectives for 2010. When the Action Plan was enacted in 2006, the following four objectives were set to be completed by 2010:

> Conduct a condition analysis of all fish habitats within the United States by 2010.

> Identify priority fish habitats and establish Fish Habitat Partnerships targeting these habitats by 2010.

> Establish 12 or more Fish Habitat Partnerships throughout the United States by 2010.

> Prepare a “Status of Fish Habitats in the United States” report in 2010 and every five years thereafter.

Through a cooperative arrangement with Michigan State University, the NFHAP Science and Data team completed a full habitat condition analysis of all streams in the lower 48 states. The Michigan State University team also completed initial habitat risk assessments for rivers in Hawaii and Alaska.

On the coastal side, scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have completed a complementary habitat risk assessment for coastal waters in the lower 48 states and southeastern AK. These assessments are the first of their kind, portraying the condition of habitat nation-wide and at the individual river level.

> Read More


NFHAP Inducted into Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame
NFAHP has been inducted into the Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame for 2011. The Action Plan joins 41 other groups inducted since 2000 including the other three 2011 inductees Fargo-Moorhead Chapter of Walleyes Unlimited, Kennebec Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited and the Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation. The Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame (http://www.freshwater-fishing.org/) is located in Hayward, WI.

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.