The refuge system has been engaged in the effort to increase hunting and fishing on refuges for years – especially since the implementation of the refuge improvement act. Huge sums of money are spent on facilitating hunting, as well as trying to improve recruitment to the sport. Perhaps this recommendation is unattainable, due to changes [...]

This is a great recommendation. There is a tendency in the FWS to focus only on big landscape level projects where land is cheap, or no people live. Any system needs to take into account the relative importance of protection and partnering in specific ecoregions of the country. Also, need to recognize the reality that [...]

Great recommendation. The answer to this issue is not to recycle the same old directives, as the Directorate did late last year. Not visionary. The answer is to support efforts like YCC, CDIP, and others to get diverse folks exposed to the work of NWRS and FWS. Keep it simple. YCC is a great community [...]

Great recommendation! If the efforts to communicate that are evident in the online portion of this conference are any indication – you are well on your way to improvements.

The entire FWS could benefit from implementing this recommendation across the board. However, it will take a real willingness to make significant change that improves our ability to do work on the ground. The reason that the Blackfoot Challenge is so successful is because the PFW effort is based in NWRS. This should be the [...]