By Bob Marshall

Must reading for sportsmen and other conservationists: The draft report of the latest National Climate Assessment.

The Global Change Research Act of 1990 requires an assessment report at least every four years. It is put together by the 60-member federal National Climate Assessment and Development Advisory Committee, whose work was reviewed by the National Academies of Science.

By Chad Love

Lesser prairie chickens are in big trouble. They were—at one time—the most important and probably most numerous gamebird on the southern and central plains. They numbered in the millions and rivaled the bobwhite quail in both numbers, popularity and cultural tradition. Everyone on the southern plains hunted chickens. These days, few hunters are familiar with them. And their decline is probably the most interesting and ultimately tragic upland game conservation story no one has ever heard of.

All the usual suspects are to blame: habitat loss, climate change, booming energy development of both the wind and gas varieties—all have played a part. For example, grasslands are being converted for agricultural production at an absolutely stunning pace. But it's not only these factors. There is also the issue of non-awareness among hunters. The lesser prairie chicken, like most prairie gamebirds, has been on a well-charted long, slow multi-decade decline. Much like the chickens themselves, those who grew up hunting chickens are becoming fewer each year. Coincide that with the fact there are simply fewer new or younger hunters out there now who hunt any upland birds and you start chasing the demographic dragon.

By Bob Marshall

Hooray for the Senate! Both parties!

No, that's not a mistake. I know this space spends more time slapping Congress in the face rather than on the back. But the entire membership of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee deserves a big fat "Attaboy!" for sending three important wetlands and waterfowl conservation measures to the chamber's floor without opposition. They are:

- S. 2282, which reauthorizes the North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA)  through 2017.

As Ducks Unlimited points out, since 1989 NAWCA has leverage $1 billion in federal grants with $3 billion in matching and non-matching fund to conserve more than 25 million acres of habitat on the continent. NAWCA has been a prime target of GOP budget cutters in the House even to the point of elimination for almost two years. But this bi-partisan support from the Senate gives it muscle to survive.