The George Bird Grinnell Memorial Award for Distinguished Service to Natural Resource Conservation was recently awarded to Dr. Kenneth Elowe during the annual Conservation Administrators Luncheon at the 89th^th North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Welcome to the April edition of the Outdoor News Bulletin. The most significant thing about the April ONB is that it signifies the North American Wildlife and Natural Resource Conference is in our immediate past. This year’s convening was the 89^th annual event in WMI’s 113-year existence and presented another unique opportunity to build new relationships and strengthen already established ones. Conference week included record attendance, meaningful engagement, and abundant opportunities. The halls and meeting rooms were abuzz with positive energy and enthusiasm all week. We enjoyed great and valuable support from our partner sponsors and had a diverse slate of trade booths sharing insights, tools, and other valuable resources.

Earlier this year, Conservation without Conflict had its 2024 Summit in Arlington, VA. One of the Keynote speakers was Leslie Allison, Executive Director of the Western Landowners Alliance. Her presentation was not only beautiful, but it was impactful. Leslie presented a topic that we do not often talk about in the conservation community. In her presentation titled: “Advancing policies and practices that sustain working lands, connected landscapes and native species,” she highlighted the need to fully incorporate humans and their land use methods into conservation and conservation planning. Her presentation inspired me to write this, capturing her main messages and hopefully inspiring others to act.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced that tests have now confirmed highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A (“H5N1 bird flu”) in 24 dairy herds as of April 10. So far, the virus has been detected on 10 Texas farms, along with five in New Mexico, three in Kansas, two from Michigan, and one each from Idaho, North Carolina, Ohio, and South Dakota. Officials in North Carolina, Michigan, Idaho, and Ohio have connected infections in their states to dairy cows brought in from Texas.

A field study is underway in Alpena County, Michigan, to evaluate the delivery of an oral bovine tuberculosis (bTB) vaccine for wild deer. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is collaborating with Michigan State University (MSU) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service-Wildlife Services (USDA-WS) to explore the development of a new, future tool to manage bTB, which could help to further protect wildlife, livestock, and the public from this disease.

A new set of maps that document the movements of ungulates was released on April 11 in the fourth volume of the Ungulate Migrations of the Western United States. The maps in this collaborative U.S. Geological Survey report series reveal the migration routes and critical ranges used by ungulates, or hooved mammals, in the western U.S., furthering scientists’ understanding of the geography.