June 21, 2012

Fish and Game announces Wildlife Summit

By Niels Nokkentved, IDFG

The Idaho Wildlife Summit will be Aug. 24 – 26, at the Riverside Hotel in Boise and six concurrent satellite sites in Coeur d'Alene, Lewiston, Salmon, Twin Falls, Pocatello and Idaho Falls.

People also may participate online.

The event will span the state, allowing residents to participate and to interact in real time - from Pocatello to Coeur d'Alene, from Boise to Salmon. The purpose is to involve as many people as possible in helping set the direction for wildlife management in Idaho.

The Summit will start Friday afternoon, continue through Saturday and end Sunday noon. The aim of the event is to bring together diverse interests to find common ground, and ultimately build a broader base of support for wildlife conservation.

The federal funds that now support a lot of what Idaho Fish and Game does, are likely to stop growing or decline, Fish and Game Director Virgil Moore said.

"The responsibility for meeting the needs in Idaho are going to fall more squarely and appropriately on the shoulders of Idahoans and the people who use the resources in Idaho," Moore said.

The Summit will feature presentations by Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter; Shane Mahoney, a biologist and prominent spokesman for wildlife conservation from Newfoundland in eastern Canada; by Toni Hardesty, a former director of the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality and now director for The Nature Conservancy-Idaho; and by Jim Posewitz, founder of Orion The Hunter's Institute.

"The Wildlife Summit provides wildlife advocates a unique opportunity to hear from top wildlife authorities and to help set the stage for the future of wildlife management in Idaho," said Commissioner Randy Budge, Idaho Fish and Game Commission chairman-elect.

Throughout the event, booths at all seven sites staffed by Fish and Game employees will be open to provide information about the breadth of activities of Idaho Fish and Game.

Registration and participation is free. For information go online to http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/summit/.

Moore and Budge also will discuss the Summit on Idaho Public Television's call-in Dialogue program on June 14. For details go online to http://idptv.state.id.us/ or check local television listings.