News & Commentary
October Wildlife Commission Meetings
Speak up for wildlife at October Wildlife Commission Meetings.
October Wildlife Commission Meetings
October brings another round of wildlife commission meetings—and another round of opportunities for the public to push back against business-as-usual management.
From Washington to Colorado to New Hampshire, commissions are deciding policies that affect the lives of wildlife, the fate of their habitat, and the future of whole ecosystems. Too often, those decisions still elevate politics and industry demands over science, values, and the voices of the broader public.
These meetings don’t grab national headlines, but they’re where the rules that govern our wild neighbors are written. That makes public participation essential. Whether you testify, submit comments, or simply attend, your presence sends a message: wildlife deserves governance rooted in science, democracy, and coexistence—not outdated, kill-first policies.
Below you’ll find the full list of October wildlife commission meetings by state and date. Our Resources Page and Advocacy Toolkit are here to help you prepare. Let’s show commissions across the country that the public is paying attention—and demanding change.
Ohio
Meeting Date: October 1
Location: Wildlife District 1 Office, 1500 Dublin Rd., Columbus, OH
Details: Click here for agenda and details
Notes: Meeting begins at 6 p.m. Comments for open forums during Ohio Wildlife Council meetings must be about a current rule proposal. If you have a topic that is not a current rule proposal, please email the council with your comment or question or speak to a council member before or after a meeting. If the topic falls within the wildlife, fish, or law section, feel free to reach out at our open houses or email the Division of Wildlife at wildinfo@dnr.ohio.gov. Speakers must register by 5:00 p.m. the Monday before the meeting. The attached Public Comment Form will need to be completed and submitted to wildlife.council@dnr.ohio.gov. Along with the form, submit any handouts you plan to provide. Speakers are limited to 3 minutes. There will be a maximum of ten speaker slots available. PowerPoint presentations are not permitted.
Louisiana
Meeting Date: October 2
Location: LDWF Headquarters, Joe L. Herring Room, 2000 Quail Drive, Baton Rouge, LA 70808
Details: Click here for meeting details
Notes: A live audio/video stream of this meeting will be available via Zoom. To view via webinar, register here.
Missouri
Meeting Date: October 2-3
Location: MDC Headquarters, 2901 W Truman Blvd., Jefferson City, MO 65102
Details: Click here for agenda and details
Notes: Any person who would like to comment to the Commission about a specific agenda item must make a written request to the Director at least four calendar days prior to the meeting. The time allotted for public comment and the number of speakers will be at the Commission’s discretion. Background documents related to open meeting agenda items are available for public viewing at Conservation Department Headquarters, Jefferson City, for eight calendar days prior to the meeting. Any person who would like to comment to the Commission about a specific agenda item must make a written request to the Director at least four calendar days prior to the meeting. Recording the open meeting is permissible, pursuant to any guidelines established by the Commission to minimize disruption to the meeting. Individuals wishing to record the open meeting by audiotape, videotape, or other electronic means should notify the Director at least four calendar days prior to the meeting so accommodations for such recording can be made. To view livestream of the open meeting, or to watch recordings of past meetings, go to http://on.mo.gov/2nodPJU
Oklahoma
Meeting Date: October 6
Location: Roman Nose State Park – Roman Nose Hall 3236 S. HWY 8A Watonga, OK 73772
Details: Click here for agenda and details. (Note no agenda as of 10/1)
Notes: Meeting starts at 10 a.m. Read more on their website. This meeting is scheduled to be streamed live and recorded at www.youtube.com/user/outdooroklahoma. This meeting with present the state’s 2025 State Wildlife Action Plan.
Indiana
Meeting Date: October 7
Location: Fort Harrison State Park, The Garrison, 6002 North Post Road, Indianapolis, IN
Details: Agenda was not available when this webpage was published. Keep checking this webpage for details.
Notes:10 a.m. ET/9 a.m. CT. All meeting agendas are posted a week prior to the meeting.
California
Meeting Date: October 8-9
Location: East End Complex Auditorium, 1500 Capitol Avenue, Sacramento, CA 95814
Details: Click here for agenda and details
Notes: Wednesday, 9:00 a.m.; Thursday, 8:30 a.m. Commission meetings are live-streamed (also referred to as a live webcast) with full audio and video. If you simply want to observe the meeting, but do not wish to comment on any item, we encourage you to view the live webcast available at www.fgc.ca.gov. How to join (if you plan to provide comment). More on all meetings in 2025.
Iowa
Meeting Date: October 8-9
Location: Allamakee County; no other details available as of 10/1
Details: Click here for details (note no agenda was available at time of webpage publishing.)
Notes: The meeting starts at 10 a.m. Comments regarding agenda items may be submitted for public record to Alicia.Plathe@dnr.iowa.gov or 6200 Park Ave Ste 200, Des Moines IA 50321 up to 24 hours prior to the business meeting.
Colorado
Meeting Date: October 9
Location: Embassy Suites by Hilton Loveland Conference Center, 4705 Clydesdale Pkwy, Loveland, CO 80538
Details: Click here for agenda and details
Notes: Meeting starts at 8:30 a.m.. Written comments will be accepted at any time. However, to ensure sufficient time for consideration prior to the meeting, comments should be provided to the Division of Parks and Wildlife by noon on Friday, 10/3. Email the commission (though these won’t be counted in the official public record if received after noon on 10/3).
Michigan
Meeting Date: October 9
Location: Michigan Technological University, Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts,1400 Townsend Drive, Houghton, Michigan 49931
Details: Click here for agenda and details.
Notes: 8:30 a.m. Coffee with Commissioners, 9:30 a.m. meeting. Persons registering to provide comments on a topic listed on the agenda on or before the Friday preceding the meeting will be allowed up to 5 minutes for their comments. Persons registering to comment on a topic not listed on the agenda, after the Friday preceding the meeting, or at the meeting will be allowed up to 3 minutes. If you are unable to attend the meeting but wish to submit written comments on agenda items, please write to Natural Resources Commission, P.O. Box 30028, Lansing, Michigan 48909, or email nrc@michigan.gov. Read more on the Commission website.
Montana
Meeting Date: October 9
Location: Montana WILD Auditorium and virtually via Zoom
Details: Click here for agenda and details.
Notes: Meeting starts at 8:30 a.m. Public comments will be accepted on the following proposals through September 30. Public comment willl be offered during the meeting. In-person comments can be made at the meeting venue or at any FWP Regional Office throughout the state. Comment can also be made to the Commission virtually through Zoom. You must register to comment via Zoom by noon on October 8.
Nebraska
Meeting Date: October 9-10
Location:Eagle View Group Lodge at Niobrara State Park 89261 522 Ave, Niobrara, NE
Details: Click here for meeting agenda and details. Agenda for informational session.
Notes: Meeting starts at 8 a.m. Interested persons may attend and testify orally or by written submission at the public hearing. Interested persons or organizations may submit written comments prior to the hearing, which will be entered into the hearing record if they: 1) include a request to be included as part of the hearing record; 2) include the name and address of the person or organization submitting the comments; and 3) are received by Sheri Henderson at the Lincoln office, 2200 North 33rd Street, Lincoln, NE 68503-0370. It is unclear if the meeting will be livestreamed and if virtual participation is possible.
South Dakota
Meeting Date: October 9-10
Location: Lemmon
Details: Click here for agenda and details
Notes: October 9, 1 p.m. – 5 p.m. CT | October 10, 8 a.m.-12 p.m. CT. To join via conference call, dial 1.669.900.9128 | Webinar ID: 912 6417 6710 | Passcode: 970458. Zoom meeting link. Livestream watch link. Meeting materials here. Inform Gail Buus at gail.buus@state.sd.us by 1 pm CST if you plan to speak during the meeting. Testifiers should provide their full names, whom they are representing, city of residence, and which proposed topic they will be addressing. Written comments can be submitted here. Here are guidelines for submission. To be included in the public record, comments must include full name and city of residence and meet the submission deadline of seventy-two hours before the meeting (not including the day of the meeting).
Hawai’i
Meeting Date: October 10
Location: 1151 Punchbowl St. Room 132 (Kalanimoku Building), Honolulu, Hawai‘i
Details: Meeting agendas are posted at least 6 days prior to the date of the meeting but an agenda for this month was not available when this webpage was posted. Keep checking back on this webpage.
Notes: Meeting starts at 9.a.m. Attend in person and arrive at least 15 minutes prior to the meeting start time in order to add your name to the sign-in sheet. To speak virtually, email blnr.testimony@hawaii.gov. Include your name and the agenda item on which you would like to testify. Once your request has been received, you will receive an email with the Zoom link. Requests may be also made during the meeting. Meetings will be livestreamed at: https://youtube.com/c/boardoflandandnaturalresourcesdlnr. To submit a comment, email blnr.testimony@hawaii.gov no later than 24 hours prior to the scheduled meeting to ensure time for BLNR Member review.
Oregon
Meeting Date: October 10
Location: ODFW Headquarters Classroom, 4034 Fairview Industrial DR SE, Salem, OR 97302
Details: Click here for details and agenda
Notes: Commission meetings begin at 8:30 a.m. and proceed chronologically through the agenda. If you wish to receive written materials prepared for any of the agenda items, please contact the Director’s Office in Salem at (503) 947-6044 or email ODFW.Commission@odfw.oregon.gov to request a packet for those items that interest you. Members of the public can view a livestream of the meeting via the agency’s YouTube channel or on the Commission page. Members of the public may also view a livestream of this meeting at ODFW Headquarters, 4034 Fairview Industrial Drive SE, Salem. Comment and testimony are limited to 3 minutes or less. Submit written comments and/or register to speak virtually. Those who would like to provide virtual testimony must register no less than 48 hours in advance to receive a testimony link to the meeting. To provide testimony on an agenda item in-person, registration will be available at the meeting. To provide in-person public comment, fill out a “Witness Registration” form available at the meeting. To provide testimony virtually or in-person during Public Forum you must contact the Director’s office no less than 48 hours (8 a.m. Wednesday June 11) in advance of the meeting for approval. Meeting is livestreamed here.
Maryland
Meeting Date: October 15
Location: Department of Natural Resources Wildlife and Heritage Service, 580 Taylor Avenue, Tawes State Office Building, E-1, Annapolis MD 21401
Details: Click here for agenda and details. (Note no agenda was posted at time of webpage publishing.)
Notes: Google Meet available for virtual participation. Note: Unless notified otherwise, all meetings will be held via Google Meet. When meeting in person, they will be held in the C-4 Conference Room of the Department of Natural Resources—Tawes State Office Building beginning at 10:30 a.m. Available parking is located at the Navy Stadium Parking Lot. Send written comments to wac.dnr@maryland.gov.
Vermont
Meeting Date: October 15
Location: National Life Dewey Conference Room, 1 National Life Drive, Montpelier, VT 05620
Details: Click here for agenda and details (note no agenda posted as of 10/1)
Notes: Meeting starts at 5 p.m. Unclear how to comment or speak either virtually or in person. Full meeting schedule for 2025 is here.
Arkansas
Meeting Date: October 15-16
Location: Little Rock
Details: Click here for agenda and details (no agenda posted as of 10/1)
Notes: Unclear how to speak at meetings or provide virtual testimony or written comments. 2025 meeting schedule is here. Archive of 2025 meetings is here. Watch the meeting on YouTube.
North Carolina
Meeting Date: October 15-16
Location: Commission Room, 5th Floor, 1751 Varsity Drive, Raleigh, NC
Details: Click here for agenda and details. No agenda available as of 10/1.
Notes: Committees meet October 15. The board will meet at 9 a.m. on October 16. Members of the public may join in person or via Zoom by registering in advance: https://ncwildlife-org.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_xjCQTSxSTKSmnoBdmDsYlw.
Tennessee
Meeting Date: October 16-17
Location:Region II Office, Ellington Agricultural Center, Nashville, TN
Details: Click here for agenda and details (note no agenda is available at the time of webpage publishing)
Notes: Meeting starts at 1 p.m. on August 21 and 9 a.m. on August 22. No agenda listed and it is unclear how to watch remotely, or how to provide comments.
New Hampshire
Meeting Date: October 21
Location:Fish and Game Headquarters, 11 Hazen Drive in Concord, NH
Details: Click here for agenda and details
Notes: Meetings are generally at 1 p.m. on the third Tuesday of every month. Meetings of the NH Fish and Game Commission are open to the public, unless otherwise noted.
New Jersey
Meeting Date: October 21
Location: Assunpink Wildlife Management Area – Central Region Office, Large Conference Room,1 Eldridge Rd., Robbinsville Twp, NJ 08691
Details: Click here for details and agenda for joint meeting with Endangered and Nongame Species Council.
Notes: The public is welcome to attend and participate in the public portion of each meeting. Meeting starts at 10 a.m. and will be held both in person and via GoToMeeting (audio only). Call in: +1 (312) 757-3121 | Access Code: 848-342-077. Per the website, public comments may be made in person or online and will be limited to 3 minutes per person. More information about the Commission is on its website, including a meeting guide and how to connect. For help, contact Kristen.Meistrell@dep.nj.gov.
Wisconsin
Meeting Date: October 21-22
Location: TBD; not available at time of webpage publishing
Details: Click here for agenda and meeting details (note no agenda is available at time of website publishing).
Notes: The Natural Resources Board will meet in-person. Remote testimony from the public via Zoom may be accepted for this meeting. In person public appearances are also welcome. Members of the public can submit their request to testify remotely, in person, or their written comments by the posted deadline date for Board consideration, typically one week before the meeting date. Watch live on YouTube. Please contact Ashley Bystol, NRB Liaison, at 608-267-7420 or by email at DNRNRBLiaison@wisconsin.gov with NRB-related questions, to request information, submit written comments or to register to testify at a meeting.
Massachusetts
Meeting Date: October 22
Location: MassWildlife Field Headquarters, 1 Rabbit Hill Road, Westborough, Massachusetts
Details: Click here for agenda and details (per the website, the agenda will be posted here no later than 2 business days before the meeting.)
Notes: Meeting starts at 3 p.m. Attendees can go in person or join via Zoom, Passcode: 363636. Or join via telephone: Join via audio: (929) 205-6099, Webinar ID: 891 3204 1442, Passcode: 363636. Anyone wishing to be placed on the agenda to speak at the monthly business meeting must begin by notifying the Board in writing 2 weeks prior to the Board meeting; for more detailed information, contact Susan Sacco.
Ohio
Meeting Date: October 22
Location: Wildlife District 1 Office, 1500 Dublin Rd., Columbus, OH
Details: Click here for agenda and details
Notes: Meeting begins at 6 p.m. Comments for open forums during Ohio Wildlife Council meetings must be about a current rule proposal. If you have a topic that is not a current rule proposal, please email the council with your comment or question or speak to a council member before or after a meeting. If the topic falls within the wildlife, fish, or law section, feel free to reach out at our open houses or email the Division of Wildlife at wildinfo@dnr.ohio.gov. Speakers must register by 5:00 p.m. the Monday before the meeting. The attached Public Comment Form will need to be completed and submitted to wildlife.council@dnr.ohio.gov. Along with the form, submit any handouts you plan to provide. Speakers are limited to 3 minutes. There will be a maximum of ten speaker slots available. PowerPoint presentations are not permitted.
South Carolina
Meeting Date: October 23
Location:107-108 Botany Bay Conference Room at Headquarters at 260 D. Epting Lane, West Columbia, SC 29172 – at State Farmer’s Market complex off of Highway 321
Details: Click here for agenda and details (no agenda available at time of webpage posting)
Notes: Meeting starts at 10 a.m. Anyone wishing to make comments to the Board please email your name and topic to board@dnr.sc.gov at least 24 hours in advance. Contact Sandy Rucker 803-734-9102 or ruckers@dnr.sc.gov for assistance.
Virginia
Meeting Date: October 23
Location: 7870 Villa Park Dr, Suite 400, Henrico, VA 23228
Details: Click here for agenda and details (note no agenda or details besides location and time were available at time of webpage publishing)
Notes: Meeting starts at 9 a.m. Public comment on agenda items and non-agenda items are welcome at any regularly scheduled Board or Board Committee meeting. Please see the meeting schedule for dates and additional details. The following committees meet at 9 a.m. on October 22: Finance, Audit, and Compliance; Education, Planning and Outreach; Wildlife and Boat; and Law Enforcement.
Hawai’i
Meeting Date: October 24
Location: 1151 Punchbowl St. Room 132 (Kalanimoku Building), Honolulu, Hawai‘i
Details: Meeting agendas are posted at least 6 days prior to the date of the meeting but an agenda for this month was not available when this webpage was posted. Keep checking back on this webpage.
Notes: Meeting starts at 9.a.m. Attend in person and arrive at least 15 minutes prior to the meeting start time in order to add your name to the sign-in sheet. To speak virtually, email blnr.testimony@hawaii.gov. Include your name and the agenda item on which you would like to testify. Once your request has been received, you will receive an email with the Zoom link. Requests may be also made during the meeting. Meetings will be livestreamed at: https://youtube.com/c/boardoflandandnaturalresourcesdlnr. To submit a comment, email blnr.testimony@hawaii.gov no later than 24 hours prior to the scheduled meeting to ensure time for BLNR Member review.
Washington
Meeting Date: October 24
Location: Virtual only
Details: Click here for agenda and schedule details (no agenda available at time of webpage publishing)
Notes: Registration for those wishing to provide virtual comments closes at 5 p.m. the day before the meeting begins. Registrants will be called upon and typically have 3 minutes to speak. If you are unable to participate, you can submit your comments on the Commission contact page. If you haven’t pre-registered and wish to attend and speak in person, complete a Public Testimony Form, available at the registration table. The form must be submitted at least 15 minutes prior to the beginning of the agenda item you wish to testify on.
Delaware
Meeting Date: October 28
Location: TBA, Dover, DE
Details: Click here for agenda (not posted at time of webpage publishing) and details
Notes: Meeting starts at 7 p.m. This will be a hybrid meeting with an in-person option at the Little Creek Hunter Education Center and a virtual option via Teams. To join virtually via Teams, click here and enter this Meeting ID: 238 526 838 982 6 and Passcode: ph3QR6vF. To join by phone (audio-only) dial 1-302-504-8986 and enter code 938331860#. For more information, contact Joe Rogerson at Joseph.Rogerson@delaware.govor 302-739-9912.
Georgia
Meeting Date: October 28
Location: DNR Board Room, 2 Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive, SE Suite 1252 East, Atlanta, GA 30334.
Details: Click here for details. (note the meeting agenda was not available at time of webpage publishing)
Notes: Meeting starts at 9 a.m. Watch online here. Here is the full 2025 meeting schedule.
Missouri
Meeting Date: October 30-31
Location: MDC Headquarters, 2901 W Truman Blvd., Jefferson City, MO 65102
Details: Click here for agenda and details (note: no agenda available at time of posting)
Notes: Any person who would like to comment to the Commission about a specific agenda item must make a written request to the Director at least four calendar days prior to the meeting. The time allotted for public comment and the number of speakers will be at the Commission’s discretion. Background documents related to open meeting agenda items are available for public viewing at Conservation Department Headquarters, Jefferson City, for eight calendar days prior to the meeting. Any person who would like to comment to the Commission about a specific agenda item must make a written request to the Director at least four calendar days prior to the meeting. Recording the open meeting is permissible, pursuant to any guidelines established by the Commission to minimize disruption to the meeting. Individuals wishing to record the open meeting by audiotape, videotape, or other electronic means should notify the Director at least four calendar days prior to the meeting so accommodations for such recording can be made. To view livestream of the open meeting, or to watch recordings of past meetings, go to http://on.mo.gov/2nodPJU
Stop the Barred Owl Massacre – Take Action Today
Tell Congress: Vote YES to nullify the billion-dollar, 500,000 owl kill plan and stop the barred owl massacre. Demand humane, science-based wildlife management and real habitat protection now.
ACTION ALERT: Stop the Billion-Dollar Massacre of Native Owls
Tell Congress: Vote YES to Nullify the Barred Owl Kill Plan
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has officially launched a war on native wildlife. Their plan? Spend up to $1.35 billion in taxpayer dollars over the next 30 years to kill half a million barred owls—a native species protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act for over a century.
Why? Because these owls are competing for habitat with their close cousins, the threatened northern and California spotted owls.
This plan is cruel, costly, futile—and proof that our system of wildlife governance is deeply broken.
Instead of protecting biodiversity by conserving habitat and addressing root causes of decline—like logging, climate change, and mismanagement—our government is proposing the mass killing of one native species to avoid actually protecting habitat to help spotted owls. It’s a dangerous precedent that treats wildlife as enemies to be eliminated, not as beings worthy of coexistence and compassion.
This is not conservation. This is failure.
At Wildlife for All, we’ve long warned that our wildlife governance system is outdated, undemocratic, and too often driven by lethal control and special interests. The Barred Owl Management Strategy is a perfect example:
- A native species is targeted for extermination.
- The “solution” is inhumane and scientifically unsound.
- Public opposition is ignored.
- And powerful agencies act as judge, jury, and executioner—with no meaningful accountability.
Thankfully, bipartisan leaders in both the Senate (S.J. Res. 69) and the House (H.J. Res. 111) are taking action to nullify this reckless plan. Support is building rapidly, with 435 organizations — including Wildlife for All and 35 local Audubon chapters in California, Oregon, and Washington — speaking out against this massacre. Now it’s up to us to make sure Congress follows through.
TAKE ACTION
Contact your two U.S. Senators and your Representative TODAY. Urge them to vote YES on S.J. Res. 69 and H.J. Res. 111 to nullify the Barred Owl Management Strategy.
- Send a letter using this form.
- Then call the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121, give your ZIP Code, and ask to speak with your members of Congress. Tell them:
“I’m a constituent and I strongly urge you to support the Congressional Review Act resolutions (S.J. Res. 69 and H.J. Res. 111) to stop the billion-dollar barred owl kill plan. This cruel and unworkable strategy is not conservation — it’s a government-sponsored slaughter of native owls.”
Killing barred owls won’t save their close cousins, the spotted owls, like this one pictured.
Why This Matters
Your action today signals that the public is watching and demanding change, creating the momentum needed for both state and federal reform. On the whole, this plan is:
- Unworkable: Killing 30 barred owls for every spotted owl won’t solve habitat loss. Barred owls will quickly recolonize cleared areas—creating an endless cycle of killing.
- Expensive: One recent grant put the cost at $3,000 per owl. That’s $1.35 billion for a plan destined to fail.
- Inhumane: Shooters using night scopes in national parks will orphan chicks, terrify wildlife, and likely kill spotted owls by mistake.
- Ethically indefensible: The role of government is not to “manage” social competition between wild animals. This is ecological arrogance at its worst.
This federal failure also underscores why state-level wildlife governance reform is urgent. Federal agencies often defer to state wildlife boards when setting management priorities, and most of those boards are still dominated by hunting and industry interests. When state commissions treat lethal control as the default “solution,” it gives cover for federal agencies to follow suit. Reforming state systems to be democratic, science-based, and accountable—so that all wildlife and all people have a voice—is the only way to break this cycle of kill-first policies.
By modernizing state governance, we build the foundation for federal policy that protects habitat and coexists with wildlife instead of scapegoating it. Federal agencies often lean on state wildlife boards when setting management priorities, and most of those boards remain dominated by hunting and industry interests. When state commissions treat lethal control as the default “solution,” it gives cover for federal agencies to follow suit.
Every public comment, every call to a legislator, every op-ed chips away at that status quo. Lawmakers and commissioners are tracking public pressure in real time as Congress considers the owl resolutions and as state commissions draft next year’s policies. Reforming state systems to be democratic, science-based, and accountable—so that all wildlife and all people have a voice—is the only way to break this cycle of kill-first management.
This is bigger than owls. This is about who gets to decide who lives or dies, and whether our wildlife agencies act in the public’s interest or cling to outdated, violent models of management.
Watch: Chinook Salmon Returning to the Klamath River
Watch: Chinook salmon returning to the Klamath River in this video from ODFW.
Salmon Returning to Klamath River’s Upper Reaches for the First Time in a Century
For the first time in more than a hundred years, a Chinook salmon has been filmed leaping past Keno Dam on Oregon’s upper Klamath River. The video, captured September 24 by a monitoring camera installed only the day before, shows the fish clearing the final pool of the fish ladder—a single flash of silver that carries generations of history.
This lone salmon is more than a remarkable sight. It’s proof that a river can heal when we remove the barriers. Just one year after four massive hydroelectric dams came down on the Klamath—the largest dam-removal and river-restoration project in the world—salmon are again reaching habitat long denied to them.
A Historic Homecoming
The Klamath once hosted one of the West Coast’s greatest salmon runs, feeding Indigenous nations and nourishing entire ecosystems. But early-20th-century dams blocked more than 400 miles of spawning grounds, collapsing fish populations and depriving Tribes of a central food source and cultural touchstone. Salmon are keystone species: their annual migrations carry ocean nutrients deep into mountain watersheds, feeding everything from bears and eagles to riparian forests themselves. When the fish disappeared, entire food webs suffered.
The sight of a single fish may seem small, but it signals something profound. Salmon have not had access to these upstream waters since the early 1900s, when a series of hydroelectric dams—J.C. Boyle, Copco No. 1, Copco No. 2, and Iron Gate—cut off more than 400 miles of their historic spawning habitat. Those dams ignored the treaty rights of the Yurok, Karuk, and Klamath Tribes, whose cultures and diets depended on abundant salmon. The removal of the dams is not only an ecological triumph; it is also a partial restoration of those long-violated rights.
Last year, the J.C. Boyle, Copco No. 1, Copco No. 2, and Iron Gate dams were finally removed after decades of organizing led by the Yurok, Karuk, and Klamath Tribes and their allies. The four massive dams, ranging from 33 to 172 feet tall, were dismantled over the past year in the largest dam removal project in U.S. history. Crews executed a controlled drawdown of the reservoirs to prevent downstream flooding, managed decades of accumulated sediment, and began large-scale revegetation efforts. Already, native willows and sedges are sprouting in the former reservoir beds, early signs of a river reclaiming its banks.
The tribes’ victory restored the river’s natural flow and reopened ancient migration corridors. Tribal leaders describe the removal as an act of justice as much as ecology—repairing a wound that state and federal policies inflicted for more than a century.
Now, a single Chinook clearing Keno Dam signals the next chapter. Most of the best spawning habitat lies upstream of Keno and Link River dams and Upper Klamath Lake. For salmon to return here so soon is a testament to their resilience—and to the persistence of the people who fought for this river.
Challenges Await Salmon Returning to the Klamath River
The journey isn’t over. Salmon still must navigate Link River Dam, cross Upper Klamath Lake’s sometimes-poor water quality, and find cool, clean tributaries for spawning. Irrigation diversions, unscreened canals, and climate-driven drought add to the obstacles. The lake poses challenges of its own: recurring toxic algae blooms, fueled in part by agricultural runoff, can degrade water quality and threaten fish health.
State and federal agencies, Tribes, and conservation groups continue to monitor the run and restore habitat throughout the watershed, as well as water quality, so these first pioneers will not be the last. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, in partnership with the tribes, is already expanding habitat surveys and considering new fish-passage solutions at the remaining barriers.
Climate change adds another layer of complexity. Warming river temperatures, reduced snowpack, and unpredictable precipitation patterns are shifting migration timing and stressing cold-water species like salmon. Their resilience—returning so quickly once the barriers were removed—underscores both the urgency of climate adaptation and the importance of free-flowing rivers.
Despite these hurdles, the first Chinook at Keno renews hope. Last year, more than 500 adult fall-run Chinook successfully spawned below the former dam sites—the first confirmed reproduction in Oregon’s portion of the Klamath Basin in over a century.
A Lesson for the West
The Klamath River restoration proves that bold action works. For a century, Western water policy favored cheap power and irrigation over living rivers and Indigenous rights. The removal of these four dams shows another way: we can right historic wrongs, revive fisheries, and safeguard biodiversity in an era of climate stress.
Other watersheds are watching closely. From the Snake River in Washington to the Eel River in California, communities are weighing whether to remove aging dams that no longer justify their ecological costs. The Klamath River’s rebirth shows what’s possible when communities confront hard truths about water management, honor Indigenous leadership, and commit to bold restoration.
A flash of silver in a fish ladder might seem small. But as that single salmon pushes past the last pools of a long-blocked ladder, it carries with it a promise: rivers can heal, and with them, the cultures and species that depend on their flow.
Mexican Wolf Genetic Diversity Declines for Fourth Straight Year
Wildlife for All joins 29 other organizations in calling for change after a new analysis showed that the genetic diversity of Mexican wolves declined for the fourth year in a row.
For Immediate Release, September 18, 2025
Mexican Wolf Genetic Diversity Declines for Fourth Straight Year
30 Wildlife Organizations Urge Reforms to Curb Losses, Restore Genes
SILVER CITY, N.M.— Thirty conservation organizations today urged wildlife agencies to take science-based actions to protect Mexican gray wolves after a new analysis showed that the endangered species’ genetic diversity declined for the fourth year in a row.
In a letter to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Arizona Game and Fish Department and New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, the groups requested that government agencies release wolf families because the captive population has 37% more genetic diversity than the wild population.
They also asked state and federal officials to stop removing genetically valuable wolves from the wild and allow Mexican gray wolves to mate with northern gray wolves, as they did for millennia.
“Mexican wolves won’t recover unless agencies restore as much genetic diversity as can be salvaged from what’s already been squandered,” said Michael Robinson, a senior conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Federal and state agencies need to stop killing wolves with important genes and start releasing captive breeding wolves in family packs to give wolves the best chance at survival and recovery.”
The last release of a captive-born, well-bonded pair of wolves with their pups occurred in 2006. Those family packs were overwhelmingly successful. Genetic diversity peaked in 2008 after some of those pups matured and bred.
“Resuming family group releases from Saving Animals From Extinction partners like us is the best way to address this genetic crisis,” said Regan Downey, director of education and advocacy at the Wolf Conservation Center. “The release of the Meridian pack in 2006, whose matriarch flew to the Southwest from our New York facility, provided much-needed diversity and proved once again that captive-born family groups can survive on the wild landscape — they just need the chance. So, let’s give it to them.”
Captive-born pups have been taken from their mothers and released into wild wolves’ dens shortly after their springtime births since 2016. But just 24 of 99 pups released through 2023 are known to have survived through the end of their birth year.
“The wild lobo population needs genetic help, and releasing family packs of wolves from captivity is clearly the best way to provide that,” said Chris Smith, wildlife program director for WildEarth Guardians. “Cross-fostering pups makes for heart-warming stories and cute photos, but it is an inadequate strategy to recover Mexican wolves.”
Since April the agencies have removed seven genetically rare wolves by shooting a pregnant female in Arizona and a pup in New Mexico, capturing alive four more wolves in an Arizona pack and killing one of their pups. Snipers are working now to kill the adult son of the slain pregnant Arizona female. In today’s letter, the conservationists asked the agencies to spare remaining genetically valuable wolves.
“The Mexican gray wolf is on the brink because of failed federal and state policies that are actively dismantling lobo recovery,” said Michelle Lute, Ph.D. in wolf conservation and executive director of Wildlife for All. “Science is clear: wolves recover in family packs, not as orphaned pups or isolated individuals. Ensuring full protection for every wolf across their historic range — and halting reckless removals — is the only way this iconic carnivore will survive past our lifetime. Anything less is willful negligence that risks extinction.”
“The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service needs to really step up for Mexican wolves to ensure that these highly endangered animals recover and thrive — they cannot do that without every effort to maximize genetic diversity in the wild population of wolves,” said Sandy Bahr, director for Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon chapter. “That is why we have for years consistently asked for wolf families with important genetics to be released together and for these agencies to stop removing or killing wolves that contribute to that genetic diversity.”
The conservation groups are also asking the agencies to stop relocating Mexican wolves who travel north of Interstate 40 and northern gray wolves who travel southward. The letter says wolf subspecies always merged at the edges of their ranges and that now, with genetic diversity so low, Mexican wolves desperately need to occasionally mate and raise pups with northern wolves.
“Restricting wolves at I-40 undermines both science and recovery. Genetic resilience depends on natural dispersal, where wolves select mates and establish territories across landscapes as they have for millennia,” said Claire Musser, executive director of the Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project. “Wolves must be recognized as active agents in their recovery, not passive subjects of management boundaries.”
The adverse genetic figures that prompted today’s letter were presented at a recent meeting of zoos and other captive-breeding institutions.
“If not addressed, the ever-dropping diversity of the lobo genome will ultimately doom the Mexican gray wolf,” said Mary Katherine Ray, wildlife chair for the Rio Grande chapter of the Sierra Club. “Now that wolf howls have been restored to the canyons and forests of the Southwest, losing them a second time because of human destruction and mismanagement would be shameful and tragic.”
“Mexican gray wolves have the least gene diversity of all North American gray wolf populations. Natural selection in response to changing environmental conditions, also known as evolution, can only work if there are multiple gene forms to select from. Mexican wolves have many gene loci that have only one gene form remaining, which precludes natural selection for that trait. Many of these lost genes could be restored through carefully managed crossbreeding with other gray wolf subspecies, yet the managing agencies refuse to consider this option and refuse to explain why,” said David Parsons, former Mexican gray wolf recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Both captive and wild Mexican wolves stem from just six animals captured decades ago in Mexico and one in Arizona. All others from their unique subspecies are believed to have been killed, largely through an eradication campaign by the U.S government. Mexican wolves suffer from lower reproductive rates, nasal carcinomas and congenitally fused toes, all tell-tale signs of inbreeding. Increasing genetic diversity could help alleviate these problems and give them a fighting chance at true recovery.
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Take Action for the Lobos
Every email matters. Add your voice today and tell the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and state wildlife agencies to keep wolf families together, stop the killings, and let these animals roam and choose their mates—just as they have for millennia. Send a message in your own words to mexicanwolfcomments@fws.gov. Public pressure works: it’s the reason Asha and her family were released. Let’s make sure every Mexican gray wolf has the chance to live wild and free
September Wildlife Commission Meetings
Speak up for wildlife at September Wildlife Commission Meetings.
September Wildlife Commission Meetings
September is here, and so are new chances to stand up for wildlife where it matters most: in the states.
This month, wildlife commissions from Vermont to Wisconsin to Oregon are weighing decisions that will shape the future of countless species. Once again, many proposals on the table put politics and special interests ahead of science, ethics, and ecological health.
Wildlife commission meetings may not make national headlines, but they’re where some of the most consequential choices for wildlife are made. Your voice—through testimony, written comments, or simply showing up—can hold these agencies accountable and remind decision-makers that the public demands a just, science-based approach to wildlife governance.
Below you’ll find the full list of September wildlife commission meetings by state and date. Our Resources Page and Advocacy Toolkit are always available to help you prepare. Together, we can show commissions across the country that the public is watching—and we won’t stay silent.
Arkansas
Meeting Date: September 3
Location: Little Rock
Details: Click here for agenda and details
Notes: Unclear how to speak at meetings or provide virtual testimony or written comments. 2025 meeting schedule is here. Archive of 2025 meetings is here. Watch the meeting on YouTube.
Arizona
Meeting Date: September 4
Location: Eagar Town Hall, 22 W 2nd St, Eagar, AZ 85925
Details: Click here for agenda and details
Notes: Meeting location opens at 7:45 a.m. Meeting begins at 8:00 a.m. Lunch Break at 12:00 p.m. The public may attend the meeting in person or view the meeting at www.azgfd.gov/commissioncam or may listen to the meeting by calling 404-397-1516, Access code: 280 046 234##. Members of the public may view the meeting from any Department Regional Office and the Department’s Headquarters via video teleconference. Members of the public attending in person wanting to speak on a specific agenda item may submit Speaker Cards (Blue Cards) if they wish to speak to the Commission and may only address the Commission by attending in person or from any regional office. Copies of any presentations, documents, etc. discussed during the meeting will be available by contacting sprice@azgfd.gov. No discussion or action will be taken by the Commission on topics raised in public comment. Any items requiring further discussion or action will be included on a future Commission meeting agenda.
South Dakota
Meeting Date: September 4-5
Location: Outdoor Campus West | Rapid City, SD
Details: Click here for agenda and details
Notes: September 4, 1 p.m. – 5 p.m. MT | September 5, 8 a.m.-12 p.m. MT. To join via conference call, dial 1.669.900.9128 | Webinar ID: 912 6417 6710 | Passcode: 970458. Zoom meeting link. Livestream watch link. Meeting materials here. Inform Gail Buus at gail.buus@state.sd.us by 1 pm CST if you plan to speak during the meeting. Testifiers should provide their full names, whom they are representing, city of residence, and which proposed topic they will be addressing. Written comments can be submitted here. Here are guidelines for submission. To be included in the public record, comments must include full name and city of residence and meet the submission deadline of seventy-two hours before the meeting (not including the day of the meeting).
Action: South Dakota is formalizing a mountain lion hunt with loosened regulations despite an overwhelming amount of public comments in opposition.
Louisiana
Meeting Date: September 5
Location: LDWF Headquarters, Joe L. Herring Room, 2000 Quail Drive, Baton Rouge, LA 70808
Details: Click here for meeting details
Notes: A live audio/video stream of this meeting will be available via Zoom. To view via webinar, register at: https://wlf-la.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_6aqbjirbT5WkoQFh9jMj3A
Pennsylvania
Meeting Date:September 5
Location: PGC Headquarters – 2001 Elmerton Avenue, Harrisburg, PA 17110
Details: Click here for agenda and details
Notes: 10:00 am – Public Comment, 10:30 am – Staff Reports, 11:00 am – Formal Agenda. Public comment is accepted in person only on a first-to-register, first-to-speak basis. Watch live on YouTube.
Colorado Office Hours with Commissioner Jack Murphy
Meeting Date: September 6
Location:Barr Lake State Park Nature Center – Education Room, 13401 Picadilly Rd., Brighton, CO 80603
Details: Commissioner hours with Jack Murphy
Notes: 1-4 p.m. In person only. No registration required.
Oklahoma
Meeting Date: September 8
Location: Roman Nose State Park – Roman Nose Hall 3236 S. HWY 8A Watonga, OK 73772
Details: Click here for agenda and details.
Notes: Meeting starts at 10 a.m. Read more on their website. This meeting is scheduled to be streamed live and recorded at www.youtube.com/user/outdooroklahoma. This meeting with present the state’s 2025 State Wildlife Action Plan.
New Jersey
Meeting Date: September 9
Location: Assunpink Wildlife Management Area – Central Region Office, Large Conference Room,1 Eldridge Rd., Robbinsville Twp, NJ 08691
Details: Click here for details and agenda
Notes: The public is welcome to attend and participate in the public portion of each meeting. Meeting starts at 10 a.m. and will be held both in person and via GoToMeeting (audio only). Call in: +1 (312) 757-3121 | Access Code: 848-342-077. Per the website, public comments may be made in person or online and will be limited to 3 minutes per person. More information about the Commission is on its website, including a meeting guide and how to connect. For help, contact Kristen.Meistrell@dep.nj.gov.
Maine
Meeting Date: September 10
Location:353 Water Street, Room 400, Augusta, ME
Details: Click here for agenda
Notes: Meeting starts at 9:30 a.m. Those wishing to attend remotely (Microsoft Teams) please contact Becky.Orff@maine.gov for log in information.
Wyoming
Meeting Date: September 10-11
Location: Lander Community and Convention Center, 950 Buena Vista Drive
Details: Click here for agenda and details.
Notes: This meeting will be conducted in person and via Zoom. Please note there are different links for each day. If you wish to speak to the Commission and comment on an agenda item in person, please complete the comment form provided at the meeting. If you wish to speak to the Commission and comment on an agenda item via Zoom, please submit an Advanced Agenda Item Comment Form, which is attached to the agenda to toni.bell2@wyo.gov.
September 10: Open Session begins at approximately 1:00 p.m. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89520465254 Webinar ID: 895 2046 5254 September 11: Open Session begins at 8:00 a.m. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86297184636 Webinar ID: 862 9718 4636
California
Meeting Date: September 11
Location: California Natural Resources Headquarters Building 715 P Street, 2nd Floor Sacramento, CA 95814
Details: Click here for agenda and details
Notes: Meeting starts at 10 a.m. Commission meetings are live-streamed (also referred to as a live webcast) with full audio and video. If you simply want to observe the meeting, but do not wish to comment on any item, we encourage you to view the live webcast available at www.fgc.ca.gov. How to join (if you plan to provide comment). More on all meetings in 2025.
Iowa
Meeting Date: September 11
Location: Unknown, no agenda posted at time webpage was published
Details: Click here for details (note no agenda was available at time of webpage publishing.)
Notes: The meeting starts at 10 a.m. Teleconference: 442-242-3609 ; PIN: 883 789 392# Video Conference: meet.google.com/sco-mbns-qva. Comments regarding agenda items may be submitted for public record to Alicia.Plathe@dnr.iowa.gov or 6200 Park Ave Ste 200, Des Moines IA 50321 up to 24 hours prior to the business meeting.
Michigan
Meeting Date: September 11
Location: Lansing Community College Downtown Campus, Michigan Room 1st Floor 600 North Grand Avenue Lansing, Michigan 48933
Details: Click here for agenda and details.
Notes: Parking on 1st Floor in ramp. 9:30 a.m. meeting start. Persons registering to provide comments on a topic listed on the agenda on or before the Friday preceding the meeting will be allowed up to 5 minutes for their comments. Persons registering to comment on a topic not listed on the agenda, after the Friday preceding the meeting, or at the meeting will be allowed up to 3 minutes. If you are unable to attend the meeting but wish to submit written comments on agenda items, please write to Natural Resources Commission, P.O. Box 30028, Lansing, Michigan 48909, or email nrc@michigan.gov. Read more on the Commission website.
Oregon
Meeting Date: September 12
Location: Ontario, location TBD
Details: Click here for details; agenda not posted at time of webpage publishing
Notes: Commission meetings begin at 8 a.m. and proceed chronologically through the agenda. If you wish to receive written materials prepared for any of the agenda items, please contact the Director’s Office in Salem at (503) 947-6044 or email ODFW.Commission@odfw.oregon.gov to request a packet for those items that interest you. Members of the public can view a livestream of the meeting via the agency’s YouTube channel or on the Commission page. Members of the public may also view a livestream of this meeting at ODFW Headquarters, 4034 Fairview Industrial Drive SE, Salem. Comment and testimony are limited to 3 minutes or less. Submit written comments and/or register to speak virtually. Those who would like to provide virtual testimony must register no less than 48 hours in advance to receive a testimony link to the meeting. To provide testimony on an agenda item in-person, registration will be available at the meeting. To provide in-person public comment, fill out a “Witness Registration” form available at the meeting. To provide testimony virtually or in-person during Public Forum you must contact the Director’s office no less than 48 hours (8 a.m. Wednesday June 11) in advance of the meeting for approval.
Hawai’i
Meeting Date: September 12
Location: 1151 Punchbowl St. Room 132 (Kalanimoku Building), Honolulu, Hawai‘i
Details: Meeting agendas are posted at least 6 days prior to the date of the meeting but an agenda for this month was not available when this webpage was posted. Keep checking back on this webpage.
Notes: Meeting starts at 9.a.m. Attend in person and arrive at least 15 minutes prior to the meeting start time in order to add your name to the sign-in sheet. To speak virtually, email blnr.testimony@hawaii.gov. Include your name and the agenda item on which you would like to testify. Once your request has been received, you will receive an email with the Zoom link. Requests may be also made during the meeting. Meetings will be livestreamed at: https://youtube.com/c/boardoflandandnaturalresourcesdlnr. To submit a comment, email blnr.testimony@hawaii.gov no later than 24 hours prior to the scheduled meeting to ensure time for BLNR Member review.
New Hampshire
Meeting Date: September 16
Location:Fish and Game Headquarters, 11 Hazen Drive in Concord, NH
Details: Click here for agenda and details
Notes: Meetings are generally at 1 p.m. on the third Tuesday of every month. Meetings of the NH Fish and Game Commission are open to the public, unless otherwise noted.
Maryland
Meeting Date: September 17
Location: Department of Natural Resources Wildlife and Heritage Service, 580 Taylor Avenue, Tawes State Office Building, E-1, Annapolis MD 21401
Details: Click here for agenda and details. (Note no agenda was posted at time of webpage publishing.)
Notes: Google Meet available for virtual participation. Note: Unless notified otherwise, all meetings will be held via Google Meet. When meeting in person, they will be held in the C-4 Conference Room of the Department of Natural Resources—Tawes State Office Building beginning at 10:30 a.m. Available parking is located at the Navy Stadium Parking Lot. Send written comments to wac.dnr@maryland.gov.
Massachusetts
Meeting Date: September 17
Location: MassWildlife Field Headquarters, 1 Rabbit Hill Road, Westborough, Massachusetts
Details: Click here for agenda and details (per the website, the agenda will be posted here no later than 2 business days before the meeting.)
Notes: Meeting starts at 10 a.m. Attendees can go in person or join via Zoom, Passcode: 135357. Or join via telephone: (929) 205-6099, Webinar ID: 859 4934 2134, Passcode: 135357. Anyone wishing to be placed on the agenda to speak at the monthly business meeting must begin by notifying the Board in writing 2 weeks prior to the Board meeting; for more detailed information, contact Susan Sacco.
Vermont
Meeting Date: September 17
Location: National Life Dewey Conference Room, 1 National Life Drive, Montpelier, VT 05620
Details: Click here for agenda and details
Notes: Meeting starts at 5 p.m. Unclear how to comment or speak either virtually or in person. Full meeting schedule for 2025 is here.
Utah
Meeting Date: September 18
Location: Eccles Wildlife Education Center, 1157 South Waterfowl Way, Farmington, Utah
Details: Click here for agenda and details.
Notes: Unless otherwise noted, all Wildlife Board meetings are on Thursdays at the Eccles Wildlife Education Center, 1157 South Waterfowl Way, Farmington. Board meetings begin at 9 a.m, unless otherwise indicated. Feedback occurs at Regional Advisory Council (RAC) meetings. If you wish to comment during a RAC or Board meeting, you must attend the meeting in person — you may not submit comments online during the meeting. When you come to the meeting, pick up a comment card, fill it out and speak at the podium when your name is called. Find the full schedule here. Agendas and minutes are here. Watch live: https://youtube.com/live/PB0dsu8FmIo
Action: Comment on these presentations, if permitted: Mid-plan Review – Mountain Goat and Bighorn Sheep ACTION – Rusty Robinson, Once-in-a-Lifetime Species Coordinator 8. SER Big Game Management Plans ACTION – Dustin Mitchell, Southeastern Wildlife Manager
RAC Schedule
- Northern Aug. 27, 6 p.m.
- Southern Sept. 2, 6 p.m.
- Southeastern Sept. 3, 6 p.m.
- Northeastern Sept. 4, 6 p.m.
Kentucky
Meeting Date: September 19
Location: #1 Sportsman’s Lane, Frankfort KY and Livestreamed Online
Details: Click here for agenda and details. (Agenda not available at time of webpage publishing.)
Notes:The meeting will start at 8:30 a.m. (ET) in the Administration Building on the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources’ campus in Frankfort. It will be open to the public.The meeting also will be livestreamed and archived on the department’s YouTube channel at youtube.com/FishandWildlifeKY. A link to the livestream also will be posted on the department’s homepage at fw.ky.gov at the start of the meeting. Anyone wishing to address the Commission orally must sign in before the meeting and will have 3 minutes to speak during the public comment. Members of the public may submit emailed comments on Commission business items anytime to FW.PublicAffairs@ky.gov; these comments may include statements of support or opposition, or express concerns or questions. Emailed comments regarding a business item that are received before 5 p.m. at least two days before a scheduled meeting that includes opportunity for public comments may be read by staff during the public comment segment of the meeting. The Commission chair reserves the right to select representative comments to be shared orally or read from emails, subject to availability of time and potentially redundancy of comments.
Georgia
Meeting Date: September 23
Location:Courtyard Jekyll Island is 178 Beachview Drive, Jekyll Island, GA 31527
Details: Click here for details. (note the meeting agenda was not available at time of webpage publishing)
Notes: Meeting starts at 9 a.m. It is unclear how to sign up to speak, submit a comment, or if virtual participation is possible. Here is the full 2025 meeting schedule.
Wisconsin
Meeting Date: September 23-24
Location: TBD; not available at time of webpage publishing
Details: Click here for agenda and meeting details (note no agenda is available at time of website publishing).
Notes: The Natural Resources Board will meet in-person. Remote testimony from the public via Zoom may be accepted for this meeting. In person public appearances are also welcome. Members of the public can submit their request to testify remotely, in person, or their written comments by the posted deadline date for Board consideration, typically one week before the meeting date. Watch live on YouTube. Please contact Ashley Bystol, NRB Liaison, at 608-267-7420 or by email at DNRNRBLiaison@wisconsin.gov with NRB-related questions, to request information, submit written comments or to register to testify at a meeting.
Colorado Office Hours with Commissioner Jess Beaulieu
Meeting Date: September 24
Location: Virtual
Details: Commissioner hours with Richard Reading
Notes:10-11 a.m. No registration required. The Zoom link will be made available closer to the office hours date.
Washington
Meeting Date: September 25-27
Location: Hybrid, Bellingham
Details: Click here for agenda and schedule details (no agenda available at time of webpage publishing)
Notes: Registration for those wishing to provide virtual comments closes at 5 p.m. the day before the meeting begins. Registrants will be called upon and typically have 3 minutes to speak. If you are unable to participate, you can submit your comments on the Commission contact page. If you haven’t pre-registered and wish to attend and speak in person, complete a Public Testimony Form, available at the registration table. The form must be submitted at least 15 minutes prior to the beginning of the agenda item you wish to testify on.
Hawai’i
Meeting Date: September 26
Location: 1151 Punchbowl St. Room 132 (Kalanimoku Building), Honolulu, Hawai‘i
Details: Meeting agendas are posted at least 6 days prior to the date of the meeting but an agenda for this month was not available when this webpage was posted. Keep checking back on this webpage.
Notes: Meeting starts at 9.a.m. Attend in person and arrive at least 15 minutes prior to the meeting start time in order to add your name to the sign-in sheet. To speak virtually, email blnr.testimony@hawaii.gov. Include your name and the agenda item on which you would like to testify. Once your request has been received, you will receive an email with the Zoom link. Requests may be also made during the meeting. Meetings will be livestreamed at: https://youtube.com/c/boardoflandandnaturalresourcesdlnr. To submit a comment, email blnr.testimony@hawaii.gov no later than 24 hours prior to the scheduled meeting to ensure time for BLNR Member review.
Nevada
Meeting Date: September 26-27
Location: Clark County Government Center, 500 S. Grand Central Parkway, Las Vegas, NV 89155
Details: Click here for agenda (coming soon; not up at time of webpage publishing) and details
Notes: Any person who would like to comment to the Commission about a specific agenda item must make a written request to the Director at least four calendar days prior to the meeting. The time allotted for public comment and the number of speakers will be at the Commission’s discretion. Public comment will be taken on each action item following Commission discussion and before any action is taken; links coming once NDOW posts the meeting agenda. Persons attending virtually wishing to comment are invited to raise their virtual hands in the virtual meeting forum during the appropriate time; each person offering public comment during this period will be limited to not more than three minutes.
Cody Roberts Indicted, But Wolves Are Still At Risk
Cody Roberts Indicted, But Wolves Are Still at Risk.
Why We Must Reform Wildlife Governance Now: Cody Roberts’ Wolf Torture Case Reveals Systemic Failings
News broke yesterday that Cody Roberts — the Wyoming man who ran down a young wolf with his snowmobile, taped her mouth shut, and paraded her, still alive, into a bar — has been indicted by a state grand jury on felony animal cruelty charges.
If convicted, Roberts faces up to two years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.
Accountability matters. The cruelty Cody Roberts inflicted on his wolf victim shocked the world, and people demanded justice. But here’s the hard truth: Roberts is just one man. He’s been the face of wolf abuse for over a year, but what he did is still legal in Wyoming — and it happens far more often than most people realize.
In Wyoming and other states, it is perfectly legal to run down wolves and coyotes with snowmobiles. Videos of people glorifying this behavior are just a click away on YouTube. This isn’t one person’s crime. It’s a system designed to make wolves killable by any means necessary.
Punishing one man doesn’t change the system
Every crime committed is also a failure of society to prevent it. Roberts’ actions should never have been possible under state law. Wyoming lawmakers had every chance to act after the world reacted in horror — but they didn’t. In fact, just this spring, the legislature rejected yet another attempt to ban the practice of running over wildlife with snowmobiles.
They saw the outrage. They saw the headlines. And they still refused to act.
That’s because what counts as a “crime” in our legal system is a political choice. Legislators have decided that torturing a dog or a horse is unacceptable, but torturing a wolf or a coyote is business as usual. Those choices reflect power — the ranching and extractive industries that spend heavily to keep wolves and other predators legally excluded from even the most basic protections.
Why the real fight is systemic
Prosecuting Cody Roberts may feel like justice, but it won’t save another wolf. As long as state law explicitly allows “predator whacking,” cruelty will continue.
That’s why we cannot fixate on one man’s punishment at the expense of true systemic change.
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Changing laws closes loopholes. Stronger protections can prevent abuse before it happens.
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Legislation protects more than one wolf. It raises the standard of treatment for all wildlife.
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Policy shifts culture. What lawmakers decide to ban or allow shapes public attitudes about what is acceptable.
Real safety for wolves — and accountability for the human actions that harm them — doesn’t come from individual prosecutions. It comes from collective organizing to force lawmakers to rewrite the rules.
Where do we go from here?
Roberts’ indictment is one step. But the bigger fight is making sure Wyoming — and other states that allow this cruelty — finally change their laws.
The truth is this: every wolf run down by a snowmobile, every predator tortured and left to suffer, is not just the act of one cruel person. It’s the failure of a political system that has chosen not to stop it.
That’s the fight in front of us — and it will take all of us to win.
Join Wildlife for All today. Together, we can end laws that legalize cruelty and demand real protections for wolves and all wildlife.
Jaguar recovery in the Green Corridor is a model for community-driven conservation
A wild jaguar in western Brazil photographed by B. Phalan
In Central and South America, jaguars serve as indicators of environmental quality, their presence signaling a healthy ecosystem. As apex predators, jaguars benefit biodiversity and help prevent overgrazing of vegetation and soil erosion. Due to their large home ranges and need for connected space, many wild cats are umbrella species. This means their habitat conservation benefits a diversity of plant and animal species. Throughout their range, jaguars serve as umbrella species for other wild felines ranging from pumas (a sympatric carnivore) to small housecat-sized southern tiger cats, as habitat protection and coexistence methods apply to them as well.
An Isolated Habitat
In Brazil, the jaguar’s range spans five distinct biomes: Amazon rainforest, Cerrado savannah, semiarid Caatinga shrubland, coastal Atlantic Forest, and the Pantanal wetlands. Of these five, habitat within the Atlantic Forest biome – a corridor bordering the Atlantic Ocean – is the most fragmented and isolated. As apex predators, these big cats have large home ranges and require a lot of space. Camera trapping data in the 2000s estimated a jaguar population density of 2-2.84 jaguars per 100 square kilometers in protected lands across four of the five biomes (the outlier was the Pantanal, which supported a much higher density of 10.3 jaguars per 100 square km). The Atlantic Forest population is of special concern, as jaguar habitat protected from development within the region mainly consists of several small, isolated Indigenous lands and state and national parks.
As a contiguous stretch of forest within a fragmented biome, the Brazil-Argentina Green Corridor is considered the largest and most critical habitat area for jaguars in the Atlantic Forest. This area consists of 457,000 acres of protected land linking two adjacent national parks, Iguazú in Misiones Province, Argentina, and Iguaçu in Paraná, Brazil. It is a subtropical rainforest containing the largest waterfall system in the world, with about 275 individual falls in the area.
The two parks are home to two big cats – jaguars and pumas – as well as numerous butterfly, reptile and bird species including rare harpy eagles. At one time this area had a robust jaguar population estimated at 400-800. However, numbers sharply declined at the end of the 1990s. By 2005, the Green Corridor population dropped down to just 40 jaguars, 5-10% of prior numbers. An “extinction vortex” seemed imminent, especially on the Brazil side of the park, which counted just 9-11 jaguars by 2009.
Why did the jaguars decline?
Threats to jaguars in the southernmost part of their range mirror those in other regions (habitat loss, livestock conflicts, poaching). The highly fragmented nature of the Atlantic Forest adds an additional barrier to their survival. The Brazil-Argentina Green Corridor is isolated from other jaguar populations – meaning genetic diversity is low. Deforestation in Paraná, Brazil (which lost 13% of its forest cover between 2000 and 2020) was a catalyst for the jaguar decline. While pumas are still present throughout Argentina, jaguars are absent from most of their historic range within the country, down to just a handful of isolated holdouts. Loss of land to development and livestock production in the area surrounding the park further isolated this jaguar population.
While jaguars have protections as endangered species in both localities, human conflict can still be a threat. Many people fear jaguars. With wild prey harder to find in fragmented landscapes, jaguars adapted their hunting behavior. The corridor experienced more frequent jaguar interactions with humans and predation on cattle, leading to ranchers killing more jaguars in retaliation while the population declined.
Cross-border Conservation and Coexistence: A Holistic Approach
Fortunately, the jaguars’ outlook has changed for the better. While the spotted cats have not rebounded to historic levels yet, dedicated conservation efforts successfully reversed their decline. Today, there are at least 105 in the corridor, including at least 28 jaguars on the Brazilian side of the park. In addition, another rare species is making a comeback in this region. Conservationists in northeastern Argentina have recently restored giant otters – a critical keystone species – to their waterways. This rewilding effort marks the otters’ first presence in Argentina since their extirpation 40 years ago. This restoration project, along with the jaguar recovery, shows that conservationists are not just protecting what is left, but working to restore what has been lost.
Community initiatives like the Jaguar Crocheteers – local women crocheting jaguar themed crafts – help raise local awareness and funding for conservation efforts. The Green Corridor jaguar recovery effort is spearheaded by Yara Barros, a wildlife biologist and executive coordinator of the Jaguars of Iguaçu Project. She won the 2025 Whitley Award for her efforts, an honor recognizing conservation work in the Global South. In many ways, women have led the way for the jaguar.
The Jaguars of Iguaçu Project emphasizes coexistence, community outreach and engagement, jaguar population monitoring and research, and education campaigns. Yara Barros offers landowners local resources like secure pen building, coexistence training and ranger-rancher patrols to keep cattle safe from jaguar or puma predation. Having options (and jaguar-proof enclosures) mean livestock producers are more likely to reach out to conservation groups for predator deterrents and training, rather than killing jaguars they see on their land.
Barros’ goal is “turning fear into fascination” – changing local perceptions of big cats from a source of fear to an integral part of the ecosystem. “A lot of fear comes from not understanding,” she said in a feature on Mongabay. “When someone calls us saying they saw a jaguar or had an incident, we respond immediately — even in the middle of the night. This builds trust that we’re here to help solve the problem, so they don’t feel they have to kill the jaguar…We want people to stop seeing them as just big cats and start seeing them as a magnificent species that just wants to exist.”
Jaguar conservation work in the Green Corridor is integrative and collaborative:
- Mitigating the financial impact of livestock predation and providing preventative, nonlethal resources
- Conserving land and standing against further deforestation in jaguar habitat
- The creation of a Paraná state action plan for pumas and jaguars in the region addressing threats specific to these species
- Partnership with a local airport (Foz do Iguaçu) to promote environmental sustainability and jaguar conservation awareness
- Local community initiatives like the Jaguar Crocheteers
- Fostering awe, empathy, and fascination for jaguars – not as a resource, but as wild animals with intrinsic value
- Conducting research and collaboratively monitoring jaguars across the two countries to track populations
- Responsible ecotourism – tourists’ desire and curiosity to see wild jaguars can provide more funding for local conservation efforts
Paradigm Shift
On-the-ground conservation work conducted in places like Paraná and Misiones Province sometimes gets overlooked. The Global North often dominates the narrative around conservation science and policy. For instance, state wildlife agencies and organizations often herald and embrace the North American Model (NAM) as “the world’s best and most successful” conservation model for principles that historically helped rescue certain species like pronghorn, bighorn sheep, and bison from extinction. However, the model is limited in scope. The NAM has drawn criticism for its shortcomings – emphasis on game species and hunting, failure to acknowledge or accommodate relevant stakeholders, exclusion of traditional Indigenous knowledge and conservation solutions, and a long history of hostility towards carnivores. The tenets of the NAM uphold an ideology of settler colonialism, utilitarianism, and individualism, reflecting the beliefs of the sport hunters who established it.
The current system of wildlife management in North America has a strong bias in favor of lethal management. This is especially true with carnivores, even when evidence allegedly supporting liberal or unlimited killing – like claims these animals are negatively impacting game species or domestic animals – is overblown or lacking. Despite conflicts being comparatively rare, our native carnivores like wolves and bobcats are frequently persecuted because they are perceived as a threat to these human interests. The ideology NAM promotes views carnivores as primarily “consumptive natural resources” to be “sustainably used” for hunting and trapping opportunities. The underpinning is that these animals exist for our recreation or otherwise require economic value attached to make them worth conserving.
In addition, North American carnivores are frequent targets of killing contests that devalue and demonize them, stemming from insidious cultural biases against these species rather than scientific basis. Just like jaguar ecotourism, however, photographing or viewing wild wolves or bobcats – who inspire fascination and wonder for many – can provide more recurring benefits and conservation awareness. Conservation work centered around coexistence, mutualism, and intrinsic worth of wildlife, while embraced by a growing number of Americans, is not only resisted by the status quo, but viewed as completely antithetical to the NAM. But should it be?
Jaguar conservation in the Brazil-Argentina Green Corridor is an example of reclaiming relationships with wildlife. We can look to this example of community-led, transformative, and restorative efforts for inspiration. Yara Barros’ work is driven by her compassion for jaguars and a desire for others to become enchanted by them. Jaguars and other wild carnivores deserve to be valued for who they are, not just what utilitarian benefits we obtain from them. Rather than dangerous, lurking predators that rouse fear and are viewed as threats, native carnivores can instead be viewed with empathy, understanding and respect.
This article was contributed by Peggy Clark, a Geospatial Science student at Radford University in Radford, Virginia
August Wildlife Commission Meetings
Speak up for wildlife at August Wildlife Commission Meetings.
August Wildlife Commission Meetings
August is here—and so are critical opportunities to stand up for wildlife.
This month, wildlife commissions in Montana, Florida, and Nebraska are weighing decisions that could cause serious harm: from Montana’s aggressive push to kill more wolves, to Florida’s proposed return of the black bear trophy hunt, to Nebraska’s plan to expand mountain lion hunting. These proposals ignore science, ethics, and overwhelming public opposition—and we need to speak out.
Wildlife commission meetings are where these choices are made, and your voice can tip the balance. Whether you attend in person, testify virtually, or submit written comments, your advocacy helps hold these agencies accountable and demand a better future for wildlife.
Below is the full list of August meetings by state and date. And don’t forget—our Resources Page and Advocacy Toolkit are always available to help you prepare. Let’s make it clear: the public is watching, and we won’t stay silent.
Oklahoma
Meeting Date: August 4
Location: Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation 1801 N. Lincoln Blvd. Oklahoma City, OK 73105
Details: Click here for agenda and details.
Notes: Read more on their website. This meeting is scheduled to be streamed live and recorded at www.youtube.com/user/outdooroklahoma.
Maine
Meeting Date: August 6
Location:353 Water Street, Room 400, Augusta, ME
Details: Click here for agenda
Notes: Meeting starts at 9:30 a.m. Those wishing to attend remotely (Microsoft Teams) please contact Becky.Orff@maine.gov for log in information.
Louisiana
Meeting Date: August 7
Location: LDWF Headquarters, Joe L. Herring Room, 2000 Quail Drive, Baton Rouge, LA 70808
Details: Click here for meeting details
Notes: More details coming soon.
Special meeting: The Crab Task Force meets at 10 a.m. Tuesday, August 5 in the Terrebonne Parish Main Library, 151 Library Dr. Houma, LA 70360. To listen in to the meeting via webinar register at: https://wlf-la.zoom.us/
Arizona
Meeting Date: August 8
Location: Little America Hotel, 2515 E Butler Ave, Flagstaff, AZ 8600
Details: Click here for agenda and details
Notes: Meeting location opens at 7:45 a.m. Meeting begins at 8:00 a.m. Lunch Break at 12:00 p.m. The public may attend the meeting in person or view the meeting at www.azgfd.gov/commissioncam or may listen to the meeting by calling 404-397-1516, Access code: 280 046 234##. Members of the public may view the meeting from any Department Regional Office and the Department’s Headquarters via video teleconference. Members of the public attending in person wanting to speak on a specific agenda item may submit Speaker Cards (Blue Cards) if they wish to speak to the Commission and may only address the Commission by attending in person or from any regional office. Copies of any presentations, documents, etc. discussed during the meeting will be available by contacting sprice@azgfd.gov. No discussion or action will be taken by the Commission on topics raised in public comment. Any items requiring further discussion or action will be included on a future Commission meeting agenda.
Hawai’i
Meeting Date: August 8
Location: 1151 Punchbowl St. Room 132 (Kalanimoku Building), Honolulu, Hawai‘i
Details: Meeting agendas are posted at least 6 days prior to the date of the meeting but an agenda for this month was not available when this webpage was posted. Keep checking back on this webpage.
Notes: Meeting starts at 9.a.m. Attend in person and arrive at least 15 minutes prior to the meeting start time in order to add your name to the sign-in sheet. To speak virtually, email blnr.testimony@hawaii.gov. Include your name and the agenda item on which you would like to testify. Once your request has been received, you will receive an email with the Zoom link. Requests may be also made during the meeting. Meetings will be livestreamed at: https://youtube.com/c/boardoflandandnaturalresourcesdlnr. To submit a comment, email blnr.testimony@hawaii.gov no later than 24 hours prior to the scheduled meeting to ensure time for BLNR Member review.
Nevada
Meeting Date: August 11-12
Location: Bristlecone Convention Center & Visitors Bureau, 150 6th Street, Ely NV 89301
Details: Click here for agenda (coming soon; not up at time of webpage publishing) and details
Notes: Any person who would like to comment to the Commission about a specific agenda item must make a written request to the Director at least four calendar days prior to the meeting. The time allotted for public comment and the number of speakers will be at the Commission’s discretion. Public comment will be taken on each action item following Commission discussion and before any action is taken; links coming once NDOW posts the meeting agenda. Persons attending virtually wishing to comment are invited to raise their virtual hands in the virtual meeting forum during the appropriate time; each person offering public comment during this period will be limited to not more than three minutes.
New Jersey
Meeting Date: August 12
Location: Assunpink Wildlife Management Area – Central Region Office, Large Conference Room,1 Eldridge Rd., Robbinsville Twp, NJ 08691
Details: Click here for details and agenda
Notes: The public is welcome to attend and participate in the public portion of each meeting. Meeting starts at 10 a.m. and will be held both in person and via GoToMeeting (audio only). Call in: +1 (312) 757-3121 | Access Code: 848-342-077. Per the website, public comments may be made in person or online and will be limited to 3 minutes per person. More information about the Commission is on its website, including a meeting guide and how to connect. For help, contact Kristen.Meistrell@dep.nj.gov.
Wisconsin
Meeting Date: August 12-13
Location: TBD; not available at time of webpage publishing
Details: Click here for agenda and meeting details (note no agenda is available at time of website publishing).
Notes: The Natural Resources Board will meet in-person. Remote testimony from the public via Zoom may be accepted for this meeting. In person public appearances are also welcome. Members of the public can submit their request to testify remotely, in person, or their written comments by the posted deadline date for Board consideration, typically one week before the meeting date. Watch live on YouTube. Please contact Ashley Bystol, NRB Liaison, at 608-267-7420 or by email at DNRNRBLiaison@wisconsin.gov with NRB-related questions, to request information, submit written comments or to register to testify at a meeting.
Arkansas
Meeting Date: August 13-14
Location: Little Rock
Details: Click here for agenda and details (note no agenda is online at time of webpage publishing).
Notes: Unclear how to speak at meetings or provide virtual testimony or written comments. 2025 meeting schedule is here. Archive of 2025 meetings is here. Watch the meeting on YouTube.
California
Meeting Date: August 13-14
Location: California Natural Resources Headquarters Building 715 P Street, 2nd Floor Sacramento, CA 95814
Details: Click here for agenda and details
Notes: Meeting starts at 10 a.m. Commission meetings are live-streamed (also referred to as a live webcast) with full audio and video. If you simply want to observe the meeting, but do not wish to comment on any item, we encourage you to view the live webcast available at www.fgc.ca.gov. How to join (if you plan to provide comment). More on all meetings in 2025. The Tribal Committee meets 8/12.
Florida
Meeting Date: August 13-14
Location: Florida Public Safety Institute, Conference Center Building, 85 Academy Dr. Havana, FL 32333
Details: Click here for agenda and meeting details
Notes: Meeting starts at 8:30 a.m. each day. Public comments will be accepted in person during the meeting. For in-person comments, please review the speaker registration guidelines at https://myfwc.com/about/commission/. Advance comments are due by 5 p.m. on Friday, May 16. If you would like to provide comments via mail, please send those comments to: FWC Commissioners, 620 South Meridian Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32399.
Action: Oppose a black bear hunt. Despite overwhelming public opposition, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is once again pushing a black bear trophy hunt. This is a politically driven move—not a science-based necessity. Black bears are still recovering from past overexploitation, and the public has made it clear: killing bears for sport has no place in Florida. The Commission is limiting public comment to just two hours, so arrive early and be prepared to speak out. Take action and learn more here.
Iowa
Meeting Date: August 14
Location: Unknown, no agenda posted at time webpage was published
Details: Click here for details (note no agenda was available at time of webpage publishing.
Notes: The meeting starts at 10 a.m. Teleconference: 442-242-3609 ; PIN: 883 789 392# Video Conference: meet.google.com/sco-mbns-qva. Comments regarding agenda items may be submitted for public record to Alicia.Plathe@dnr.iowa.gov or 6200 Park Ave Ste 200, Des Moines IA 50321 up to 24 hours prior to the business meeting.
Kansas
Meeting Date: August 14
Location: Finnup Center for Conservation Education at the Lee Richardson Zoo, 312 E. Finnup Drive, Garden City, KS
Details: Click here for agenda and details.
Notes: Meeting starts at 12 p.m. You can watch and comment via Zoom; register here. Once registered, you will emailed a link to “Join the Meeting.” You will be muted upon entering the meeting. To comment or ask a question, use the “Raise Hand” feature or type your question in the chat function. To call in, dial: 1-877-853-5257. When a meeting ID is requested, enter: 850 1361 0088#. When a participant ID is requested, enter: #. Watch the live video/audio stream at https://ksoutdoors.com/commission-meeting.
Action: Proposed regulations to be voted on:
115-2-1: Amount of Fees Regulation and Economic Impact Statement (EIS)
115-4-4. Big game; legal equipment and taking methods Regulation and EIS
115-25-9. Deer; open season, bag limit, and permits Regulation and EIS
115-25-9a. Deer; open season, bag limit, and permits; additional considerations; military subunits Regulation and Economic
115-25-12. Coyotes; seasons. Regulations and Economic Impact Statement (PDF 546.44 kB)
Michigan
Meeting Date: August 14
Location: Treetops Resort 3962 Wilkinson Rd Gaylord, Michigan 49735
Details: Click here for agenda and details.
Notes: 8:30 a.m. Coffee with Commissioners. 9:30 a.m. meeting. Persons registering to provide comments on a topic listed on the agenda on or before the Friday preceding the meeting will be allowed up to 5 minutes for their comments. Persons registering to comment on a topic not listed on the agenda, after the Friday preceding the meeting, or at the meeting will be allowed up to 3 minutes. If you are unable to attend the meeting but wish to submit written comments on agenda items, please write to Natural Resources Commission, P.O. Box 30028, Lansing, Michigan 48909, or email nrc@michigan.gov. Read more on the Commission website.
Washington
Meeting Date: August 14-16
Location: Hybrid, Bellingham
Details: Click here for agenda and schedule details (no agenda available as of 6/3)
Notes: Registration for those wishing to provide virtual comments closes at 5 p.m. the day before the meeting begins. Registrants will be called upon and typically have 3 minutes to speak. If you are unable to participate, you can submit your comments on the Commission contact page. If you haven’t pre-registered and wish to attend and speak in person, complete a Public Testimony Form, available at the registration table. The form must be submitted at least 15 minutes prior to the beginning of the agenda item you wish to testify on.
New Mexico
Meeting Date: August 15
Location: Los Alamos
Details: Click here for details (no agenda available at time of webpage publishing)
Notes: Meeting starts at 9 a.m. Comment in person by signing up to speak via a card. Register in advance to attend this meeting virtually via Zoom (link TBD; see agenda once posted). After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. The commission may hear verbal public comments from virtual attendees at this meeting. If comments are taken, you will be asked to virtually raise your hand and then acknowledged to speak when it is your turn. A live webcast of this meeting will be available on the commission’s Webcast page and on our YouTube Channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/NMGameandFish. Comments will not be taken on the live webcast or on YouTube.
Oregon
Meeting Date: August 15
Location: Salem, location TBD
Details: Click here for details; agenda not posted at time of webpage publishing
Notes: Commission meetings begin at 8 a.m. and proceed chronologically through the agenda. If you wish to receive written materials prepared for any of the agenda items, please contact the Director’s Office in Salem at (503) 947-6044 or email ODFW.Commission@odfw.oregon.gov to request a packet for those items that interest you. Members of the public can view a livestream of the meeting via the agency’s YouTube channel or on the Commission page. Members of the public may also view a livestream of this meeting at ODFW Headquarters, 4034 Fairview Industrial Drive SE, Salem. Comment and testimony are limited to 3 minutes or less. Submit written comments and/or register to speak virtually. Those who would like to provide virtual testimony must register no less than 48 hours in advance to receive a testimony link to the meeting. To provide testimony on an agenda item in-person, registration will be available at the meeting. To provide in-person public comment, fill out a “Witness Registration” form available at the meeting. To provide testimony virtually or in-person during Public Forum you must contact the Director’s office no less than 48 hours (8 a.m. Wednesday June 11) in advance of the meeting for approval.’
New Hampshire
Meeting Date: August 190
Location: Owl Brook Hunter Education Center, 387 Perch Pond Rd, Holderness, NH
Details: Click here for agenda and details
Notes: Meetings are generally at 1 p.m. on the third Tuesday of every month. Meetings of the NH Fish and Game Commission are open to the public, unless otherwise noted.
Massachusetts
Meeting Date: August 20
Location: MassWildlife Field Headquarters, 1 Rabbit Hill Road, Westborough, Massachusetts
Details: Click here for details (per the website, the agenda will be posted here no later than 2 business days before the meeting.)
Notes: Meeting starts at 10 a.m. Attendees can go in person or join via Zoom, passcode 060655. Or join via audio: (929) 205-6099. Webinar ID: 813 6562 8609. Passcode: 060655. Anyone wishing to be placed on the agenda to speak at the monthly business meeting must begin by notifying the Board in writing 2 weeks prior to the Board meeting; for more detailed information, contact Susan Sacco.
Ohio
Meeting Date: August 20
Location: Wildlife District 1 Office, 1500 Dublin Rd., Columbus, OH
Details: Click here for agenda and details
Notes: Meeting begins at 6 p.m. Comments for open forums during Ohio Wildlife Council meetings must be about a current rule proposal. If you have a topic that is not a current rule proposal, please email the council with your comment or question or speak to a council member before or after a meeting. If the topic falls within the wildlife, fish, or law section, feel free to reach out at our open houses or email the Division of Wildlife at wildinfo@dnr.ohio.gov. Speakers must register by 5:00 p.m. the Monday before the meeting. The attached Public Comment Form will need to be completed and submitted to wildlife.council@dnr.ohio.gov. Along with the form, submit any handouts you plan to provide. Speakers are limited to 3 minutes. There will be a maximum of ten speaker slots available. PowerPoint presentations are not permitted.
Texas
Meeting Date: August 20-21
Location: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Headquarters, Commission Hearing Room, 4200 Smith School Road, Austin, TX 78744
Details: Click here for agenda and meeting details
Notes: Work Session: 9 a.m. Wednesday, May 21, 2025 Commission Meeting: 9 a.m. Thursday, May 22, 2025 Comment online through 5 p.m. May 21 using the links in the meeting agenda. The site reads, “Live streaming video and audio will be available,” but links were not available at time of webpage publishing.
Colorado
Meeting Date: August 21-22
Location: Pueblo Convention Center at 320 Central Main Street, Pueblo, 81003
Details: Click here for agenda and details
Notes: Written comments will be accepted at any time. However, to ensure sufficient time for consideration prior to the meeting, comments should be provided to the Division of Parks and Wildlife by noon on the following date:
August 7, 2025, for mailing by the Division of Parks and Wildlife to the Parks and Wildlife Commission on August 8, 2025. Rulemaking notice. The cutoff to speak online is Friday, August 15 at noon at noon but you can still show up in person to comment or email the commission (though these won’t be counted in the official public record if received after noon on 6/6).
Maryland
Meeting Date: August 21
Location: Department of Natural Resources Wildlife and Heritage Service, 580 Taylor Avenue, Tawes State Office Building, E-1, Annapolis MD 21401
Details: Click here for agenda and details.
Notes: Google Meet available for virtual participation. Note: Unless notified otherwise, all meetings will be held via Google Meet. When meeting in person, they will be held in the C-4 Conference Room of the Department of Natural Resources—Tawes State Office Building beginning at 10:30 a.m. Available parking is located at the Navy Stadium Parking Lot. Send written comments to wac.dnr@maryland.gov.
Montana
Meeting Date: August 21
Location: Montana WILD Auditorium and virtually via Zoom
Details: Click here for agenda and details.
Notes: Meeting starts at 8:30 a.m. Public comments will be accepted on the following proposals through August 4, 2025 with final action to be taken at the August 21 meeting. AMENDMENTS: Public comment will be accepted on any and all amendments through August 14, 2025. Comments must be limited to the content of the amendment. Public comment willl be offered during the meeting. In-person comments can be made at the meeting venue or at any FWP Regional Office throughout the state. Comment can also be made to the Commission virtually through Zoom. Registration for Zoom comment will open on August 6 and will close on August 20 at Noon. A link to register will be posted with the agenda.
Nebraska
Meeting Date: August 21-22
Location: McCook, specific location will be posted with agenda
Details: Click here for meeting agenda and details. Agenda for informational session.
Notes: Meeting starts at 8 a.m. ll interested persons may attend and testify orally or by written submission at the public hearing. Interested persons or organizations may submit written comments prior to the hearing, which will be entered into the hearing record if they: 1) include a request to be included as part of the hearing record; 2) include the name and address of the person or organization submitting the comments; and 3) are received by Sheri Henderson at the Lincoln office, 2200 North 33rd Street, Lincoln, NE 68503-0370. It is unclear if the meeting will be livestreamed and if virtual participation is possible.
Action: The general agenda has mountain lion hunting on the items for discussion.
South Carolina
Meeting Date: August 21
Location:260 D. Epting Lane, West Columbia, SC
Details: Click here for agenda and details (no agenda available at time of webpage posting)
Notes: Meeting starts at 10 a.m. Anyone wishing to make comments to the Board please email your name and topic to board@dnr.sc.gov at least 24 hours in advance. Contact Sandy Rucker 803-734-9102 or ruckers@dnr.sc.gov for assistance.
Tennessee
Meeting Date: August 21-22
Location:Region II Office, Ellington Agricultural Center, Nashville, TN
Details: Click here for agenda and details (note no agenda is available at the time of webpage publishing)
Notes: Meeting starts at 1 p.m. on August 21 and 9 a.m. on August 22. No agenda listed and it is unclear how to watch remotely, or how to provide comments.
Utah
Meeting Date: August 21
Location: Eccles Wildlife Education Center, 1157 South Waterfowl Way, Farmington, Utah
Details: Click here for agenda and details.
Notes: Unless otherwise noted, all Wildlife Board meetings are on Thursdays at the Eccles Wildlife Education Center, 1157 South Waterfowl Way, Farmington. Board meetings begin at 9 a.m, unless otherwise indicated. Feedback occurs at Regional Advisory Council (RAC) meetings. If you wish to comment during a RAC or Board meeting, you must attend the meeting in person — you may not submit comments online during the meeting. When you come to the meeting, pick up a comment card, fill it out and speak at the podium when your name is called. Find the full schedule here. Agendas and minutes are here.
RAC Schedule
- Central July 29, 6 p.m.
- Northern July 30, 6 p.m.
- Southern Aug. 5, 6 p.m.
- Southeastern Aug. 6, 6 p.m.
- Northeastern Aug. 7, 6 p.m.
Virginia
Meeting Date: August 21
Location: 7870 Villa Park Dr, Suite 400, Henrico, VA 23228
Details: Click here for agenda and details (note no agenda or details besides location and time were available at time of webpage publishing)
Notes: Meeting starts at 9 a.m. Public comment on agenda items and non-agenda items are welcome at any regularly scheduled Board or Board Committee meeting. Please see the meeting schedule for dates and additional details. The following committees meet at 9 a.m. on August 20: Finance, Audit, and Compliance; Education, Planning and Outreach; Wildlife and Boat; and Law Enforcement.
Hawai’i
Meeting Date: August 22
Location: 1151 Punchbowl St. Room 132 (Kalanimoku Building), Honolulu, Hawai‘i
Details: Meeting agendas are posted at least 6 days prior to the date of the meeting but an agenda for this month was not available when this webpage was posted. Keep checking back on this webpage.
Notes: Meeting starts at 9.a.m. Attend in person and arrive at least 15 minutes prior to the meeting start time in order to add your name to the sign-in sheet. To speak virtually, email blnr.testimony@hawaii.gov. Include your name and the agenda item on which you would like to testify. Once your request has been received, you will receive an email with the Zoom link. Requests may be also made during the meeting. Meetings will be livestreamed at: https://youtube.com/c/boardoflandandnaturalresourcesdlnr. To submit a comment, email blnr.testimony@hawaii.gov no later than 24 hours prior to the scheduled meeting to ensure time for BLNR Member review.
Delaware
Meeting Date: August 26
Location:Little Creek Hunter Education Training Center, 3018 Bayside Drive, Dover, DE
Details: Click here for agenda (not posted at time of webpage publishing) and details
Notes: Meeting starts at 7 p.m. This will be a hybrid meeting with an in-person option at the Little Creek Hunter Education Center and a virtual option via Teams. To join virtually via Teams, click here and enter this Meeting ID: 238 526 838 982 6 and Passcode: ph3QR6vF. To join by phone (audio-only) dial 1-302-504-8986 and enter code 938331860#. For more information, contact Joe Rogerson at Joseph.Rogerson@delaware.govor 302-739-9912.
Georgia
Meeting Date: August 26
Location: Ft. Yargo State Park, 210 S. Broad St. Winder, GA 30680
Details: Click here for details. (note the meeting agenda was not available at time of webpage publishing)
Notes: Meeting starts at 9 a.m.It is unclear how to sign up to speak, submit a comment, or if virtual participation is possible. Here is the full 2025 meeting schedule.
Stop the Florida Black Bear Hunt
Stop the Florida black bear hunt: The Florida Wildlife Commission needs to hear from you today.
Stop the Black Bear Hunt: Florida’s Wildlife Deserve Protection, Not Exploitation
Florida’s wildlife agency is once again putting politics over science and public will—this time with devastating consequences for the state’s iconic black bears.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is preparing for a final vote on August 13 to reopen the trophy hunt on black bears. That’s right: despite overwhelming public opposition and the agency’s own shameful history with bear hunting, staff are now pushing a proposal that includes some of the most inhumane and reckless methods possible—like using packs of dogs to chase bears for miles (hounding) and piles of bait to lure them into shooting range.
This is not wildlife management. This is cruelty dressed up as conservation.
A Black Bear Hunt the Public Overwhelmingly Rejects
Floridians have made their position clear in more than 13,000 public comments, with 75% opposed to the hunt. Additionally, polling shows:
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81% oppose bear hunting altogether
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89% oppose hounding
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86% oppose baiting
The public hasn’t forgotten what happened last time. In 2015, FWC held a so-called “management hunt” that killed 304 bears in just two days, including many lactating mothers. Their cubs were left to suffer and die. It was a bloodbath—and a national embarrassment.
Now, FWC is poised to make it worse. The current plan doesn’t just allow inhumane tactics; it would also let hunters wait up to 24 hours before reporting kills—amplifying chaos, suffering, and the risk of cubs being orphaned again.
One of the most alarming parts of this proposal? It would hand sole authority over bear hunting quotas to the agency’s executive director, permanently removing Commission oversight and eliminating public input entirely.
FWC staff even admit that black bears are not overpopulated: “While we have enough suitable bear habitat to support our current bear population levels, if the four largest subpopulations continue to grow at current rates, we will not have enough habitat at some point in the future.”
This is a power grab that rigs the system in favor of politically motivated decision-making—and locks out the people bears actually need protection from: trophy hunters, industry groups, and the narrow interests lobbying behind closed doors.
This is a systemic failure of democracy. Wildlife decisions should be grounded in ecological science, ethics, and the values of all Floridians—not just the preferences of a vocal few.
The Commission Can Stop This Black Bear Hunt
The Commission still has a choice. They can stop this before more bears die needlessly. But they need to hear from you. Your voice is crucial. Tell the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to reject this proposal and protect Florida’s black bears from exploitation and cruelty.
➡️ TAKE ACTION: Submit your comment to the Commission now.
SAMPLE COMMENT
Subject: I Oppose the Proposed Black Bear Hunt
Dear Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission,
I am writing to express my strong opposition to the proposed black bear hunt. The vast majority of Floridians—your constituents—have made it clear they do not support this kind of policy. According to your own data, over 80% of the public opposes bear hunting, and even more oppose inhumane practices like hounding and baiting.
This proposal does not reflect sound wildlife management or ecological science. It reflects a system captured by narrow interests that prioritize trophy hunting over conservation, ethics, and the values of everyday Floridians. Wildlife governance should serve the public good—not a small minority of people who want to kill bears for sport.
It is also deeply troubling that the plan would strip the Commission of oversight authority and hand permanent decision-making power to the Executive Director. That change would silence the public and remove crucial checks and balances from a system that is already struggling to earn public trust.
Please reject this proposal. Florida’s black bears deserve protection, not persecution.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your City or County]
Not a Florida resident? Your voice still matters. Florida’s iconic wildlife belongs to all of us—and so do the consequences of reckless management. As a visitor or potential tourist, you have a right to express concern over policies that promote cruelty and undermine Florida’s natural heritage. Tell the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission that trophy hunting, hounding, and baiting tarnish the state’s reputation and threaten the very wildlife many travel to see.
Submit a comment using the above link and let them know: Florida should be a destination for wildlife watching—not wildlife killing.
Then, take the following actions:
- Attend the August 13th FWC meeting in Tallahassee, where the final vote will take place.
- Contact Governor Ron DeSantis and state legislators (Florida House here) to express your views.
- Support or oppose petitions like those hosted by Sierra Club Florida or Change.org.
Together, we can hold decision-makers accountable and defend wildlife from policies that value killing over coexistence.
Losing Don Molde: On Living, Dying, and Loving Anyway
From left to right: Michelle Lute, Fauna Tomlinson, Chris Smith, and Don Molde gather for a photo after advocating for Nevada’s wildlife.
Wildlife for All’s executive director Michelle Lute, PhD, reflects on losing longtime WFA advisor and personal hero Don Molde.
Losing Don Molde: On Living, Dying, and Loving Anyway
Lately I’ve felt overwhelmed by how beautiful and tragically hurt our world is. Joanna Macy said it better: “Between the beauty of this world and the knowledge of what we are doing to it came a luminous and almost unbearable grief.”
I imagine many of you can relate, as working in conservation is a lesson in observing losses. The fireflies that no longer illuminate childhood. The birdsong we don’t wake to. The wildness everywhere that has been silenced, oppressed, subjugated. No matter how long or short our lives are, we’ve all experienced it, witnessed it, grieved it, fought it, and maybe even accepted it.
In one of my more accepting but angrier moments, I recently wrote of my generation: All we inherited was death and stories of abundance so we knew to properly grieve.
But I’m not entirely sure we know how to properly grieve immense losses. Losses that are so incomprehensible they take your breath away. Losses that forever change you as a person: you have who you were before and who you are after, as you continue on without the person you lost.
One of those profound losses hit our Wildlife for All community just last week with the passing of one of our most dedicated and stalwart wildlife advocates, Don Molde. Don was not only a Wildlife for All advisor, but my personal hero and friend. I last visited him in person early in 2024. When I left his house in Reno, I was aware I might not see him again, only because we never know how much time we get to spend together. During that visit, Don and I traded beers and stories. He was as sharp and inspiring as ever, having lived an epically full life filled with demonstrating courageous activism and compassion for the most vulnerable in our society— shelter dogs, incarcerated people, wild horses, cougars, coyotes. I doubt Don ever made an exception. He cared for everyone, even the Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners that he long endeavored to reform.
I also suffered another personal loss in the last two weeks with the passing of my grandmother. She was a true matriarch of our large family and will be greatly missed. Like Don, she lived a full life in service to community. As overwhelmed by grief as I may be in this moment, I know to be grateful for ancestors who taught me so much. I am honored to count Don among my personal ancestors whose guidance I will always seek.
“Between the beauty of this world and the knowledge of what we are doing to it came a luminous and almost unbearable grief.”
—Joanna Macy
Those ancestors now also include the luminary Joanna Macy whom I quoted above, whose long legacy of scholarship has taught countless environmental advocates how to grieve our losses. She explained that grief “turns to reveal its other face, and the other face of our pain for the world is our love for the world, our absolutely inseparable connectedness with all life.”
Now, I realize this might be an odd thing for a biologist to admit, but I don’t really understand living and dying. And yet it’s the most natural thing to do. I spend my days trying to protect all forms of life, and have benefitted from the lessons the great teachers have given us, from Don, Joanna, and my grandmother to the animals that have allowed me to observe their living and dying. If you’ve ever buried a bird, watched a deer disappear into the trees, or met the eyes of a dying animal, you’ve known the sacredness of their lessons. Animals do not shy away from death. They do not deny it. And they keep on living. So I should know what it means to live and what we often consider its opposite, to die. We’re exposed to it all the time, on the news, in the animals that surround us, in English class when we read Shakespeare struggling with it—”Out, out brief candle!”
I know not where life goes when it leaves our ability to observe it. I do know our ancestors are here with us still, though no longer in animated carbon, corporeal bodies. I know that they live on in our hearts and in our minds. I know they feel very near to me when I’m in nature.
Whether you call them ancestors, friends, mentors, family—our lost loved ones are not gone. When we remember how they lived, how they embodied love, and how they continue to inspire us today, we can emulate their example and live in service to each other and the wild community we call home.
So perhaps in a way I do understand living and dying. It’s about loving all we can, while we can. And our departed loved ones, human and more-than-human ancestors, continue to show us how to do that. They are our north stars now.
Last night, I thought I was witness to yet another loss. A fledging sparrow was in my front yard, in a bad way but for reasons I couldn’t tell. I scooped them up, placed them in a quiet box with ventilation, and hoped against hope they’d be alive in the morning for me to take them to the local wildlife rescue. When I checked in the morning, with breath held, steeling myself for a tiny tragedy, I found the baby bird full of life and ready to be released. Perhaps they just needed a little respite for the big chaotic world (I bet many of us can relate). When they hopped away, the entire family of sparrows arrived immediately, chittering at the baby, chittering at me. And for a moment, the world felt again very possible and full of life. And in that moment, I heard Don talking to me, telling me that he’s still here with us in this fight.
May all we live to embody the wisdom, strength and determination of our ancestors, and along with it, the moxie of baby sparrows in a big, bright world.
Grief, Hope, and the Will to Keep Loving This World
If—or more realistically, when—the time comes for you to grieve, whether it’s over the state of the world or a more personal loss, you’re not alone. Some days, the grief arrives as sorrow. Other days, it arrives as rage, numbness, or fatigue. All of it is valid.
“Despite how degraded the world has become, it just keeps on being beautiful. It can’t help it.”
—Nick Cave
Sometimes, we need words. Sometimes, we need silence. And sometimes, it’s good to set the book down, walk yourself somewhere wild, sit quietly, and wait for our animal teachers to show us how to live, die and everything in between.
Below are a few books, essays, and conversations that have helped us at Wildlife for All, and many others, face this world with broken hearts and open eyes:
- Joanna Macy’s Active Hope – A foundational book for grief-tending and transformation. Her teachings remind us that our pain for the world is a reflection of our deep love for it.
- Albert Camus’ body of work – As this blog explains, Camus has a lot of good advice for us in the anxious age of the Anthropocene, including: “Sometimes, carrying on, just carrying on, is the superhuman achievement.”
- Terry Tempest Williams’ Refuge – A raw, luminous meditation on death, illness, and desert ecology. She writes, “Grief dares us to love once more.”
- Terry Tempest Williams’ essay from her book Erosion: Essays of Undoing – The seminal environmental author probes the depth of grief over her brother’s passing, his grief over environmental loss and their shared connection to the land and its protection.
- “Buckeye” by Scott Russell Sanders – A quiet, powerful reflection on mortality and the connection to land, family and all life.
- Nick Cave’s Faith, Hope and Carnage – An extraordinary memoir shaped by the death of his sons. As Cave writes, “Hope is optimism with a broken heart.”
- Hot Take Podcast – Thoughtful, emotionally honest conversations on climate and justice with nuance and heart.
- Project Drawdown – A science-backed plan for climate solutions, showing that we do have the tools—if we choose to act.
- The All We Can Save Project – A beautiful, fierce collection of essays from women climate leaders, offering truth and grounded hope.
- Cristina Eisenberg on Wolves as Teachers – A story about how wolves taught a scientist to listen, learn and live lightly on the land.
