Improving Leadership Skills of Conservation Professionals or Be a Better Conservation Leader on Your Own

The Wildlife Society (TWS) is accepting applications for its Leadership Institute. Applications are due by March 7, 2008. More information is available on The Wildlife Society Web pages.

From the Web page about the Institute:

"From May through September, the ten members participate in a variety of distance learning and hands-on projects, which include reading and interpreting leadership materials, presenting to peer groups, working collaboratively with each other, leading discussions, and developing summary documents regarding professional leadership."

Another opportunity is the National Conservation Leadership Institute. Applications are due by May 31, 2008. A promotional video is available about the program. Their Web page describes the purpose of the National Institute as:

"We are facing a crisis in conservation! The significant loss of baby boomers who provide leadership in the organizations which manage the conservation of our nation’s natural Resources requires immediate and careful attention. Research studies confirm this reality: Between 2004 and 2015, more than 77% of state fish and wildlife senior leadership will retire! More than one-half of Senior Executive Service employees of federal natural resource agencies will retire by 2007! And this alarming trend mirrors that of NGOs and corporate sectors."

Don't think you can't improve your skills if you can't participate in these opportunities. Leadership skills can be learned and require effort and practice. You can improve your leadership skills or do great works for nature even if you are not focused on a conservation career. One way to start is by learning more about leadership by reading the articles in the Leader to Leader Journal, many of which are available online. You can browse through the catalog of authors to find leadership articles that interest you.

Or, simply practice leadership by doing something for fish, forests, and wildlife. You can learn about how to help nature through the opportunities on the Web pages of the Missouri Department of Conservation. There is also information about how you can provide education to young people about conservation.

Census Atlas of the United States Has Insights for Conservation in Missouri

The U.S. Census Bureau has recently published the Census Atlas of the United States, which is a collection of maps and information about population and housing.

The individual chapters are large files to download, but contain useful insights for fish, forest, and wildlife management in Missouri.

In Chapter 2, the population distribution chapter, I was interested to see the trend for Missouri of increasing population in the major cities and southern part of the state. This is also confirmed in Chapter 14, about housing, in that the dates of housing construction are most recent in the same areas. The northern part of the state has a trend of declining population.

Increasing areas of construction in the past has generally indicated more impacts on habitat and water quality, which can alter the health of fish, forests, and wildlife.

You can read more about what you can do in your neighborhood and community to support fish, forests, and wildlife on the Web pages of the Missouri Department of Conservation and in the community conservation items in the strategic plan of the Department.

Census of Agriculture for Missouri Farmers and Ranchers

The Census of Agriculture is being conducted now. Completed forms are due by February 4, 2008. The Census of Agriculture is conducted every five years and is a complete count of the nation's farms, ranches, and the people who operate them.

For the first time, producers have the option of completing the Census forms online.

I use the information from the Census all the time to better understand what is happening in Missouri for land use and ownership trends, economics of agriculture, and the characteristics and production practices of farmers and agricultural operations.

The Census is the only source of comprehensive agricultural data for every county in Missouri.

If you have an agricultural activity or operation, you can participate in the Census by signing up on the Census of Agriculture Web pages.

A summary for Missouri from the 2002 Census is available and you can look up summaries for each county in Missouri.

Author Richard Louv at Missouri Natural Resources Conference Speaks About Getting Children and Adults Outdoors

Author Richard Louv spoke today at the Missouri Natural Resources Conference. He talked about the importance of getting children, and adults, outdoors. Louv has more information about his books and efforts on his Web pages. He included as he talked a message of the positive benefits that will result in the future as more people experience and rediscover nature and the outdoors.

Lorna Domke writes about Louv in her blog, Fresh Afield and notes how the Missouri Department of Conservation has programs to help children and families experience nature.

I also thought about the hunter education classes, taught by volunteer instructors in Missouri, that provide hunters of all ages the basic skills needed to go outside and hunt safely.

In addition, I listened to a talk in the afternoon about the Go Fish program of the Missouri Department of Conservation, presented by Denise Otto.

All of these efforts help to accomplish three things that Louv said are important:

1. Get information about nature, the outdoors, and outdoor activities to parents.
2. Encourage and help parents to go outside into nature with their children (this also helps the health of parents).
3. Institutions and organizations must help parents with support and information so they can take their children outside into nature.

Louv reminded the audience that many of them probably remember outdoor experiences as a child. I remember going outside as a child. I still go outside for a wide variety of outdoor activities. Those are great memories and experiences that have provided me with lifelong skills and interests. Surely spending all that time outdoors helped my health as well.

There are many ways to experience nature. You can find more information about where to go in Missouri on the Web pages of the Missouri Department of Conservation and the Department of Natural Resources.

Go outside!

Using Blogs and Social Media to Communicate Conservation Information in Missouri

The Missouri Natural Resources Conference is an annual conference in Missouri that is sponsored by four professional resource management societies.

On Thursday, January 31, 2008, I'll make a presentation at the conference about using blogs and social media to communicate conservation information.

You can view the program and more information on the conference Web page.

In the presentation, I'll show examples of blogs being used in business, government, and conservation. I'll highlight some of the online videos on Youtube from the Missouri Department of Conservation. I'll define a few terms about social media, like what a blog is, and some of the social media services like Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, Wikipedia, del.icio.us, Facebook, and MySpace.

Although I'll only mention the growing level of Internet use from recent surveys, this presentation at the Pew Internet and American Life Project has useful and insightful statistics about adult and youth Internet use.

I'm looking forward to the response and questions I might receive after the presentation at the conference.

Your Opinion Counts for Deer Management in Missouri

Your opinion certainly counts for the staff of the Missouri Department of Conservation. The Department of Conservation wants to hear from Missouri hunters about their opinions for deer management in Missouri. A series of 16 public meetings are being conducted to allow anyone the opportunity to provide comments. There will be two meetings in each of the Department's eight regions throughout the state.

You can read about the meetings on the Department's Web pages.

You can provide comments online if you can't attend a meeting.

You can hear about deer management efforts and why the Department wants to hear from hunters from online videos posted by Department staff on YouTube and MySpaceTV.

You can read about the meetings and efforts on the Department's blog, Fresh Afield.

You can read about the effort from an online fact sheet that includes a mailing address and comment card.

You can contact a regional office at the locations described on the Department's Web pages.

The video on YouTube:




And on MySpaceTV:

Deer Management Public Forums - 2008

Add to My Profile More Videos

Planning for Conservation Success in Missouri

Recently, I paid my 2008 dues for several conservation organizations. I pay to support these organizations because of their plans for conservation and for the success they hope to achieve. I believe one of the greatest conservation benefits of these organizations is how communication is enhanced between members and with others. You can help conservation in Missouri and throughout the world by supporting one or more of the many groups that do conservation work.

For example, some groups that I support include:

The Conservation Federation of Missouri
The Missouri Chapter of The Wildlife Society
The Wildlife Society
Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society
The International Association for Society and Natural Resources

Many more organizations that do conservation work are listed on the pages of the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and the many groups listed as affiliates of the Conservation Federation of Missouri.

You can also support conservation in Missouri through the Missouri Conservation Heritage Foundation or the Missouri Department of Conservation.

The Vision for Conservation in Missouri

Recently, a University of Missouri class asked some questions about the vision statement of the Missouri Department of Conservation.

In answering their questions, I was reminded of two statements from John F. Kennedy. Kennedy spoke at Rice University in Texas on September 12, 1962 about landing a man on the moon. In the speech, Kennedy stated, referring to his vision of landing a man on the moon:

"...because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win..."

and later in the speech,

"But if I were to say, my fellow citizens, that we shall send to the moon, 240,000 miles away from the control station in Houston, a giant rocket more than 300 feet tall, the length of this football field, made of new metal alloys, some of which have not yet been invented, capable of standing heat and stresses several times more than have ever been experienced, fitted together with a precision better than the finest watch, carrying all the equipment needed for propulsion, guidance, control, communications, food and survival, on an untried mission, to an unknown celestial body, and then return it safely to earth, re-entering the atmosphere at speeds of over 25,000 miles per hour, causing heat about half that of the temperature of the sun--almost as hot as it is here today--and do all this, and do it right, and do it first before this decade is out--then we must be bold."

The words of Kennedy help define for me how a vision statement can be useful. I particularly like the phrase "that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills..." because I believe that was the intent of the Missouri citizens in 1936 when they crafted the language in the Missouri Constitution that is the basis for the Missouri Department of Conservation vision statement. The Department of Conservation vision provides a picture of the desired outcome and the ideal to be used to measure accomplishments.

In addition, Kennedy reinforced the role of a vision to focus and align efforts when he said "made of new metal alloys, some of which have not yet been invented..." Although the Department's vision statement is a picture of future success, it takes work, and thought, and innovation to achieve that success. Particularly innovation, since the challenges of both the current and future landscape in Missouri are not entirely known. Expertise and knowledge help to reduce uncertainty in the work to achieve a vision, but there are still unknown and unexpected events.

The vision statement of the Missouri Department of Conservation is:

"To have healthy, sustainable plant and animal communities throughout the state of Missouri for future generations to use and enjoy, and to have fish, forest and wildlife resources in appreciably better condition tomorrow than they are today.

To have all Missourians understand the relationship and value of plant and animal communities to our social and economic well-being.

To have citizens and government agencies work together to protect, sustain, enhance, restore or create sustainable plant and animal communities of local, state and national significance."

You can find more information on the Department of Conservation Web pages about the vision and mission statements of the Department of Conservation, the strategic plan The Next Generation of Conservation, and the Department's value statements "What We Believe."