The Wildlife Research Institute and the Western Section of The Wildlife Society are pleased to announce the 2011 Western Raptor Symposium, which will take place in conjunction with the 2011 TWS Western Section Conference at the Riverside Convention Center, Riverside, CA.

The Raptor Symposium is scheduled for all day Tuesday, Feb. 8 and until mid-day Wednesday, Feb. 9. The 1.5 day, intensive and high-level scientific symposium will cover a number of stimulating topics, including Key/Controversial Species Overview and Status; Raptor Biology; Raptor Management and Monitoring; Recent Legal Developments, Hot Topics, & Agency Positions; and Training Tomorrow’s Raptor Biologists. Members of the Wildlife Research Institute may pay the same member rate as Western Section members. Please Note- This symposium will partially overlap with the Fungus Symposium. The agenda for the Raptor Symposium is, essentially, complete with the following highlights: Keynote Address by noted ESA author and Environmental Attorney, Dan Rohlf, on “Protecting Raptors through Law and Policy”

Status on key and controversial raptors (California Condor, Spotted, Burrowing, and other owls, Golden and Bald Eagles, American Kestrel, Ferruginous Hawk)

Update on the impacts of the Altamont Pass Wind Farm on raptors and mechanisms to lessen impacts

Special Department of Interior Session on Recent Changes in the Eagle Act and how the US Fish & Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Land Management are enforcing/implementing them

Raptor Biology, Management, and Monitoring (the latest in Golden Eagle movements and wintering ecology, Burrowing Owl Population Viability Analysis and HCP progress, and Barred Owl-Spotted Owl conflicts)

                    A long-overdue Panel Discussion on “How Do We Train Tomorrow’s Raptor Ecologists?” with participants from agencies, the private 
                    sector and tomorrow’s