2026 Annual MoBCI conference

From our backyards to our shared planet, conservation today is more complex, challenging, urgent, and existential than at any prior point in human history. We are experiencing an era of ecological crisis, struggling with what foundational conservationist Aldo Leopold described as “The oldest task in human history: to live on a piece of land without spoiling it” (“Engineering and Conservation,” 1938). As is always the case, opportunity lies within crisis. We can create a common vision for conservation rooted in values shared across assumed divisions. The perspectives and stories we bring, our small but meaningful actions, the formative natural experiences we create for ourselves and others, and the communities we either coalesce or further fracture will determine the quality of life experienced by those who will follow us – human and otherwise. This discussion of the state of conservation in America today will explore the ways in which intersecting core values of individuals and human communities, social and political shifts, and various incentive structures shape decision-making and environmental outcomes for all species. Karl Malcolm serves as Vice President of Conservation for the Ruffed Grouse Society and American Woodcock Society.

• Mo Ag Wetland Initiative. Neil Baalman, USFWS
• Rice Partnership. Tony Jaco, Ducks Unlimited
• Great Rivers Habitat Alliance: How clubs and agriculture in the confluence can benefit birds. Mike Checkett, Executive Director, Great Rivers Habitat Alliance

• Bottomland agroforestry for the birds: blending foodscapes and flyways. Zack Miller, The Nature Conservancy
• Independent Stave: the spirits industry and the White Oak Initiative. Hank Stelzer, MU Extension
• Sustainable Forestry Pays: Ecological management for bird conservation and working lands. Dana Morris, PhD Chief Ecologist Pioneer Forest

• Penciling out the conservation conversation with farmers. Jason Jenkins, Crops Editor for DTN/Progressive Farmer
• Conservation Ranching and Regenerative Grazing. Dave Haubein, cattle producer
• NRCS Grassland and other conservation related programs available to landowners that benefit birds. Nate Goodrich, NRCS State Conservationist
• Partners for Native Grasslands. Bill White, Conservation Federation of Missouri Grassland Coordinator