The 2007 Teaming with Wildlife Fly-In Day proved to be a wild success with over 155 participants from 43 states, making this the largest fly-in day ever. Over half of these states were represented by National Wildlife Federation Affiliates. Participants traveled to our nation's capitol to talk to their Members of Congress about the importance of the State Wildlife Grants Program and the need for increased funding for wildlife conservation. At this year's fly-in we also celebrated the national Teaming with Wildlife Coalition's growth to over 5,000 member organizations, making TWW the largest coalition in conservation history.

The Fly-In began on Tuesday, February 28th with a lobbying training session for participants. Global Warming legislation was a key topic on the agenda as climate change will have negative impacts on wildlife. Teaming with Wildlife supports the inclusion of wildlife funding as part of any global warming bill to help facilitate wildlife management strategies that will enable species to survive. Click here for a fact sheet on wildlife and global warming.

Matt Hogan and Naomi Edelson of the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies stand with a bald eagle about to take flight on the steps of the U.S. Capitol.

On Wednesday we took our celebration public with a spectacular event on the Capitol Steps. Nashville artist Adrienne Young performed America the Beautiful as a bald eagle soared from the Capitol across a clear blue sky towards the Washington Monument. NWF and affiliates spent the rest of the day visiting with Members of Congress to talk about the importance of State Wildife Grants and their own states' Wildlife Action Plans.

Later than evening, Larry Schweiger, CEO of the National Wildlife Federation, was Master of Ceremonies for the annual Wildlife Reception. Schweiger joined several NWF affiliates to present awards to Members of Congress who have been strong supporters of wildlife conservation. Awards were given to: Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID), Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE), Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA), Rep. Jim Saxton (R-NJ), Rep. Ron Kind (D-WI), Rep. Robin Hayes (R-NC), Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), and Lynn Scarlett, Deputy Secretary of the Department of Interior for supporting the State Wildlife Grants Program. Awards were also presented to Rep. John Dingell (D-MI), for long history of supporting wildlife conservation and Rep. Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD), for his inclusion of wildlife conservation funding in recently-introduced global warming legislation.

Thursday’s Teaming with Wildlife Coalition Summit provided an opportunity to learn from each other’s successes and unveil plans for the year ahead. For many, the day’s highlight came when the Teaming with Wildlife Steering committee presented ten awards to coalitions that led the way with creative ideas in categories like “Best Media Work,” “Most Effective Coalition Core Group” and “Best Outreach to Land Trusts.” These states represent early adopters of tactics we hope every state will embrace; that’s why we’ve summarized the tactics behind each award in fact sheet: “Great Moments in Coalition History.”