In the highest parts of Arkansas' Ozarks, the slow-moving Magazine Mountain shagreen snail has won the race to become the first invertebrate to be recovered and removed from Endangered Species Act protection. Photo Caption: Magazine Mountain Shagreen. Credit: Trey Reid / Arkansas Game & Fish Commission

This week, over 100 delegates from 50 different federal and state wildlife agencies, research and academic institutions, non-governmental organizations, and private industry from Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. are gathering for the 18th Annual Trilateral Committee for Wildlife and Ecosystem Conservation. The Service is hosting the meeting, both online and in-person, at the National Conservation Training Center in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. Photo Caption: North America's monarch butterfly is the only butterfly species known to make biannual migrations. Credit: Ron Holmes / USFWS

Today, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recognized 61 conservation heroes for their outstanding efforts to protect our most threatened fish, wildlife and plants by designating them 2012 Recovery Champions. These individuals exemplify the dedication and determination that has helped save countless animals and plants from extinction, and that continues to raise the bar in the field of endangered species conservation. Photo Caption: Margaret R. Petersen, Ph.D., one of 61 2012 Recovery Champions honored today by the Service for their contributions to endangered species conservation. Credit: USFWS

Two California businessmen who spearheaded a wildlife trafficking network that smuggled rhino horn to Vietnam from the United States have been sentenced to serve 42 and 46 months in prison. Some $800,000 in cash, gold, and other assets seized by Service special agents from these defendants will go to the agency’s Multinational Species Conservation Fund for use in protecting rhinos in Africa. Photo Caption: This sentencing is the latest in Operation Crash – an ongoing Service investigation of the black market trade in rhino horn that has already resulted in the arrest of 14 individuals involved in this trafficking. Credit: Richard Ruggeiro / USFWS

The Service has announced more than $25 million to conserve habitat for migratory bird populations. $6 million in duck stamp revenues will protect habitat at four national wildlife refuges, and $19.5 million in North American Wetlands Conservation Act grants matched by $57 million in leveraged funds will support 25 conservation projects across the United States and Mexico. Grants will protect, restore and enhance more than 170,000 acres of habitat for migratory waterfowl, shorebirds, waterbirds and land birds. Photo Caption: The White-fronted goose is one of many priority waterfowl species that will benefit from wetland conservation grants and land acquisitions. Credit: Gary Kramer / USFWS

Drop by the Director's Corner and meet Service Director Dan Ashe