RAYMOND, Miss. -- Several Mississippi State University scientists and their colleagues recently won top honors in a national competition for providing research-based information on fish and wildlife management to the public.

The Association of Natural Resource Extension Professionals awarded the 2015 Gold Award in the Outstanding Educational Materials Category for long publications to contributors of a new fisheries and wildlife management handbook, “Fish and Wildlife Management: A Handbook for Mississippi Landowners.”

“This is the top award for this category, and we are excited and honored to receive it,” said Adam Rohnke, a certified wildlife biologist with the MSU Extension Service, who served as managing editor for the handbook.

In addition to Rohnke, other contributors are Rob Ballinger, Randy Browning, Adam Butler, James L. Cummings, Chad Dacus, John Defazio, Kristina Godwin, Stephen Grado, Bill Hamrick, Rick Hamrick, John Hodges, Daryl Jones, Jeanne Jones, John Kushla, Chris McDonald, William McKinley, Marcus Measells, Wes Neal, Samuel Pierce, Bronson Strickland, Adam Tullos, Andrew Whitehurst and Lann Wilf.

The handbook is a detailed collection of easy-to-understand information related to current wildlife and fisheries management practices written and submitted by several scientists from MSU; Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks; U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service; Wildlife Mississippi; U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s Wildlife Services; and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The book includes information on the state’s natural resource history, conservation planning, habitat types, fish and wildlife. Contributors detail management techniques for both rural and urban landowners. The book covers wildlife-food plantings, farm pond management, backyard habitats, nuisance-animal control, invasive-species control, and management of specific wildlife species, such as white-tailed deer and Eastern wild turkey.

Primary funding for the book was provided by the Dalrymple Family Foundation with additional financial support from the Natural Resource Enterprises Program at MSU.

For more information or to purchase a copy, visit the University Press of Mississippi website at www.wildlifemiss.org/book.

The Association of Natural Resource Extension Professionals awarded the 2015 Silver Award to the Extension Outdoors column.

The column is written by several MSU scientists and covers topics such as wildlife damage management, wildlife ecology, natural history of native species, contemporary conservation issues and outdoor recreation activities. It is distributed weekly to news outlets statewide through the MSU Extension Service Office of Agricultural Communications.

Winners are Beth Baker, Leslie Burger, Keri Collins Lewis, Joby Czarnecki, Marina Denny, Bill Hamrick, Ray Iglay, Daryl Jones, Bill Maily, Wes Neal, Adam Rohnke, Bronson Strickland, Jessica Tegt and Adam Tullos.

Read archived Extension Outdoors columns on the MSU Extension Service website at http://bit.ly/1N2R0Bs.

Rohnke also was recognized by the Finger Lakes Community College Alumni Association in Canandaigua, New York, for his dedication to and passion for educating others about environmental conservation.

Rohnke was co-recipient of the 2015 Outstanding Conservation Alumni Achievement Award, along with his wife Angel Rohnke, who is the assistant director at the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science in Jackson.

Recipients are selected by community college faculty and honor alumni whose involvement and effectiveness set a standard in the field of environmental conservation.