CLIMATE -- A wildlife biologist and conservationist will present a free program in North Idaho illustrating the potential impacts of climate change on fish and wildlife as well as on hunting and fishing.

Bill Gear also will offer options sportsmen have for action when he speaks at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3, at the Coeur d’Alene Resort.  Geer’s speech will open the sixth annual Northwest Climate Conference, which is sponsored in part by the University of Idaho.

Geer will speak about how sportsmen and women can work together to protect and pass on the Northwest’s outdoor heritage in light of climate change impacts such as reduced stream flows, increased wildfires and changes in habitat.

Geer spent 38 years as a professional fish and wildlife conservationist, is treasurer of the Conservation Hawks board of directors and recently retired from his position as the climate change initiative manager for the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership.

The conference is a gathering of scientists, resource managers and policy makers from universities, agencies, tribal nations and other organizations across the Northwest. Attendees share the latest climate science, discuss the challenges climate presents to infrastructure, industry, environment and communities, and work toward adaptive solutions.