Midwest Fish & Wildlife Conference 2019

AUTHORS: Gary J. Roloff, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University

ABSTRACT: The Midwest region of the United States supports abundant wildlife and diverse agriculture, with both substantially contributing to regional and national economies and livelihoods. Recreation associated with wildlife has a positive economic impact, estimated to generate over $34 billion annually for 8 Midwestern States. The annual market value of crops and livestock exceed $76 billion. Wildlife often represents a cost to farmers through crop and livestock depredation and food safety risks, but some producers benefit through recreational leasing of their properties. State level wildlife damage data are limited and outdated, but suggests that agricultural losses in the Midwest are significant. Resources available to producers in the Midwest for integrated wildlife damage management (IWDM) vary greatly, but are generally underutilized or ineffectual, and in some cases simply nonexistent. Challenges include political and social barriers to managing valued wildlife species as pests, complex regulatory jurisdiction over wildlife damage control, lack of dedicated personnel assigned to wildlife damage response, and limited IWDM tools. Many IWDM tools do not scale to crop production contexts, provide only limited or temporary efficacy, or are not economically viable. The Agriculture and Wildlife Coexistence symposium will focus on updating our understanding of wildlife damage assessments, mitigation, and philosophies with a focus on wildlife-agriculture co-existence in the Midwest region.

AUTHORS: Kurt VerCauteren, Amy Davis, Kim Pepin – National Wildlife Research Center, USDA/APHIS/Wildlife Services

ABSTRACT: Wildlife managers in many countries around the world are facing similar challenges, which include: a lack of means to address invasive species and locally overabundant native species issues particularly in the face of declining fiscal resources, reduced capacity to achieve management goals, and a need to garner public support in the wake of changing societal values and increasing human populations. Meeting these challenges requires building off the profession’s successes and developing new paradigms and strategies to curtail the negative impacts invasive and overabundant species are having on our natural and agricultural resources. Like our predecessors in conservation succeeded in developing our profession and initiating a movement that led to the recovery of many valued native species, now it is us who face a comparable albeit somewhat opposite mandate. Our charge is to curtail and reverse the further establishment and impacts of invasive and overabundant species. We must not fail, but with just existing methods and decision processes we cannot succeed. Using wild pigs as an example invasive species and white-tailed deer as a corollary locally overabundant native species, we begin to lay out why we believe we have entered a second herculean phase of our profession that is as crucial to the quality of our future as the initiation of conservation was a century ago.

AUTHORS: Travis L. DeVault, USDA National Wildlife Research Center; Bradley F. Blackwell, USDA National Wildlife Research Center; Esteban Fernandez-Juricic, Purdue University; Eric M. Gese, USDA National Wildlife Research Center; Lynne Gilbert-Norton, Utah State University; Stewart W. Breck, USDA National Wildlife Research Center

ABSTRACT: The study of animal behavior is foundational to solving issues of coexistence between people and wild animals. In this presentation we build on an earlier effort examining the role that behavioral principles play in understanding and mitigating human-wildlife conflict, and delineate gaps in behavioral theory relative to mitigating these conflicts. We consider two different, yet contemporary, examples of human-wildlife conflict: animal-vehicle collisions and carnivore depredation of livestock. Although ostensibly unrelated, both conflict areas share common themes relative to animal behavioral responses to disturbance and perception of risk. The behavioral approaches to conflict management we describe also have application for other types of agricultural damage. We first place the effects on wildlife in the scope of population sustainability, and then examine current research relative to the following three questions: How is behavioral ecology relevant to this particular area of conflict? Are advances toward understanding the mechanisms by which animals process information and make decisions being translated into management methods? How might management efforts be affected over time by individual behaviors, method integration and habituation/sensitization? Only in the last decade have researchers applied an antipredator theoretical framework with sensory ecology to understand aspects of animal responses to vehicle approach, speed and associated stimuli. However, the size and speeds of modern vehicles demand that we improve models and possibly develop novel theoretical frameworks to better predict animal responses to vehicle approach. Within the context of carnivore-livestock depredation, our understanding of individual predator behavior relative to perceived risk and factors contributing to the development of problem individuals will influence the efficacy of the most promising, nonlethal management approaches (e.g. distractive techniques, reproductive inhibition and olfactory barriers). In both cases, successful management is contingent upon a mechanistic understanding of how animals respond to disturbance and the information utilized to assess risk.

AUTHORS: Jimmy Taylor, USDA National Wildlife Research Center

ABSTRACT: Forests are integral components of the global climate, yet the material products that trees provide are essential to sustain human quality of life (e.g., paper, fuel, lumber, poles, fruit, etc.). Growing healthy forests requires years of planning, investment, and adaptive management. Wildlife impacts on regenerating forests following wildfire or harvesting can be extensive. Wildlife damage by ungulates, rodents, and rabbits during the first five years of tree growth greatly hinder reforestation efforts following wildfire or harvest, while foraging by other mammals such as bears, beavers, and porcupines damage mature trees after stands have gained significant economic value. The costs associated with silvicultural applications are highly variable as are the costs of preventing wildlife damage to trees. Furthermore the cumulative effects of combined management techniques are unknown in forestry management. Allowing wildlife damage can result in 1) decreased volume and revenue at harvest, or 2) extending harvest rotation lengths of stands, simultaneously extending long-term interest payments and decreasing net returns. We will describe methods to identify species-specific damage to trees and methods to reduce damage, including repellents, exclusion, and behavioral modification. We also will describe pros and cons of these methods. Applying appropriate techniques and improving cost-benefit analyses will provide forest managers with knowledge to refine forest management strategies.

AUTHORS: Eric M. Gese, Julie K. Young, Stewart W. Breck – USDA-WS-National Wildlife Research Center

ABSTRACT: Abstract: Predation on livestock by wolves (Canis lupus) is a growing issue as wolf populations continue to recover in the northern Rocky Mountains and Great Lakes region. Nonlethal methods to mitigate depredation events are more publicly acceptable than lethal removal and promotes local community support. In addition, nonlethal techniques recognize the value of individual animals and maintains stability of the social system within a wolf pack. We describe various nonlethal tools and methods being evaluated and utilized to reduce wolf predation on livestock. Advantages and disadvantages of each technique are examined, and current research findings are presented. Management of depredations on livestock will be necessary for continued coexistence of wolves, humans, and livestock.