Land Use and Wildlife Resources (1970) / Chapter Skim
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7 Wildlife Damage and Control
7 Wildlife Damage and Control
Pages 208-225
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From page 208... ...
At the same time there has been an increasingly widespread interest in conservation and a recognition of the value of preserving our natural environment. The Wilderness Act and the Rare and Endangered Species Act reflect the concern of Congress, and President Nixon has established an official council of environmental advisers to the Executive Office.
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From page 209... ...
The magnitude of the coyote control program is indicated in the Leopold report (1964) , which shows that in the federal and cooperative predator control program nearly 90,000 coyotes were taken in one recent year, out of a total of 190,763 predators of all kinds.
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From page 210... ...
Wl LDLI FE CONFLICTS WITH CROPS Birds may often cause severe damage to fruit or agricultural crops, and for several reasons the incidence of damage seems to be increasing. The nature of modern agriculture, with its emphasis upon monoculture and highly specialized crops, and the high cost of bringing the crop to the harvesting stage, when bird damage usually occurs, are among the factors involved.
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From page 211... ...
Only a few examples of the many other situations in which birds or mammals cause damage to fruit or agricultural crops can be included here. Lesser sandhill cranes, strictly protected since the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, have been reported in several western states to cause damage to sorghum, alfalfa, winter wheat, and peanuts.
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From page 212... ...
Areas cleared through logging or fire are particularly vulnerable to wildlife damage during the stage of reseeding and growth of seedlings and saplings, because many species of wildlife are attracted into the openings (Kverno, 1 9641. Two other types of damage widespread in the forest are clipping and browsing of timber species by big game, rabbits and hares, and others and the bark and root damage caused by rodents, such as pocket gophers, mice, and porcupines.
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From page 213... ...
The aggregate consumption of these small mammals-about 330 pounds per acre per year-is about a third of the total allowable annual forage utilization. In the subalpine parklands of the Rocky Mountains the two small mammals of greatest importance as consumers of vegetation are the northern pocket gopher (Thomomys talpoides)
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From page 214... ...
A final and more difficult step is to develop management practices that maintain a vegetational complex such that there will be minimum rodent and rabbit damage and maximum forage for livestock and game animals. NONAGRICULTURAL WILDLIFE PROBLEMS Wild birds and mammals act as carriers or reservoirs for certain diseases of man and domestic animals.
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From page 215... ...
The timber wolf population in Algonquin Provincial Park, only 200 miles from Canada's largest city, is regarded by many as the park's proudest possession, and hundreds have gathered in an evening along the road through the park to hear the wolves respond to recorded howling. While the value is sometimes intangible and difficult to translate into monetary terms, it is clear that the American public has come to place a high premium on wildlife in general, and particularly upon predatory species that only recently were almost universally condemned as pests and that, in certain situations, must still be controlled to prevent damage.
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From page 216... ...
In Arizona and South Dakota a bounty is paid on it, and in seven western states it is unprotected. In 1967, Oregon declared the cougar a game animal and provided a year-round closed season pending study to determine if its population was sufficient to merit a hunting season.
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From page 217... ...
As the recreational value of hunting certain predators becomes more widely recognized, this sport might well replace some of the expensive control efforts. It should be emphasized, however, that the hunting of what are not ordinarily considered to be game animals should be done only when such animals are sufficiently abundant to sustain an annual kill without hazard to their populations or ecological values.
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From page 218... ...
There are compelling reasons for continuing the federal control program in some areas. In western states federal land is intermingled with private holdings, and ranchers graze their stock under permit on public lands.
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From page 219... ...
The board included in its report six recommendations: 1. Appointment of a continuing advisory board of predator and rodent control which should be widely representative of the livestock and agricultural interests, conservation organizations, and technical organizations.
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From page 220... ...
Mentioned specifically were the need to guard against the "ecological abuses" of secondary poisoning of nontarget species, and the need to prohibit export to foreign countries where the danger of misuse is high. Official Acceptance of the Leopold Report The Leopold report, released to the public on March 9, 1964, at the North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference, was accepted officially by Secretary Udall on June 22, 1965, after 15 months of study, as a "general guidepost for Department policy," but ".
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From page 221... ...
In addition, the statement indicates that the Bureau must cooperate with state game and fish agencies in the conservation of fish and wildlife resources for the use and enjoyment of the entire public, that control measures must remain flexible, that when control is needed it shall recognize fully the ecological relationships involved and must emphasize removal of specific offending individuals wherever and whenever possible. The statement of policy emphasizes demonstrated need for control, selective control, cooperation with state and federal agencies, advance planning, the use of educational techniques where possible, avoidance of hazard to endangered species of wildlife, and a strong program of research "to find new, improved, selective, and humane methods." This official policy is evidence that the Leopold report has been adopted to a very considerable extent.
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From page 222... ...
Several classes of chemicals offer possibilities-toxicants, repellents, soporifics or stupifacients, and the antifertility agents that are being considered as a way of holding some animal populations in check. Payment for damages, as exemplified by the waterfowl depredation crop insurance plan used in Canada, may have applicability to some conditions in the United States.
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From page 223... ...
In the past it has been difficult to interest capable young scientists in these problems, because of the somewhat unfavorable public image of the traditional predator and rodent control programs. Those interested in wildlife management usually preferred the role of producing, rather than destroying or controlling, wildlife.
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From page 224... ...
1969. Migratory bird crop depredations: A naturalist's views of the problem.
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From page 225... ...
1964. Forest animal damage control.
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