Creative Commons License
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Location
Saratoga Springs, NY
Start Date
4-5-2009 12:00 AM
Description
The United States is becoming increasingly urbanized, with nearly 80% of the American population currently residing in urban centers. This trend in human settlement patterns away from rural areas has coincided with a shift in human values and perceptions regarding the natural environment. Urban wildlife managers are therefore presented with unique challenges not experienced by managers of times past and are left having to blend principles of wildlife ecology within a changed ethical and sociological context. Standard wildlife management practices may not be appropriate for this shifting paradigm and there is an ever-increasing need for innovative and collaborative efforts that produce goal-oriented management agendas intended to resolve conflicts by means that can be measured and quantified to gauge success or failure. Predator control programs designed to protect endangered and threatened species in developed areas are no exception. This paper includes a discussion of symptomatic versus systemic control methods, the human dimensions of predator control in high public-use areas, the role of ecological ethics associated with predator removal, and the little discussed potential for cascading effects following mesocarnivore removal. Two case studies are offered to examine these complexities and highlight lessons learned from protected species management in urbanized environments. Both scenarios exemplify the need to include diverse stakeholders in urban management decisions and to enact well-designed management programs that have achievable goals and measurable levels of success.
Recommended Citation
Guinan, S. P. (2009). Changing attitudes, troubled times: Lessons learned from protected species management in urban environments. In Boulanger, J. (Ed.), The Thirteenth Wildlife Damage Management Conference (83-94). Saratoga Springs, NY: Thirteenth WDM Conference.
Included in
Changing Attitudes, Troubled Times: Lessons Learned from Protected Species Management in Urban Environments
Saratoga Springs, NY
The United States is becoming increasingly urbanized, with nearly 80% of the American population currently residing in urban centers. This trend in human settlement patterns away from rural areas has coincided with a shift in human values and perceptions regarding the natural environment. Urban wildlife managers are therefore presented with unique challenges not experienced by managers of times past and are left having to blend principles of wildlife ecology within a changed ethical and sociological context. Standard wildlife management practices may not be appropriate for this shifting paradigm and there is an ever-increasing need for innovative and collaborative efforts that produce goal-oriented management agendas intended to resolve conflicts by means that can be measured and quantified to gauge success or failure. Predator control programs designed to protect endangered and threatened species in developed areas are no exception. This paper includes a discussion of symptomatic versus systemic control methods, the human dimensions of predator control in high public-use areas, the role of ecological ethics associated with predator removal, and the little discussed potential for cascading effects following mesocarnivore removal. Two case studies are offered to examine these complexities and highlight lessons learned from protected species management in urbanized environments. Both scenarios exemplify the need to include diverse stakeholders in urban management decisions and to enact well-designed management programs that have achievable goals and measurable levels of success.