FW 260 Exam #1 Study Set

Wildlife Definition

Free-ranging undomesticated animals in their natural environment (Krausman 2002)

Game animal

wildlife harvested for sport or subsistence… 20% of CO species

Nongame animal

Wildlife not subject to harvest regulations… 80% of CO species

Fish vs. Wildlife: Fish

• Indeterminate growth

• Ectothermic (cold blooded)

• Aquatic

• 0.001% Oxygen

• Stable Environment

• Less light

• Less gravity — gas bladder

• Movement restricted

• 3-dimensional

• Game—carnivores

• Biomass

• Many offspring

• Less anthropomorphism

Fish vs. Wildlife: Wildlife

• Determinant growth

• Endothermic

• Terrestrial

• 19% Oxygen

• Variable environment

• More light, variable

• Gravity

• More movile

• 2-dimensional

• Game—herbivores

• Population density

• Fewer offspring

• More anthropomorphism

Fishery components:

• 1. Biota: all living organisms, combining flora and fauna

• 2. Habitat: The resources and conditions present in an area that produce occupancy, including survival and reproduction by a given organism

• 3. Human user: Direct, indirect, consumptive, and non-consumptive users of fishery and wildlife resources

Direct user

Person who contributes to, uses, or directly benefits from a resource

Indirect user

Person who uses or manages some aspect of a resource and in so doing affects some other aspect of the resource

Consumptive use

Use of resources that involves removal

Non-consumptive use:

Use of resources without removing them

Ecologist Management

• Aimed at achieving ecological ‘integrity’ or ‘balance’ or emphasizes functioning of ecological communities/ecosystems

• Mitigating human impacts

Sustainable Use Models

• North American Wildlife Management Model

• Anglo-European system

• Livestock — Wildlife Management System

• Emphasizes human use/benefits

Laissez Faire (wildlife management system)

Non-intervention or leaving it up to individual stakeholders

North American Indigenous Community Wildlife Management

• 1. Conceptualizes ecosystems holistically

  • a. No ownership

  • b. Reciprocity among all beings

• 2. Role of management as guardianship, conservation and stewardship

  • a. Shared decision making

  • b. The act of harvesting a unique interaction among place, culture and food

• 3. Knowledge

  • a. Experimental, trial and error

  • b. Inter-generational knowledge sharing

Goals of wildlife management: One of four options:

• Make it increase

• Make it decrease

• Harvest the population for continuing yield (sustainable use)

• Do nothing except monitor (we like to look at them)

Approaches to Management

Active (Direct), Active (Indirect), Inactive

Active (Direct) Wildlife Management

Manipulate population

Active (Indirect) Wildlife Management

Manipulate habitat, manipulate prey/predators/parasites, control recreation or development

Inactive Wildlife Management

No action taken

Wildlife Management Definition

Manipulation of population or habitats to achieve desired goals by people

Proposed causes of the first near time extinction

• Human overkill

• Climate change

• Most recently - fire

NAM Seven Principles

1. Wildlife is held in the public trust

2. Eliminating commerce in dead wildlife

3. Allocating wildlife use through law

4. Hunting opportunity for all

5. Wildlife may be killed only for legitimate reasons

6. Wildlife is an international resource

7. Science is the basis for wildlife policy

1. Wildlife is held in the public trust

• The public trust doctrine means that wildlife belongs to everyone, and that everyone has ownership and access to wildlife

• Officially originated in an 1842 Supreme Court case

• A public landowner was denied in his attempt to keep people from accessing oysters of a mudflat in New Jersey

2. Eliminating commerce in dead wildlife

• Commercial hunting and the sale of wildlife are prohibited

• Lacy Act passed in 1900 - banned interstate transportation of wildlife and wildlife products

• Helped collapse the commercial meat trade

3. Allocating wildlife use through law

• Wildlife is allocated to the public by law, as opposed to by market principles, land ownership, or other status

4. Hunting Opportunity for All

• Every citizen of good standing has the opportunity to hunt and fish

  • Idea is that those who use wildlife will have a vested interest in healthy wildlife populations

  • This makes the NAM a “user model”

5. Wildlife may be killed only for legitimate reasons

• The killing of game must be done only for food, fur, self-defense, and the protection of property

6. Wildlife is an international resource

• Wildlife and fish migrate freely across boundaries between states, provinces, and countries

• Examples of internationally managed laws:

  • Fur Seal Treaty of 1911 outlawed open water seal hunting. Signed between Great Britain (in Canada), US, Japan, and Russia

  • The Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 was first of many bird protection acts that prohibited hunting of insectivorous birds and established hunting seasons for game birds between Great Britain (in Canada) and the United States.

7. Science is the basis for wildlife policy

• The NAM recognizes science as a basis for informed management.

• This principle gave rise to trained wildlife professionals who manage natural resources under law in the US

Scientific Value

Intellectual interests in organisms as biological entites

Ecologistic Value

Concern with ecosystems and species interdependence

Humanistic Value

Strong affection for individual animals (emotional bonding)

Moralistic Value

Moral or ethical importance of animals.

Spiritual or Cultural Value

Individual species may relate to, appear in, or represent secret teachings core values, or other spiritual beliefs

Symbolic Value

Metaphorical and figurative significance of wildlife.

Utilitarian Value

Interest in the practical value of animals and their habitats

Naturalistic Value

Interest in wildlife and their habits through direct experience and contact

Aesthetic Value

Interest in the physical attractiveness of animals

Dominionistic Value

Mastery and control of animals

Negativistic Value

Fear and aversion of animals

Ethic

• Philosophy encompassing moral principles and values into a code/system

• Defines what you believe is right or wrong or how people ought to ehave

• Gides decision making and actions

• Can shift with society, culture, and time

• Can occur at societal, professional, or personal levels

Value

Typically an individuals attitudes about what is worthy or important

Anthropocentric

Regarding human interests as the primary consideration in ethics

Biocentric

Regarding all forms of life and ecosystems as worthy of moral and respect and consideration in ethics; views humans as one species among others

Resource Conservation Ethic

• “Conservation” — effort of maintaining and using natural resources wisely

  • The belief that people should maximize use of resources, based on the greatest good for everyone for the longest time

• Gifford Pinchot (forests)

Administers national forests and grasslands and wildlife thereon (USDA)

US Forest Service

“Resolve wildlife conflicts and create a balance that allows people and wildlife to coexist peacefully” (USDA)

Wildlife Services (WS)

Research arm of Wildlife Services (USDA)

National Wildlife Research Center (NWRC)

Assists with habitat development on private and public lands (USDA)

Natural Resources Conservation Service

• Conservation of migratory birds, certain mammals, endangered species, sport fishes

• Negotiates international treaties

• (Dept. of Interior)

US Fish and Wildlife Service

Mission: “conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations” (Dept. of Interior)

National Park Service

Mission: provide scientific understanding and technologies to support management and conservation of Nation’s biological resources (Dept. of Interior)

US Geological Survey

• Manages greatest land area of federal lands across all agencies

• Supervises multiple uses (Wildlife, grazing, resources extraction, recreation, watershed)

• (Dept. of Interior)

Bureau of Land Management

Water development and reclamation (Dept. of Interior)

US Bureau of Reclamation

Native American lands and resource management (Dept. of Interior)

Bureau of Indian Affairs

• Administers NEPA

  • Reviews EISs prepared by other federal agencies

  • Maintains a national filing system for all EISs

  • Assures that its own actions comply with NEPA.

• Pollution control and monitoring

  • Air, water, solid and hazardous waste, pesticides, toxic substances, radiation, noise

• Establishing and enforcing laws

• (Dept. of Interior)

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

• Research and management of marine fish, mammals, and invertebrates

• Administers ESA for marine species

  • NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)

• (Dept. of Commerce)

National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)

• Dredging

• Stream stabilization on navigable rivers and coastal wetlands

• Issues dredge and fill permits through Clean Water Act

• (Dept. of Defense)

Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)

• Prohibited shipment, transport, and commerce of wildlife taken or possessed in violation of state, federal, or foreign laws

• Eliminated “market hunting”

• Federal permit for importation of exotic wildlife

The Lacy Act (1900)

• US, Great Britain, and Canada (1918), Mexico (1936), Japan (1972), USSR (1978) b. Defined migratory birds

• Prohibited sale of game birds

• Spring/night shooting abolished

• Daily bag limits

• Nongame migratory birds protected

• Native Americans exempted

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act (1918)

• Lacey Act for fish

• Prohibited transport or commerce in violation of state or federal laws

• Protection for black bass

• All game fish

Black Bass Act (1926)

• Pittman-Robertson

Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act (1937)

• Dingle-Johnson

Federal Aid in Support Fish Restoration Act (1950)

• Defines Wilderness

• No cars, no roads

• Conforming activities ok

  • Hunting, fishing, camping

• Pre-existing use may continue

  • Mining, reservoirs, livestock, tree harvest

Wilderness Act of 1964

• Preserve endangered species in native habitat

• “Take”: harm, including habitat modification

• Critical habitat

• Section 7

  • Fed agencies consult with Interior about actions that might jeopardize T&E species

• Recovery teams/plans

Endangered Species Act (ESA) (1973)

• Protection for endangered species

• Import/export procedure

• 120+ nations, thousands of species

• 3 lists:

  • Species endangered by trade

  • Species that may or may not be threatened by trade

  • Species that should be regulated in trade

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)

• Required for “federal activities significantly affecting quality of human environment” b. EA – Environmental Assessment

  • FONSI – Finding of No Significant Impact

• EIS – Environmental Impact Statement

  • Purpose of action

  • Environmental impact

  • Alternatives

• Litigations/Consulting firms

National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)

Environmentalism

• Concerned about the impact of people on environmental quality

• Human-induced problems and human well-being are emphasized

• Preservation because nature and “pure wilderness” are good for human health

• Moralistic, naturalist

• John Muir

John Muir

• Extended from Emerson, Thoreau

• Founded the Sierra Club – often credited with beginning the environmental movement

(Romantic-Transcendental) Preservation Ethic

• Philosophy of Ralph Walso Emerson and Henry David THoreau

• Nature “temple” sullied by economic activities

• Guides National Park Service

• Wilderness Act of 1964:

  • Presents a single vision of how humans relate to ‘nature’

  • Based on the idea of “pristine wilderness” helped justify removal of indigenous people.

Aldo Leopold - Evolutionary-Ecological Land Ethic

• 1886 - 1948

• Nature complicated and integrated

• People “citizen-members”

• Co-founded TWS

• Organized The Wilderness Society

• “Conservation is a state of harmony between men and land”

  • Not just Leopold, functionally used by a bunch of cultures

  • Traditional Ecological Knowledge, or Indigenous Science

    
    

Deep Ecology

• Advocates a biocentric equality: Humans are part of nature but have no more right to exploit other species as those species have the right to exploit us

• All living creatures have intrinsic value

• Spiritual, cultural, moralistic, underpinnings

  • The most biocentric

Environmental Justice:

Fair treatment and meaningful participation of all people with respect to development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies (EPA)

Sources of Wildlife Funding

• 1) Fed or State Appropriations

• 2) User Pay

  • License sale

  • Excise tax

  • Stamps

• 3) Private Sector

Fed or State Appropriations (Funding)

• Reliance on Taxes

  • Most fed agencies

  • ⅓ of state wildlife agencies

• Not always reliable

  • Vulnerable to political “winds”

  • Agencies must defend their value to get their annual budgets renewed

• General Fund (i.e., taxpayer dollars): 0.2% of CPW budget

User Pay: License Sales (Funding)

• Licensed sales most important source of funding for CO - CPW 68% in 2020-21

• State agencies receive > 50% of their funds

  • Steady source

  • Declining # of hunters

User Pay: Excise Tax (Funding)

• Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act

  • Pittman-Robertson (1937)

• Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Act

  • Dingell-Johnson (1950)

___________ make up about 40% of USFWS budget

Pittman-Robertson and Dingell-Johnson Acts

User Pay: Stamps (Funding)

• Federal Duck Stamps

• Colorado Waterfowl Stamp

• Colorado Habitat Stamp

State Wildlife Area (SWA):

Acquired for many reasons and includes public use as part of the acquired rights

State Habitat Areas (SHA):

Acquired primarily for habitat protection which does not have public use as part of acquired rights.

Private Sector (Funding)

Partners in Conservation, often NGOS

Nongame Funding Problem

• Game species:

  • 800 species in CO

  • Only 20% of species in state are game

• Declining revenues

• Habitat Stamp, GOCO

  • New initiatives

  • Still inadequate to meet the needs of >540 species of non-game wildlife needing work

Who is responsible for managing fish and wildlife populations?

• State Wildlife Agencies

• Federal Agencies

• Native American Tribes

Who is responsible for managing habitats?

Landowners, both private and federal.

Who conducts wildlife research?

• State Wildlife Agencies

• Federal Agencies

• Universities

• Private Consulting Firms

Who sets wildlife policy?

• State Wildlife Commissions

• Legislature

• Voters

Technical Judgements

• How to best achieve goals

• Testable/Verifiable

Induction

Reasoning that proceeds from specific set of observations ot general inference to the whole.

Deduction:

Reasoning that uses observations or experiments to test hypothesis.

Indicator Species

Species whose status provides information on certain environmental conditions, seral stages, or treatments.

Umbrella Species

Species with large home ranges and broad habitat requirements such that protecting it will save many other species.

Flagship Species

Charismatic speices that wins public support for conservation.

Keystone Species

Species that play critical ecological roles that are of greater importance than predicted based on their abundances.

Foundation Species

Highly-interactive species that are often extremely abundant or ecologically dominant

Ecosystem management attempts to involve _______

all stakeholders

Ecosystem Services

Conditions and processes through which ecosystems and their constituent species sustain and fulfill human life.

Adaptive Management

The process of implementing a policy decision incrementally, so that changes can be made if the desired results are not being achieved.

Process Uncertainty

• Natural variation in ecological systems (including random change)

• Environmental “noise” not explained by model

• Ecological systems complex, so can be large

Observation Uncertainty

• Sampling error: basing predictions on a sample

• Measurement error: Imprecise data