The Wildlife Society Wildlife Damage
Management Working Group
Newsletter, Fall 2002 – Volume 9(3)
Forward
Greetings
to Working Group members! If you do not
know me, I work for USDA APHIS at the National Wildlife Research Center
(NWRC). The NWRC functions as the
research arm of Wildlife Services by providing scientific information and
developing methods for managing human-wildlife conflicts. I am the Manager of the Product Development
Research Program at the NWRC.
I
am very pleased to be representing you as the incoming chair of the Wildlife
Damage Working Group! This Working
Group continues to be among the best in The Wildlife Society, both in terms of
number of members, and in accomplishments.
Our working group received praise again this year from the TWS Council
as a very dynamic organization. I want
to thank outgoing chair Bob Timm for an outstanding job as Chair for the past 2
years; I will continue to rely heavily on his expertise. I also want to thank outgoing Officers and
Board members Scott Craven, Gary Witmer, Larry Clark and Desley Whisson for their
contributions, and to welcome incoming Board members Rich Chipman, Art Smith,
and Kurt VerCauteren. You will notice a
new name as editor on this newsletter.
Danny Martin has graciously agreed to take on the newsletter Editor
position. Art Smith has done an
excellent job for us for 5 years and is overdue for relief. Thank you Danny for taking on this task!
The
Working Group has been very busy. At
the annual meeting in Bismarck, North Dakota, the working group sponsored a
full-day symposium titled “Management of North American Blackbirds.” The symposium dealt with some contentious
management issues and some divergent views, was well attended, and educational
for all who attended. A symposium
proceedings will be published by the NWRC.
The
Working Group is sponsoring the 10th Wildlife Damage Management
Conference to be held 6-9 April 2003 in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The preliminary program will be mailed the
first week of December. The program
looks great and the location looks wonderful!
We hope to see you there!
Finally,
the working group is sponsoring 2 symposia at the 3rd International
Wildlife Management Congress that will be held in Christchurch, New Zealand,
1-5 December 2003. The symposia will
focus on “Wildlife Damage Management in the United States” and “Diseases at the
Wildlife–Human Interface”.
I
am looking forward to working with all of you this year. Please don’t hesitate to call me or the
other Officers or the Board members if you have suggestions for the Working
Group. Also, please keep those items
coming in for the newsletter!
- Kathy Fagerstone
kathleen.a.fagerstone@aphis.usda.gov
WORKING GROUP LISTSERV
WDAMAGE, a listserv dedicated to all topics regarding
wildlife damage management, is now available to all Working Group members
whose e-mail addresses are on file with The Wildlife Society. Approximately 60 members of the Working
Group do not have their
e-mail addresses on file. If
you are not subscribed to WDAMAGE, but would like to be, send a note to
Robert Schmidt at rschmidt@cc.usu.edu. In addition, if you would rather not be on the WDAMAGE
listserv, just send a note to rschmidt@cc.usu.edu.
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Working Group
Annual Meeting Minutes
25
September 2002 Bismarck, ND
The
meeting was opened at 12:20 pm by Bob Timm, Chair. Officers present included Bob Timm, Kathy
Fagerstone, Scott Craven, Gary Witmer, Larry Clark, and Frank Boyd. Fifty-four persons attended the meeting.
The
minutes of the annual meeting (9/27/01) in Reno, NV, were voted on and
approved. Secretary/treasurer Gary
Witmer reported that the Working Group had 249 members as of 9/9/02,
keeping it among the largest working groups of TWS. He also gave the treasurer’s report: the year started with a
balance of $7,693.27 and as of 9/9/02 there was $7,961.62 in the checking
account. Expenses were newsletter
production and mailing costs, while income was from membership dues and the
sale of 14 copies of the 9th Proceedings. Richard Curnow conducted an audit of the account on
12/31/01 and found all to be in order.
The membership and treasurer’s reports were voted on and approved.
Election
results were reported by Gary Witmer: Jim Armstrong was elected
Chair-elect; Ray Sterner was elected secretary/treasurer, and new board
members included Rich Chipman, Art Smith, and Kurt VerCauteren. Some of the races were very close and all
candidates on the ballot were thanked for their interest in serving the Working
Group. Chair Bob Timm thanked
the Nominating and Elections Committee (Rich Chipman, Larry Clark, and Desley
Whisson) for developing the excellent slate of candidates. He also acknowledged out-going board members
Larry Clark and Desley Whisson.
Bob
Timm proceeded with Old Business. Although no one from Cornell was present, it
was noted that the two publications, Urban Geese and Suburban Deer, were still
selling well. Danny Martin gave
an update on the Suburban Coyote manuscript, which is progressing slowly
because of Danny’s graduate program in Minnesota. He solicited input from anyone with
information on suburban coyotes (status, programs, incidents, etc.). Bob Timm acknowledged Danny
for taking the lead on this important task.
Scott Hygnstrom reported that the Working
Group website was up and running and could be accessed via the TWS
website. He noted that Dallas
Virchow could use more input from members and acknowledged the efforts of Dallas
in creating and maintaining the website.
Kathy
Fagerstone reported on the status of
the program for the 10th Wildlife Damage Management Conference to be
held April 6-9, 2003, in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The preliminary agenda is complete and includes a plenary session
the first morning with an address by new TWS President Bob Warren and
two other speakers with talks related to symposia, followed by 4 deer
presentations. The afternoon session as
well as the second day morning and afternoon sessions will have concurrent
sessions with a ½-day symposium across from a contributed paper session. The 3 symposia are 1) wildlife damage at
aquaculture facilities, 2) wildlife damage management curricula, and 3)
wildlife diseases. The contributed
paper sessions will be 1) birds, 2) rodents, and 3) general mammals. Gary Witmer reported that the Working
Group will be able to accept credit cards for registration and that at least 4
exhibitors have paid for booths so far.
Gary San Julian requested that all working group members try to
contact potential sponsors. About
$10,000 has been committed by sponsors to date. Becky McPeake reported that local arrangements planning is
proceeding well. Kathy Fagerstone
and Gary Witmer will edit the proceedings and will check on having the
volume printed at Colorado State University.
Several Working Group members met later to discuss more details of the
Conference.
The
3rd International Wildlife Management Congress will be held in
Christchurch, New Zealand, December 1-5, 2003.
Bob Timm announced that 2 symposia proposals (Wildlife Damage
Management in the United States and Diseases at the Wildife-Human Interface)
submitted by the Working Group had been accepted, but would be integrated with
related New Zealand symposia. Scott
Craven mentioned that the second announcement (with a call for papers and
posters) was out and that the Congress planning appeared to be proceeding very
well. The closing date for abstract
submission is February 28, 2003. Gary
Witmer was pleased to announce that USDA Wildlife Services had agreed to
donate $10,000 to help sponsor the Congress.
Robert
Schmidt led a discussion of the
WDAMAGE electronic bulletin board, soliciting input as to whether or not it was
still useful to Working Group members and should be limited only to Working
Group members. It was noted that there
had been a decline in participation by wildlife professionals, that there was a
growing amount of repetition and biased information, and that the site was
increasingly being used as a forum for some extreme viewpoints and to attack
the views of others. Others noted some
useful information and contacts coming from the site and voiced a concern about
isolating Working Group members from others such as nuisance wildlife control
operators (NWCOs). It was moved, voted,
and passed that the site should be restricted, at a future date, to Working
Group members and that currently registered persons should be informed of this
decision and encouraged to become TWS and Working Group members, should they
wish to continue participation in WDAMAGE.
Another
topic of discussion was the HSUS draft guidelines for state regulations and
certification of nuisance wildlife control operators. Lynn Braband stated that the Working Group should respond
to the draft and John Hadidian welcomed input by the Group. Gary San Julian noted that the state
of New York was preparing a full course and package for NWCOs training and
regulation. He advised interested
persons to contact Paul Curtis of Cornell who is working on the New York
project.
Next,
out-going Chair Bob Timm turned the meeting over to incoming Chair Kathy
Fagerstone who continued with New Business. The pros and cons of contributing to the TWS
request for donations to improve the Society’s website were discussed. Several persons noted that it was perhaps
not appropriate for the TWS to make the request of working groups before the
general membership. It was also noted
that the suggested $250 donation was a substantial portion of the Working
Group’s membership dues. The majority
of the speakers, however, felt that it was a worthy cause and it was moved and
passed by a wide margin that a $250 donation be made.
Kathy
Fagerstone and Gary Witmer
brought up the topic of providing some financial support for invited speakers
to Working Group-sponsored symposia. It
was noted that some “key” speakers would not be able to attend conferences
without some support (e.g., state employees traveling out of their state), thus
lessening the value of the symposium or conference. The main concern expressed was whether or not the Working Group’s
financial situation would allow speaker sponsorship. It was noted that the conference or symposium budget would have
to be scrutinized carefully and more effort would be needed to raise funds for
Group-sponsored activities. It was
generally agreed that the organizing committee of Working Group symposia and
conferences could handle this on a case-by-case basis.
Out-going
Newsletter editor Art Smith turned over the editorship and related
materials to the new editor, Danny Martin. The Working Group acknowledged the sustained effort of Art over
the last several years. Danny
expressed eagerness to “take on” this new role now that he is settled into
graduate school in Minnesota and encouraged members to send or e-mail him input
for the newsletter. (Danny Martin,
Dept. Biological Sciences; 242 Trafton Science Center S; Mankato, MN 56001;
507/317-6046; danny.martin@dnr.state.mn.us).
Next, the format of the newsletter was discussed with several members
recommending that an electronic copy be made available (via the Working Group’s
website maintained by Dallas Virchow) and sent to members e-mail
addresses. A hard copy would continue
to be mailed to any members without an e-mail address. It was moved and passed that an electronic
copy be made available to all members so wishing it.
Discussion
next turned to the 10th TWS Annual Meeting to be held in Burlington,
VT, September 6-10, 2003. Two Working
Group-sponsored symposia have been suggested.
Dennis Slate and Richard Chipman are planning a ½-day
symposium on raccoons in the eastern U.S.
They already have 8 speakers lined up, but could use a few more, so
contact one of them if you are interested or have ideas. Mark Tobin suggested a ½-day
symposium on cormorants in the northeastern U.S. He will solicit Scott Barras, Richard Chipman, and Pete
Butchko to help plan the session.
Anyone interested should contact Mark. Note that the deadline for symposia proposals is October 31,
2002.
Finally,
Art Smith brought up a concern about the meeting time scheduled for
working group meetings at the TWS Annual Meeting. Members miss lunch as well as other concurrent session
presentations by attending the Noon-2 pm business meeting. Relatedly, Scott Hygnstrom noted that
the Wildlife Damage Contributed Papers Session is usually on the last day of
the Conference (Saturday). Bob Timm
and Kathy Fagerstone said they would discuss the matter with the TWS
Council.
The
meeting was adjourned at 1:45 pm.
Respectfully
submitted,
WILDLIFE DAMAGE MANAGEMENT
WORKING GROUP OFFICER AND BOARD CONTACTS (September 2002)
CHAIR: Kathleen A. Fagerstone BOARD
MEMBERS:
USDA NWRC Richard
B. Chipman
4101 LaPorte Ave. USDA
APHIS WS
Ft. Collins, CO 80521-2154 1930
Rt. 9
richard.b.chipman@usda.gov
CHAIR-ELECT:
James B. Armstrong Art Smith
School of Forestry & Wildlife Science Dept. of Game,
Fish and Parks
108 M. White Smith Hall 523
E. Capitol Ave.
Auburn, AL 36830 Pierre,
SD 57501
armstjb@auburn.edu arthur.smith@state.sd.us
SECRETARY-TREASURER: Kurt
C. VerCauteren
Ray T. Sterner USDA
NWRC
USDA NWRC 4101
LaPorte Ave.
4101 LaPorte Ave. Ft.
Collins, CO 80521-2154
Ft. Collins, CO 80521-2154 kurt.c.vercauteren@aphis.usda.gov
ray.t.sterner@aphis.usda.gov
Frank
L. Boyd
WEBMASTER: USDA
/ ADC
Dallas
R. Virchow Rm.
118 Ext. Hall
dvirchow1@unl.edu
Auburn
U., AL 36849-5656
INTERACTIONS EDITOR: Mark
C. Conner
Daniel
J. Martin Chesapeake
Farms
Dept.
of Biological Sciences, MSU 7319
Remington Dr.
242
Trafton Science Center S. Chestertown,
MD 21620
Mankato,
MN 56001 mark.c.conner@usa.dupont.com
danny.martin@dnr.state.mn.us
Dale R. Nolte
dale.l.nolte@aphis.usda.gov
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10th WILDLIFE DAMAGE
MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE
CLARION RESORT ON THE LAKE
HOT SPRINGS, ARKANSAS, USA
APRIL 6-9, 2003
Sponsored by: USDA/APHIS/Wildlife Services; Arkansas Game
and Fish Commission; The Wildlife Society; Vertebrate Pest Council: Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
Registration: ray.t.sterner@aphis.usda.gov
or by gary.w.witmer@aphis.usda.gov