November 2013 - Parks & Recreation - 51

Taking Action
Dealing with nuisance wildlife takes
sustained collective effort, and your
partnership must include all stakeholders, even those who might be opposed
to the actions you may want to take.
Humburg says, " Have all the methods
on the table, and bring all stakeholders
together. Try to achieve broad agreement among all interests. Consider every possible course of action and look
at all possible solutions. Be willing to
adapt as you learn, and anticipate the
potential for additional problems as
you work toward solutions. "
Trapping and translocating nuisance wildlife is rarely a good solution. Not only are there not many
suitable places for such wildlife, but
state and local laws often prohibit the
transport of such species. In the most
difficult decisions dealing with nuisance wildlife, public park and recreation agencies should consider lethal
control measures for nuisance wildlife only as a last resort. There are very
few cases regarding nuisance wildlife
in parks that truly warrant the taking
of wild animals, and unless there are
compelling public safety or public
health reasons to resort to such measures, it is better to expend every effort to seek nonlethal solutions. This
may reasonably involve considerable
resources and time to modify environments, utilize deterrents, establish
control measures, change human behavior, educate the public and find
sustainable long-term solutions to
coexist with wildlife. Yes, this course
of action requires time, resources and
patience, but it will prove to pay dividends in the long run. However, there
are cases involving legitimate public
and wildlife health issues or public
safety concerns about wildlife, and
there may be no other good alternatives. USDA Wildlife Services and

state natural resource agency personnel are the best-equipped to advise if
such situations develop.
Partnerships with conservation and
humane animal care organizations
are valuable in engaging the public,
gaining public consensus, and in some
cases providing volunteers for monitoring and even some management
activities. Their participation will also
ensure you have broad concurrence
for actions you may wish to take.

There are ways to
ethically deal with the
needs of wildlife in your
jurisdiction as well as the
perceptions of the public
you serve.
It's the Law
When confronting wildlife problems,
park managers need to know that
most native and even most invasive
wildlife species are protected by law
and regulation. You must be fully
knowledgeable of the requirements
of the law before attempting any control measures.
Park and recreation professionals
can get information and guidance on
law and regulations from the following sources, as suggested by wildlife
subject experts at the USDA's Office
of Wildlife Services:
% In general, native mammals are
managed by the state wildlife agency, such as the department of natural resources.
% In general, native birds are managed
by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser-

vice (USFWS) in the Department
of the Interior. European starling,
sparrows, pigeons and mute swans
are not native birds and are not
managed by USFWS. Some states
do have rules regarding these birds,
and USDA Wildlife Services can
offer state-specific guidance.
The best course of action when
presented with human-wildlife conflicts and damage is to call USDA
Wildlife Services at 866.4USDA.
WS (866.487.3297) or visit www.
aphis.usda.gov/wildlife_damage to
reach the office in your own state.
The USDA's Wildlife Services program staff have good knowledge of
and relationships with other agencies that manage the wildlife itself.
Private wildlife control cooperators
can help agencies that don't have the
knowledge or capacity to deal with
wildlife problems.
Appropriately dealing with nuisance wildlife is a complex issue with
different contributing factors for every
situation, but there are ways to ethically deal with the needs of the wildlife in your jurisdiction as well as the
perceptions of the public you serve.
Says Watts, " If it was just a question of wildlife control, solutions
would be easy. However, there is a
social value to wildlife in parks, and
as managers of parks and wildlife, we
must respect that. We have to understand that everyone has an opinion
and places value on wildlife. "
For an extensive listing of contacts
and resources for how to deal with
nuisance wildlife, including outreach
to private wildlife cooperators and
contractors, visit www.parksandrec
reation.org/2013/November/HogWild-in-Parks.
Richard J. Dolesh is NRPA's Vice President of
Conservation and Parks (rdolesh@nrpa.org).

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