Properly managed wildlife habitat is essential for supporting sustainable and healthy wildlife populations. Well-managed lands containvarious successional stages that provide a diversity of habitats capable of supporting a diversity of wildlife. On federal lands, however, young forests and other early seral habitats are often underrepresented. The most efficient method to improve wildlife habitat is through…
Red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico is a prime example of how a management scheme designed for one sector (commercial) ultimately penalized the other (recreational). Despite the healthiest population of Gulf red snapper in recorded history, recreational anglers recently faced decreasing season lengths until 2017. Fortunately, the Gulf Council passed Amendment 50 to the…
Sportsmen and women are increasingly utilizing online options to purchase hunting and fishing licenses. Ensuring that state fish and wildlife agency websites are updated to include mobile friendly formatting and platforms as well as customer information retention tools are critical to facilitating a positive consumer experience and encouraging future sales to new and returning users….
Poaching stands as one of the greatest threats to both the social acceptance of hunting and professional wildlife management. By definition, poaching runs afoul of laws governing the harvesting of wildlife, thus upending the scientifically-developed regulations put in place by state wildlife managers. Further, anti-hunting communities have aimed to equate poaching with hunting in efforts…
With the increased sophistication of poachers and other wildlife violators, there is a need for increased levels of coordination and information sharing on these individuals between state fish and wildlife agencies. The Interstate Wildlife Violators Compact (IWVC) creates the mechanism allowing for this coordination. The availability of this information helps stop poachers and other violators…
Exotic invasive species are plants, animals, or pathogens that are non-native to the U.S., or regions of the U.S., and that harm, or are likely to harm, the economy, natural resources or human health. Addressing exotic invasive species requires significant coordination and joint actions between federal and state agencies, local governments, and private organizations. Efforts…
The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA) is the principal law governing marine fisheries management in the federal waters of the United States. The MSA was reauthorized in 2007 with legal requirements to end overfishing by 2011 and establish annual catch limits (ACLs) and accountability measures (AM’s) on every fishery managed by NOAA –…
The practice of farming cervids (members of the deer family such as whitetail deer, moose, and elk) in the United States has been around since the late 1800’s, and has existed elsewhere in the world for millennia; however, commercial cervid farms are a more recent phenomenon and have taken on a contentious rancor in recent…
This term is used to describe a variety of conservation and management methods in the waters of the U.S. MPA’s are not necessarily no fishing zones, but the number of proposed MPA’s by environmental organizations calling for permanent closures to recreational fishing have increased in recent years. Marine protected areas that do implement restrictions on…
During the 1990s, 13 countries, including the United States, developed and agreed upon implementation of two International Organization for Standardization standards regarding humane mammal traps. As a result of this process, best management practices were developed for 17 mammalian species and have been recommended to trappers, state wildlife agencies, and trap manufacturing companies. The regulations…
North America’s approach to wildlife management is unique to the world, as wildlife – primarily in the United States and Canada – are managed as public trust resources for the benefit of all citizens. The Model holds that sound science guide wildlife management decisions and regulations, which are funded through the “user-pays, public-benefits” American System…
Outdoor sporting goods tax holidays offer sportsmen and women an opportunity to purchase the equipment they need tax free while at the same time benefiting conservation programs through increasing sales of firearms,ammunition, and other items that are subject to federal excise taxes. Gun sales soared (650% increase in one day) on the first ever Outdoor…