January/February 2016Vol. 10 No. 1

State Efforts to Protect Canada Lynx

Uncertainty Is Information

A Guide to Mapping GPS Receivers

10th Anniversary

of the Next Generation

Faces

www.lotek.com

www.reconyx.com

2 The Wildlife Professional, January/February 2016 © The Wildlife Society

January/February 2016 Vol. 10 No. 1

The Wildlife Professional is the flagship publication of The Wildlife Society and a benefit of membership. The magazine — published six times annually — presents timely research, news and analysis of trends in the wildlife profession.

COVER: To celebrate our 10th anniversary, we invited students to send us photos for our cover feature story on the next generation of wildlife professionals. Congratulations to University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point TWS Student Chapter members Sarah Johanson (left), shown holding a northern saw-whet owl (Aegolius acadicus); Julia Watson (right), shown

holding a long-eared owl (Asio otus); and Jennifer Rothe, who took the photo. The students helped band owls at Linwood Springs Research Station in Stevens Point, Wisc. Each will receive a copy of The Wildlife Techniques Manual published by The Wildlife Society.

ABOUTThe Wildlife Society, founded in 1937, is an international non-profit scientific and educational association dedicated to excellence in wildlife stewardship through science and education. Our mission is to enhance the ability of wildlife professionals to conserve diversity, sustain productivity, and ensure responsible use of wildlife resources for the benefit of society. We encourage professional growth through certification, peer-reviewed publications, conferences, and working groups. For more information, visit us at www.wildlife.org.

BECOME A MEMBERMembership is open to wildlife professionals, students and anyone who is interested in wildlife science, management and conservation. To learn about the benefits of TWS membership or to join, go to www.wildlife.org > join.

CONTRIBUTOR GUIDELINESAll members are encouraged to submit ideas for articles to The Wildlife Professional. For more information, go to www.wildlife.org > publications.

ADVERTISINGFor information about advertising and our media kit, go to www.wildlife.org > publications or contact Chuck Shively, TWS Development Manager at 301.897.9770 ext. 305 or chuck.shively@wildlife.org.

COPYRIGHT AND PERMISSIONS Permission to make digital or hard copies of part or all of any article published by The Wildlife Society for limited personal or educational use within one’s home institution is hereby granted without fee, provided that the first page or initial screen of a display includes the notice “Copyright © 2016 by The Wildlife Society,” along with the full citation, including the name(s) of the author(s). Copyright for components of this work owned by persons or organizations other than TWS must be honored. Instructors may use articles for educational purposes only. Copying, republishing in part or whole, posting on an Internet website or using it for commercial or promotional purposes is prohibited under copyright laws and requires permission of the publisher. For permission, please contact editor@wildlife.org.

TWS STAFFByron Kenneth Williams Executive Director

Publishing and Communications

Nancy Sasavage Director/Editor-in-Chief

Divya Abhat Managing Editor

Dana Kobilinsky Associate Science Writer

Joshua Rapp Learn Science Writer

Government Affairs

Keith Norris Director

Caroline Murphy Government Affairs Associate

Dani Dagan Policy Intern

Lauren McDonald Policy Intern

Operations

Ed Thompson Chief Operating Officer

Aniket Gajare Database and IT Administrator

Carson Maness Digital Content Manager

Lilliam Matheson Membership Services Coordinator

Chuck Shively Development Manager

Mariah Simmons Wildlife Programs Coordinator

Nick Wesdock Operations Assistant

Office and Finance

Jane Jorgenson Finance Manager

TWS GOVERNING COUNCILGary E. Potts President

Bruce Thompson President-Elect

John McDonald Vice President

Rick Baydack Past President

Arthur R. Rodgers Canadian Section

Fidel Hernández Southwestern Section

Harriet Allen Northwestern Section

David E. Andersen North Central Section

Paul R. Johansen Northeastern Section

Mike Conner Southeastern Section

Bob Lanka Central Mountains and Plains Section

Cynthia Graves Perrine Western Section

Krysten Zummo Student Liaison

Graphic design by Lynn Riley Design.

The Wildlife Society Headquarters5410 Grosvenor Lane, Suite 200 Bethesda, MD 20814-2144 301.897.9770 phone 301.530.2471 fax tws@wildlife.org / www.wildlife.org

Periodical postage for The Wildlife Professional (ISSN 1933-2866) is paid at Bethesda, MD, and at an additional mailing office.

Postmaster: Send address changes to The Wildlife Professional, 5410 Grosvenor Lane, Suite 200, Bethesda, MD 20814-2144.

facebook.com/thewildlifesociety

@wildlifesociety

youtube.com/user/WildlifeSociety

http://linkd.in/erYapf The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of The Wildlife Society.

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARDThomas Decker, chair U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

David Bergman USDA APHIS Wildlife Services

Matthew P. Bettelheim URS Corporation

Dean E. Beyer, Jr Mich. DNR

Ed Boggess Minn. Div. of Fish & Wildlife

Kristina Boyd Yaak Valley Forest Council

Robert Brown N.C. State Univ., retired

Richard Chipman USDA APHIS Wildlife Services

Jennifer Chutz DCI West Biological Consulting

Scott Edwards Miss. Dept of Wildlife, Fisheries & Parks

Rhys Evans U.S. Air Force

Joe Fontaine Univ. of Neb., Lincoln

Shawn Haskell Maine Dept. of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife

Barb Hill Bureau of Land Management, retired

Serra Hoagland USDA Forest Service

K.C. Jensen S.D. State Univ.

Olivia LeDee Minn. DNR

Zachary Lowe Purdue Univ.

Joe McGlincy The Wildlife Company

Lindsey Messinger Univ. of Neb., Lincoln

Misty Sumner Texas Parks & Wildlife Dept.

Samara Trusso Pa. Game Commission

Robin White U.S. Geological Survey

Yolanda F. Wiersma Memorial Univ.

Credit: Jennifer Rothe

www.telonics.com

www.wildlifematerials.com

5www.wildlife.org© The Wildlife Society

FEATURES22 The Elusive Canada Lynx How State Conservation Efforts

Are Advancing Recovery By Jonathan Mawdsley, John Vore

and Eric Odell

26 A Predicament in Paradise Rehabilitating Hawaii’s Struggling Monk Seals By Michelle Barbieri, Frances Gulland and

Charles Littnan

30 Uncertainty Is Information, Too How Accounting for Doubt Helps Inform

Decision Making By Bruce G. Marcot, Matthew P. Thompson,

Thomas W. Bonnot and Frank R. Thompson

34 Balancing a New Baby and Your Career

Tips for Nursing Mothers in the Wildlife Profession

By Shannon M. Barber-Meyer

38 The Difference Between Here and There

Tips on Selecting Mapping-Grade GPS Receivers for Wildlife Studies

By Cary D. Chevalier

42 Climbing the State Agency Ladder Career Advice for Aspiring Wildlife Professionals By Douglas Reeves

44 Reflections of a Conservation Leader A Biographical Trilogy by Jack Ward Thomas By Melanie M. Woolever

Departments 6 Editor’s Note 7 Leadership Letter 8 Science in Short 10 State of Wildlife46 Field Notes48 Gotcha!

Faces of the Next GenerationMore Students Embrace Wildlife Opportunities By Dana Kobilinsky

COVER STORY >>

3822

14

>> Log On for MoreThis publication is available online to TWS members on wildlife.org. References printed in blue indicate links in the online version of the magazine.

Contents Jan/Feb 2016 Vol. 10 No. 1

Credit: Double Image Studio courtesy of SUNY Cobleskill

Credit: Cary D. ChevalierCredit: Colorado Parks and Wildlife

6 The Wildlife Professional, January/February 2016 © The Wildlife Society

The Wildlife Society wishes to thank the following organizations for their

financial support of The Wildlife Professional.

Marking a Milestone

Welcome to the 10th anniversary issue of your membership magazine, The Wildlife Professional. Since I joined The Wildlife Society staff in October 2014, many past and current Council members have recounted stories to me about the decision to launch this publication. Although it was risky from a financial perspective, the idea of creating a closer connection to all members struck a chord as the right thing to do.

Every day as I look at the walls of my office where all 36 covers from nine volumes of this quarterly magazine are displayed, I see the dedication of men and women who work on protecting and preserving the earth’s diverse wildlife species and their habitats. Their triumphs in helping endangered wolves recover as well as their challenges in stopping the

spread of invasive species are reminders of why The Professional was launched.

The pages of this magazine have been filled over the years with contributed articles from our members. Their stories ranging from uncovering threats to wildlife to upholding The North American Model of Wildlife Conservation have helped reinforce TWS’ mission “to inspire, empower and enable wildlife professionals to sustain wildlife populations and habitats through science-based management and conservation.”

Now, as we celebrate the start of our 10th year, we are pleased to deliver The Professional to you more frequently. Beginning with this January/February volume 10.1 issue, you will now receive the magazine bi-monthly instead of quarterly. Each issue, although slightly smaller, will contain the exact same mix of content you have come to expect, and the increased frequency will provide more total pages every year.

We kick off this anniversary issue with a celebration of the next generation of wildlife professionals who face formidable challenges such as climate change and an expanding list of invasive species during their careers. I think you will find it inspiring to read how diligently millennials are preparing themselves for their careers.

You also might notice a fresh look on our pages. Every now and again a new look helps liven things up, so we have updated the typeface to make articles easier to read and added some new touches to our regular departments such as Science in Short, State of Wildlife and others.

Please join me in congratulating and thanking all those who have made The Profes-sional a highly valued benefit of TWS membership. I’m so happy to be here as we mark this milestone and head into the next decade.

Cheers!

Nancy SasavageEditor-in-Chiefeditor@wildlife.org

Editor’s Note

7www.wildlife.org© The Wildlife Society

Celebrating the 10th Anniversary of The Wildlife ProfessionalA TIME TO REFLECT

By Gary E. Potts

Alittle over a decade ago, The Wildlife Society Council deliberated long and hard about the best way to provide a new

membership benefit that would be accessible to all members.

Although the Society published three premier scientific journals — The Journal of Wildlife Management, The Wildlife Society Bulletin, and Wildlife Monographs — not all members subscribed to them. The monthly Wildlifer, a printed newsletter, was the only source of TWS news that all members received. It was this gap between the science of wildlife management and conservation and the Society’s desire to inform all members about new developments that led to the launch of The Wildlife Professional.

Now celebrating its 10th anniversary, The Professional made its debut during the presidency of John Organ. One of his employees, John McDonald — who coincidentally today serves as TWS Vice President — approached him one morning with a publication from another organization. The publication was different from that organization’s scientific publications in that it had timely information and news along with featured articles written in a more reader-friendly magazine style. President Organ presented this idea to the TWS Council during a special planning meeting in 2006. As a Council member at the time, I recall that we discussed the concept in great detail and that it generated a fair amount of controversy.

Now, 10 years later, I think most would agree that launching The Professional was a great

idea. In fact, according to our 2014 member survey, members rate the magazine as one of their favorite member benefits. Its outstanding content is thanks in part to the dedication of its Editorial Advisory Board, which was expanded in 2015 to include a broader scope of expertise, and of course, the numerous authors who have contributed articles over the years.

Marching Into the FutureIn today’s fast-paced environment, TWS has recognized the need to step up the cadence of communication with members. The Professional — which is increasing from four to six issues per year in 2016 — together with other communication outlets such as the weekly

eWildlifer newsletter and the daily updates on the TWS website, are part of our strategy to stay in close touch with members and provide important information. Not only do these enhancements offer more benefits to members, but they also give us the opportunity to expand our partnerships with state and provincial wildlife agencies, a major goal of my presidency.

Ten years ago, an idea from a member to keep wildlifers updated on relevant issues in conservation and management resulted in the launch of this publication. With this 10th anniversary issue, we celebrate yet another milestone in our Society’s history.

I’m so glad that we had the courage to recognize the importance of providing a publication like this one to

every member. As I described in my presentation at our recent annual conference, it’s all a part of who we are — “We are The Wildlife Society!”

Leadership Letter

Gary E. Potts, CWB®, TWS Fellow, is TWS President and project manager of the Statewide Public Lands Wildlife Habitat Development Project with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

The magazine’s first cover feature was on “The Graying of the Green Generation,” a look at how the profession’s numbers were dwindling due to retirees not being replaced and budget cuts. This issue focuses on the vibrant next generation of wildlife professionals who will lead us into the future — a fitting way to celebrate the magazine’s anniversary.

8 The Wildlife Professional, January/February 2016 © The Wildlife Society

Grasslands birds already threatened by shrinking habitat could face additional problems due to expanding fracking operations, according to new research.

“The populations are already declining for most of these species, so this could push steeper decline,” said Sarah Thompson, a research wildlife biologist with the U.S. Geological Society and lead author of a recent study published in Biological Conservation.

Thompson and other researchers monitored the populations of eight different species of grasslands birds around unconventional oil wells in the northwest corner of North Dakota between 2012 and 2014.

Two species, brown-headed cowbirds (Molothrus ater) and clay-colored sparrows (Spizella pallida), were unaffected or may even have been attracted to wells — possibly due to the presence of perches like fence posts or ungrazed vegetation.

But Sprague’s pipit (Anthus spragueii) — a candidate for listing under the Endangered Species Act — and two other species of birds had lower population densities than usual at a distance

of 1,150 feet from fracking wells. Meanwhile, species such as the chestnut-collared longspur (Calcarius ornatus), grasshopper sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum) and Baird’s sparrow (Ammodramus bairdii) were even more sensitive to oil sites.

Thompson said that this avoidance isn’t a big issue for some of the species, since the so-called Bakken region in the survey doesn’t represent a large proportion of their ranges. But species including the Sprague’s pipit and Baird’s sparrow have a larger portion of their core U.S. breeding range in the fracking area.

“Given how much of their breeding range overlaps with the area projected to be developed for oil, these are the species that are likely to be most affected,” she said.

She said that the study demonstrates that grasslands birds would benefit from efforts to concentrate oil wells in specific areas while focusing on conserving other grassland areas farther away from any development.

“Grasslands are the most threatened areas in the world in a lot of ways,” she said.

A new study finds that fracking operations may stress some grasslands birds in North Dakota and cause populations to decline.

Credit: Tim Evanson via flickr

Science in Short

Grassland Birds Steer Clear of Fracking SitesBobwhites Need More Brush Cover During Drought

A bit of discreet shade may be the best thing to help quails survive a drought.

“Brush cover turns out to be a lot more important than previously thought,” said Chad Parent, a post-doctoral researcher at Michigan State University and the lead author of a study in the January issue of The Journal of Wildlife Management.

The researchers looked at the ways that northern bobwhites (Colinus virginianus) responded to landscape structures and differences in rain levels from 2008–2012 on King Ranch southwest of Corpus Christi on the Gulf Coast of Texas.

“We know that rain and habitat at a local level drive quail populations a lot,” said Parent, a TWS member. But two droughts occurred during the study period, and they wanted to know why quails at some places on the ranch did well despite the dry periods.

They found that while researchers knew brush cover was somewhat important to bobwhites — as shelter from raptors that prey on them and to cool down on hot days — ranchers typically could get away with as little as 11 percent brush cover and still meet the habitat needs of bobwhite.

But the new study showed that these areas become even more critical during drought. This is important information to help wildlife managers intervene and conserve the popular gamebird.

“In a world where money and time are finite, that’s particularly helpful,” Parent said. “We can try and create those types of conditions on the ground for bobwhites and hopefully they will buffer populations during times of droughts.”

The next step, he says, will be to investigate why some bird species such as the spotted towhee (Pipilo maculatus) do better than others.

Recent Papers From Wildlife Conservation and Management Journals

9www.wildlife.org© The Wildlife Society

First In-depth Study of WNV Impacts on Birds

West Nile virus has had a bigger impact on certain bird species than climate or land-use change, according to a new study that tracked bird populations over the past 16 years.

“As soon as West Nile arrived, the regional population [of some birds] dived,” said Ryan Harrigan, an assistant adjunct professor at the Center for Tropical Research at the University of California-Los Angeles and co-first author of the study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The study was based on more than a quarter million records of mark and recapture data collected by the Institute for Bird Populations. Harrigan says they found that of the 49 common species they examined, 23 species including purple finches (Haemorhous purpureus) and downy woodpeckers (Dryobates pubescens) showed population declines whenever West Nile turned up in the area.

“We saw minimal survival estimate changes to climate or land use or any of the other variables we looked at,” Harrigan said.

The species that were affected fell into two categories. About half of them, including species like downy woodpeckers and field sparrows (Spizella pusilla), dropped in the first year the virus was reported in the area, then rebounded in subsequent years, suggesting the birds may have built up some immunity to the disease.

The other half, including purple finches and the tufted titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor), declined and never recovered to their previous numbers. “This was the more alarming result,” Harrigan said, adding that while they weren’t sure why this could be, it could happen due to slower population recovery or weaker immunity to West Nile.

Records Could Improve Management of Wolf-Human Conflicts

A decade-long study has categorized the different ways humans come into conflict with wolves in Wisconsin, possibly giving wildlife managers a better perspective on dealing with such reports.

While conflicts between humans and wolves are relatively rare, researchers wanted to look for trends in the reports. Erik Olson, an assistant professor of natural resources at Northland College, Wis., and lead author of a recent study published in Wildlife Society Bulletin and his co-authors reviewed state records collected by Wildlife Services, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and tribal wildlife biologists from 1999-2011.

“Overall we found that only 48 percent of the complaints that were investigated were actually verified as wolf-related incidents,” Olson said, adding that a wide variety of other animals like coyotes, domestic dogs, wolf-dog hybrids, bears, mustelids and even vehicle collisions were identified as the likely cause for many of the conflicts.

They found that a minority of wolf packs (16–32 percent) were involved in at least one conflict in the state and that some wolf packs living in relatively close proximity to humans and agriculture have never been implicated in a conflict. Of the incidents that were actually verified as wolf-related, conflicts in general jumped up every year around May and dropped off by June — possibly because more deer fauns begin to appear at that time.

Conflict numbers start increasing again in July and stay high until September, and the research showed that this was partly due to the fact that this period coincides with open season for hound-assisted bear hunting. They also found more attacks on lambs and calves during this late summer period, which coincides with increased energy demands associated with pup rearing within wolf packs.

Researchers developed categories for wildland, residential and farm-associated conflicts to help wildlife managers decide how to respond and whether lethal control should be used.

“If you have a residential dog conflict, you might want to treat that differently than wildland dog conflicts,” he said. “Depending on how [wildlife managers] classify it, they may want to manage it differently.

Recent Most-Read Articles on wildlife.org.

• Researchers Confirm Snake Fungal Disease Culprit

• Wild Cam: Massive Study Reveals Raptor Ranges

• Monarch Study Shows Good Habitat May Be All in the Earth

A new study categorizes how wolves and humans interact in Wisconsin, and points to ways wolf conflicts can be better managed in the future.

Credit: John & Karen Hollingsworth/USFWS

Imag

e co

urte

sy o

f Pau

l Hig

gins

Contributed by Joshua Rapp Learn

10 The Wildlife Professional, January/February 2016 © The Wildlife Society

State of Wildlife

SOUTHEAST

Great Dismal Swamp Sees Woodpecker Return

After a 40-year absence, red-cockaded woodpeckers (Leuconotopicus borealis) are back in the Great Dismal Swamp thanks to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reintroduction program. Four pairs of the birds were released in the wildlife refuge in Virginia, which sits around the northernmost outpost of their range in the East. “The potential to restore the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker to Great Dismal Swamp is very exciting,” said refuge manager Chris Lowie in a release. “This effort illustrates the role that national wildlife refuges can play in the recovery of threatened and endangered species.” Currently there are only 6,400 breeding pairs of the birds in the country — most are found in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas — but the species was once common in mature pine forests from Louisiana to New Jersey. Lowie said these new birds, which were translocated from North and South Carolina, “will help protect the Virginia population against loss from catastrophic events such as disease and storms and put the bird on the track to recovery.” Sources: USFWS

NORTHWEST

Washington State Votes Against Wildlife Trafficking

Citizens in the state of Washington voted to approve an initiative against wildlife trafficking in a landslide victory during a general state election that occurred in early November. Just over 70 percent of voters said “yes,” approving Initiative 1401 that “would prohibit any person in Washington from selling, buying, trading or distributing parts of certain endangered animal species, or products containing or made from those animals.” What this means in practice is that products containing parts from any animal listed as threatened or endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature are not allowed to be purchased, sold or distributed in the state. Exceptions

include items in which the endangered parts of the animal make up less than 15 percent of the item; products or animal parts distributed for educational, scientific or museum purposes and certain other exceptions. “Today’s victory is a step forward in the race against extinction,” said Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who initiated the measure, in a statement on his website. “Thanks to the wisdom, compassion and determination of Washington voters, state authorities now have stronger tools to crack down on the illegal trade in endangered animal parts, which will help us save some of Earth’s most iconic creatures.” Sources: Washington

Secretary of State, www.paulallen.com

CANADA

New Ontario Law Hits Invasives Where it Hurts

Ontario is stepping up its muscle in the fight against invasive species with new legislation that allows for early intervention and bans possession of certain species. The Invasive Species Act received the royal nod on Oct. 21 and will work to protect communities from ecological and economic damages

posed by invasive species. “Ontario is proud to be the first and only jurisdiction in Canada to enact standalone invasive species legislation,” said provincial Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry Bill Mauro in a press release. “Invasive species pose a significant risk to our natural environment and our economy.” The new act will give the province tools to ban possession and transportation of invasives, modernize inspection and enforcement measures and improve early intervention and rapid response to stop the spread of invasive species such as stopping the movement of contaminated firewood. “This new act is a critical tool in our collective fight against the growing threats of invasive species in Ontario,” Mauro said. Sources: Ontario Ministry of

Natural Resources

NORTHEAST

N.H. Considers Reinstating Bobcat Hunt Ban

The New Hampshire Fish and Game Commission voted 7-3 last fall to reconsider a ban on hunting and trapping bobcats. The state’s ban has been put in place since 1989 when the cats’

USFWS recently released four pairs of red-cockaded woodpeckers in the Great Dismal Swamp in Virginia.

Credit: USFWS

Regional News from The Wildlife Society’s Sections

11www.wildlife.org© The Wildlife Society

population dropped to 200 as a result of overharvesting. According to a 2015 study conducted by the University of New Hampshire, the population has since rebounded to as many as 1,400 in the fall and winter and 2,200 in the spring and summer. The Commission agreed to consider a limited hunting and trapping season to help the state monitor the health of the population and identify population trends. The Commission plans to meet in November when they will review a final draft of the proposal. However, opponents worry that harvesting bobcats may cause their population to plummet again. If they approve the draft, the Commission will begin soliciting public comment through written input, email and a public hearing, which will likely be scheduled in early winter. Sources: New

Hampshire Fish and Game

NORTH CENTRAL

Rattlesnake Considered for Protection

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering listing the eastern massasauga rattlesnake (Sistrurus catenatus) as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. The species has experienced a steep drop in its population over the last decade due to loss of wetland and upland habitat as well as people killing them. The rattlesnakes occur in wet prairies, marshes and low areas along rivers and lakes in states including Illinois, Iowa and Michigan; however, more than 30 percent of the snakes’ historic population has been extirpated. The remaining snakes might experience additional population declines in the future as a result of habitat loss from agriculture, urbanization and other human threats that are persisting, according to a USFWS press release. Another concern prompting the ESA listing is the risk of snake fungal disease — a deadly disease that leaves harmful lesions on the reptiles’ skin. Eastern massasauga rattlesnakes are already listed as endangered, threatened or a species of concern in every state and province in which they occur. Many remaining populations are on public land and privately owned natural areas. A

review of the federal status of the species can take up to a year. Sources: U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service

SOUTHWEST

USFWS Overrides New Mexico Wolf Decision

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service overrode a New Mexico state decision to stop the release of Mexican wolves (Canis lupus baileyi) as part of a recovery program on Forest Service lands. The USFWS listed the Mexican wolf subspecies as federally endangered in January 2015 around the same time as they published a rule to increase an experimental population of the wolves in New Mexico and Arizona and expand the management area of the wolves. In September, the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish Director Alexa Sandoval refused to issue permits for the release of wolves and pups in a decision supported by a vote by the state’s Game Commission. But USFWS exempted the Mexican Wolf Recovery Program from complying with state permit requirements in New Mexico. “We, together with our recovery partners, will continue to advance

the species’ recovery under Federal authority,” said a statement from USFWS. “Exercising this exemption will allow the Service to import, export, hold and transfer Mexican wolves into and within the State of New Mexico and to release Mexican wolves on federal lands in New Mexico without a State permit per our statutory responsibility under the Endangered Species Act.” Sources: USFWS

WEST

New Colony for Endangered Hawaiian Petrels

Ten endangered Hawaiian petrels (Pterodroma sandwichensis) — one of two seabird species found only on the Hawaiian Islands — have been translocated to Kauai’s Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge from forest reserves on the island where they nest in burrows. As part of the translocation project, which included collaboration between the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Forestry and Wildlife, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other agencies, researchers retrieved the chicks nesting on mountain tops in

A Hawaiian petrel chick sits in its burrow. In a recent translocation project, the endangered birds were moved to a new colony at the Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge.

Credit: Andre Raine

12 The Wildlife Professional, January/February 2016 © The Wildlife Society

State of Wildlife

the Hono O Na Pali Natural Area Reserve within the Na Pali-Kona Forest Reserve and translocated them via helicopter to a new colony at the refuge that is protected by a predator-proof fence. “This translocation will establish a new, predator-free colony of the endangered Hawaiian petrel to help prevent the extirpation of the species from Kauai,” said Michael Mitchell, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Acting Kauai National Wildlife Refuge Complex Project Leader, in a press release. Petrels have declined dramatically as a result of threats including habitat loss and the introduction of invasive species. “Translocating the birds to Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge ensures that this colony of birds will be protected for our children and our children’s children,” Mitchell said. Source: Hawaii Department of

Land and Natural Resources

CENTRAL MOUNTAINS & PLAINS

Adopt a Ferret in Wyoming

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently finalized a rule to designate Wyoming

as a special area for introductions of the black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes). Landowners will now be able host ferrets — listed as federally endangered — on their property according to the rule, which came about through collaboration between the federal agency and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. “Private landowners are key to the success of the black-footed ferret recovery effort,” said Noreen Walsh, regional director of the Service’s Mountain-Prairie Region, in a statement. “We are pleased to be working with the state to give Wyoming landowners the comfort level they need to consider establishing ferrets on their property. Black-footed ferrets were originally rediscovered in Wyoming after they were thought to have gone extinct, so it is fitting that this rule will allow more of them to return home.” Although no ferrets had been sighted for years, a population discovered in the 1980s sparked an ongoing captive breeding program. Teams have released ferrets in a number of states and in Canada since then. Source: Wyoming

Game and Fish Department

>> Visit wildlife.org for daily news updates.

USFWS finalized a new rule allowing property owners to host black-footed ferrets in Wyoming.

Credit: Ryan Moehring/USFWS

Be a Part of Your Membership MagazineHere’s your opportunity to share your knowledge and expertise with all 9,000+ members of The Wildlife Society.

We are inviting members to submit articles for The Wildlife Professional’s six bimonthly issues in 2016.

Our diverse membership includes wildlife biologists — both researchers and field practitioners — policymak-ers, wildlife law enforcement officers, veterinary scientists, educators, wildlife technicians, students and a broad range of other special-ists whose daily work is related to science-based wildlife management and conservation.

Submission categories are: • Education• Ethics in Practice• Health and Disease• Human-Wildlife Connection• Law and Policy• Research and Practice• Professional Development• Tools and Technology

Send an email with a brief description or summary of the article you want to write to editor@wildlife.org to learn more about how you can publish in The Wildlife Professional.

Relevant Education for Wildlife Professionals American Public University understands your passion for solving complex environmental issues. That’s why we offer dynamic and collaborative environmental sciences programs that are affordable and online. Our wildlife-focused programs include:

• M.S. in Environmental Policy & Management with Fish & Wildlife Management concentration • B.S. in Environmental Science with Fish & Wildlife Management concentration which aligns with Associate Wildlife Biologist (AWB) certification • Environmental Sustainability Graduate Certificate• Fish & Wildlife Undergraduate and Graduate Certificates

Get started today at StudyAtAPU.com/TWS

We want you to make an informed decision about the university that’s right for you. For more about our graduation rates, the median debt of students who completed each program, and other important information, visit www.apus.edu/disclosure. 2015

ONLINE PROGRAMSBEST

BACHELOR’S

By Dana Kobilinsky

MORE STUDENTS EMBRACE WILDLIFE OPPORTUNITIES

On a warm summer day at the State

University of New York in New

Paltz, students crouched behind

bushes watching birds fly into nearby mist

nets. As the animals became entangled in

the netting, the students gently removed

them and prepared to use the banding skills

they learned from SUNY assistant professor

of biology Kara Belinsky. The activity that day

was part of a project to monitor local bird

populations and determine which parts of the

green, tree-covered campus they favored.

of the Faces

NextGeneration

© The Wildlife Society14 The Wildlife Professional, January/February 2016

The following summer, the students installed feeders on their dorm and apart-ment windows in hopes of recording banded birds that stop by for a free meal. So far, Belinsky says they’ve learned that the campus’ bird population is more rep-resentative of species found in large cities rather than rural areas. Also, even though the university sits on 216 acres of richly forested land, the students have recorded many invasive bird species but surprisingly low species diversity.

This banding effort is just one example of hands-on projects that wildlife stu-dents on college and university campuses across North America take part in every year. These 18- to 22-year-old millennials represent a new and fresh generation that’s increasingly gravitating toward the wildlife profession, leaving the future of the field looking a little greener than it did a just a decade ago.

Green Versus GrayThe concern back then was the graying of the baby boomer generation, a problem highlighted in the very first issue of The Wildlife Professional. In fact, in a 2004 study, Steve McMullin, an associate profes-sor of Fisheries and Wildlife at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, found that of all of the employees in state agencies who focused on fisheries, wildlife and law enforcement, 47 percent planned to retire by 2015. As ex-pected, many senior employees are starting to leave these agencies as the first wave of baby boomers reach retirement age.

“The generations are turning over,” said Brian Logan, national wildlife program leader at the U.S. Forest Service. “People are retiring, so there are needs at the

higher levels — and not just at the higher levels.” Logan says there’s a cascading ef-fect in which higher positions are filled by people within the agency, causing lower and mid-level positions to open up. Logan has noticed that there are more job oppor-tunities in places such as Montana where many Forest Service wildlife positions have turned over in the past three years.

There’s good evidence that growing num-bers of students are interested in wildlife biology as these opportunities open up. According to the National Center for Edu-cation Statistics, 16,510 students received a bachelor’s degree in fields related to natural resources and conservation in 2013 com-pared with only 8,797 students in 2004.

According to Logan, individuals who climbed the ladder to senior positions often began their careers as entry-level techni-cians, suggesting young graduates today can take a similar route. He says USFS is seeing large numbers of qualified, early career applicants apply for open positions.

However, the number of young people hired as foresters or conservationists in the U.S. is still relatively low. In 2013, only 1,000 people age 20-24 worked as forest-ers or conservation scientists compared to 8,000 55-64, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. “It’s still fairly competi-tive,” Logan said.

This situation might be changing, however, especially since some state agencies have plenty of job opportunities for early career professionals. “We are in unprecedented times in regards to opportunities in the 30-plus years that I’ve worked for the agency,” said Paul Johansen, the chief of the Wildlife

Top: Texas State University undergraduate Aaron Hudnall bands white-winged doves (Zenaida asiatica) with Texas Parks and Wildlife. Credit: Danielle Pullen

Middle: State University of New York at Cobleskill undergraduate Joseph J. Caputo holds a male wood duck (Aix sponsa) in Schoharie County, New York, and undergraduate student Allen Sutton holds the bands. Credit: Double Image Studio courtesy of SUNY Cobleskill

Bottom: Roberta Walker, a 2013 Forest Service student trainee from the Alaska Native Science & Engineering program takes a break during a goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) survey day. Credit: Christopher Leeseberg

Top: Wildlife biology student at the University of Montana, Tanner Saul, carries a tranquilized wolf (Canis lupus) pup that he helped capture with Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks. Credit: Matt Fountain

Middle: PhD candidate at the University of Alberta, Janet Ng, holds a female ferruginous hawk (Buteo regalis)nestling. Credit: Jillian Jones

Bottom: Clay Delancey, a master’s candidate at Ball State University removes a cerulean warbler (Setophaga cerulea) from a mist net. Credit: Sarah Fischer

© The Wildlife Society 15www.wildlife.org

16 The Wildlife Professional, January/February 2016 © The Wildlife Society

Resources Section at the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources and the Northeast Section Rep-resentative for The Wildlife Society. “I’ve never seen such a golden opportunity for young career profes-sionals seeking employment with the agency.”

Johansen added that besides “backfilling” vacan-cies from retiring professionals, there are also some exciting new jobs and opportunities. In addition, the revised State Wildlife Action Plans — plans to conserve wildlife and habitat in all 50 states — offer new projects that require staff, he said.

More Students, More ProgramsIn recent years, not only have some colleges and universities added wildlife biology or related programs, but more students are also joining pro-

fessional societies such as TWS to build contacts and network with colleagues as a way to get a leg up on their wildlife careers.

“If you have made the decision to have a career in wildlife science, research management or conser-vation, taking the next step to become part of an organization that represents that profession, I just think, is so important,” said Johansen, who looks for experience, TWS membership and TWS certifi-cation when reviewing a resume.

There are currently over 400 schools that offer certification or degrees in wildlife ecology and man-agement and almost 30 schools that offer online courses in wildlife biology. Some institutions have specifically designed their courses to meet the crite-ria for TWS’ associate wildlife biologist certification, including the University of Georgia, American Pub-lic University — a university offering solely online classes — and Bemidji State University in Minne-sota, which recently added a wildlife biology major to its degree programs.

Students now make up about 25 percent of the TWS membership compared with about 20 percent 10 years ago. And the number of student chapters is also expanding, with 139 today compared to 102 in 2007.

Individual colleges and universities are seeing growth within the major as well. “A decade ago, there were about 300 wildlife biology majors,” said Jason Riddle, an associate professor of wildlife ecol-ogy at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and the university’s student chapter adviser. “In the last year, we are fluctuating between 400 and 500 students in our major.”

More biology graduates may mean stiffer competi-tion on the job front but some chapters such as Stevens Point are especially active in supporting outdoor endeavors. The chapter is preparing to host a TWS Student Conclave, an event typically held during the spring featuring competitions that test both wildlife knowledge and physical ability to perform wildlife-related tasks. Universities from across the United States and Canada host five Stu-dent Conclaves, each representing a different TWS Section, and students from other local schools come

Credit: Robert Miller, Fish Biologist with Sitka Ranger District, US Forest Service

Students from the University of Alaska Southeast help staff from Sitka Sound Science Center — a nonprofit organization that provides research and education programs — perform a necropsy on a gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus).

Credit: Christine Tincher, USFWS

Graduate student Matt Boggie from the New Mexico Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at New Mexico State Uni-versity (right) and USFWS Region 2 Director Benjamin Tuggle (left) prepare to release a greater sandhill crane (Grus canadensis tabida) at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico. Their work was part of a study on the birds’ winter and summer habitat use, migration routes, migration chronology, breeding suc-cess and survival.

17www.wildlife.org© The Wildlife Society

Credit: Katrina Keleher

to participate. The Stevens Point group plans to pro-vide hands-on workshops in telemetry and trapping as well as leadership training.

The University of Georgia’s student chapter is also having a big year. About a hundred people attended their kickoff cookout, and many of them prereg-istered for the event on Facebook, according to Dalton Brown, the student chapter president and a senior at the university. The chapter was composed of only about 40 students last year. Brown says the chapter includes students majoring in several natural resource programs, and even the vice presi-dent of the chapter has a dual major in forestry and wildlife biology.

It’s Not Easy Being GreenBrown grew up in a suburban area of Atlanta and fondly remembers hunting and fishing with his family at their lake house. After noticing a decline in fish numbers, he started to question development in the area and wondered about how that might affect wildlife. Like many students today, his exposure

to the outdoors channeled an interest in a wildlife biology career. But increasing urbanization and declining outdoor time may not bode well for future generations — something that professionals worry will hurt the field in the long run.

More cities leads to more human-wildlife conflict, but also leads to children not being exposed to large areas of nature where wildlife are free to roam. In fact, author Richard Louv, a plenary speaker at the 2015 TWS Annual Conference in Winnipeg, coined the term nature deficit disorder, which links cur-rent trends such as obesity, attention disorders and depression in part to children spending less time outdoors and more time playing video games and surfing the Internet.

Credit: Tiffany Caisse

Students from Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Ore. and local high schools look for spotted owls (Strix occidentalis). Biologists at the USFS Pacific Northwest Research Station took college students out into the field to show them some of the work that wildlife biologists do.

Credit: John Loegering/ University of Minnesota Crooksten

Undergraduate students Christina Muehlbauer, Felicia Miller, Natalee Yates and Ally Moser from Virginia Tech University compete in the Quiz Bowl at the 2015 TWS Annual Conference in Winnipeg, just one of the activities students can participate in. The conference features a variety of opportunities for students to network with each other and professionals, share their research, and take field trips in the local area. At this past conference, 46 percent of attendees were students.

18 The Wildlife Professional, January/February 2016 © The Wildlife Society

In the past, students would start their wildlife biology studies already knowing important field techniques that were taken for granted such as op-erating a four-wheel-drive vehicle, gutting a fish or using a chainsaw, according to Paul R. Krausman, an emeritus professor at the University of Arizona and editor of The Journal of Wildlife Manage-ment. Krausman, along with Scott Henke, a regents’ professor at Texas A&M University-Kingsville, is working on a book that offers career advice for aspiring wildlife professionals. He says employers today, including state wildlife agencies, are teaching young professionals how to do these once com-monly known tasks.

“The point is that agencies are taking on these roles of teaching additional training people used to have,” Krausman said. “There has been a continuing shift into an urbanized society.”

While some students might not have had much ex-posure to wildlife and the outdoors, many still want to learn. The University of Georgia’s student chapter organizes hunting and fishing education and safety courses to help these students. Those members of the chapter with experience take the novices on hunting and fishing outings, according to Brown. Schools such as Oregon State University even offer courses on field skills; other universities including the University of Montana have weekend field trips where professors teach students skills such as how to back up a boat trailer hitched to a vehicle.

However, wildlife biology jobs that students hope to land might require more familiarity with tech-nology. Instructors are teaching students more about modeling species’ habitats, according to Krausman. “Modeling definitely has a place that’s very good,” he said. “On the other hand, it’s not as

Mike LarsonWhen Mike Larson joined the Leadership Institute, he had already graduated with a PhD about five years before. He was working as a scientist at the Forest Wildlife Population and Research Group at the Minnesota

DNR, where he is now a supervisor.Larson, who served as president of the TWS Min-

nesota Chapter, is now the president of the North Central Section. Throughout his career, Larson has noticed changes within the field of wildlife biol-ogy, mostly involving technology. Along with an increased usage of trail cameras and satellite-based data, Larson has also seen more genetics research. He also notices much more of a focus on threats such as climate change and invasive species com-pared to 10 years ago.

Larson advises early-career professionals to be persistent and to set themselves apart from the crowd. He said that remaining open and flexible in taking different positions is important, and repeats the advice from one of his own mentors: There are good jobs for good people.

Jordona Kirby As part of the inaugural class of the Leadership Institute, Jordona Kirby who works with USDA Wildlife Servic-es as a rabies field coordinator based out of Knoxville, Tenn., appreciates the experience and opportunities the Leadership Institute offered her.

“Being a part of the Leadership Institute gave me the confidence to move forward in my career and get actively involved with The Wildlife Society,” Kirby said. In the past Kirby served on the executive board for the TWS State Chapter in Kentucky and also served on the executive board of the TWS Wildlife Disease Working Group.

Compared to 10 years ago, Kirby has noticed individuals using smartphones and iPads to input data while working in the field rather than field notebooks.

Kirby suggests that students or individuals beginning careers in wildlife biology try a little bit of everything. “Not many professions out there have opportunities to do diverse things and see so much of the country,” Kirby said. “You should maximize your experiences and see different things and take different jobs.”

Credit: National Conservation Leadership Institute (2015)

Credit: Brian Kirby

Where Are They Now?The Wildlife Society’s Leadership Institute, established in 2006, is an outlet for young professionals to gain leadership skills that will help them advance in their careers.

These three individu-als participated in the first TWS Leader-ship Institute and today are thriving in different branches of wildlife biology.

19www.wildlife.org© The Wildlife Society

positive when the person doing the modeling isn’t familiar with the species, and they’re just working with numbers.”

Passion Versus PayFor some students who are passionate about natural resources and conservation and are toying with the idea of obtaining an undergraduate degree, a wildlife career might not seem so attractive when they dig deeper. The reason? Money — or the potential lack of it.

The average starting salary in 2015 for a college graduate with a bachelor’s degree in computer science is $61,287, according to a survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employ-ers. For students beginning in entry-level wildlife technician jobs with agencies such as the USFS, a GS-5 pay grade is roughly $28,000 to $36,000,

depending on location. To reach the higher pay scales, many students today are looking toward furthering their education and obtaining a mas-ter’s degree or higher.

“From what I can see, secondary education is extremely important,” said Matt Gould, the current chair of the TWS Student Development Working Group and the recent student representative to the TWS Council. He is pursuing a doctorate at New Mexico State University. “On one side, it’s a qualifi-cation requirement for many positions; but on the other, it also prepares you to critically think about issues and how to solve those issues.”

Money is also a factor that’s deterring underrepresented groups including those from low socioeconomic backgrounds, from careers in wildlife. According to a recent Journal of Forestry study on barriers to entering natural resource careers, these students may have a harder time when applying for jobs because they couldn’t afford to participate in unpaid internships or volunteer opportunities — a common way for wildlife biologists to get a foot in the door (Balcarczyk, et. al, 2015). Another recent opinion piece published in the Wildlife Society Bulletin explains that unpaid volunteer technician positions exclude minorities, parents and other groups that can’t afford to work without pay, preventing them from getting field experience (Fournier and Bond, 2015).

A More Diverse FieldTen years ago Frank Ammer, who’s been a profes-sor of wildlife biology at Frostburg State University for 13 years, remembers that classes were filled with predominantly white male students from rural areas. Today, it’s a different picture, and his classes include many minorities and women as well.

“The change in demography is definitely a posi-tive thing,” Ammer said. He remembers scientific meetings where the attendees were 60 to 70 per-cent males. “This has changed. The Wildlife Society meetings have changed over the years as well, and that’s a good thing.” Now, about 32 percent of TWS members are women compared with around 19 percent in 1991, according to a 2014 TWS member-ship survey led by Rachael Urbanek, an assistant professor of wildlife ecology at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.

Credit: Jake Grages

Silka KempemaSilka Kempema was still a master’s student when she took part in the Leadership Institute in 2006. She was also working at the USFWS Ecological Services Division in South Dakota as a fish and wildlife biologist.Being involved in the

Leadership Institute made Kempema feel that all levels of The Wildlife Society were accessible to her — not just the chapters or sections.

Kempema, now a wildlife biologist with the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks, has served as board member, president and past president of the South Dakota Chapter of TWS and is currently a board member-at-large of the Central Mountains and Plains Section of TWS.

Kempema said wildlife biology isn’t just about working with animals. “Whatever conservation goals you have in mind or the things you want to accom-plish, you won’t be able to reach those goals with without people … wildlife management is essentially people management.”

Check the TWS website for information on applying for the 2016 Leadership Institute class.

20 The Wildlife Professional, January/February 2016 © The Wildlife Society

Further, the board of the Stevens Point student chapter is composed primarily of women and hasn’t had a male president since Anna Schneider, current president, joined the chapter in 2012. One year, nearly all 10 board members were women, she said.

“I think that’s something that’s a real source of pride for the fac-ulty,” the chapter’s adviser Riddle said. “It’s interesting to see that it has gotten to the point that for the past couple of years there has been discussion on the board to get males involved.”

Janet Ng, a PhD candidate at the University of Alberta who is studying how land use in the Canadian prairie landscape may affect ferruginous hawks (Buteo regalis), also has seen an increase in women in the field. She has been surrounded by mentors who have helped her succeed as an underrepresented woman in wildlife biology. “I have worked with tons of

capable, tough women,” she said. “I never con-sidered why they wouldn’t be in this field.”

Federal agencies have also seen some progress in the number of women and minorities hired in 2005 compared to 2015. While minorities ac-counted for just under 16 percent of permanent USFS employees in 2005, they made up over 19 percent in 2015, according to a Workforce Diversity Trends Briefing Paper from USFS. In 2015 USFS hired 2.05 percent more American Indian men and 0.89 percent more American Indian women compared to the 2010 National Civilian Labor Force, an encouraging sign that some small strides are being made. However, the same report shows that the number of women hired by USFS declined over two percent from 2005 to 2015.

Looking to the FutureThe year is 2026. The latest state-of-the-art tele-vision is flashing a wildlife show on the Discovery Channel into peoples’ living rooms. The channel and others like it glamorize careers in wildlife bi-ology, with featured biologists travelling to exotic places and extolling the joys of their career. On campuses, a diversity of students are filling the hallways, racing to their wildlife biology courses. GIS technology has been perfected, and a GPS with a tiny battery can be placed on song birds allowing students to track campus birds rather than banding them. Senior wildlife positions are filled with women and other previously under-represented minority groups. The wildlife biology field is looking promising despite baby boomers retiring from leadership positions.

Reality or fantasy? Nobody has a crystal ball, but the trends all seem to be pointing in an upward direction and predicting a vibrant future for the next generation of wildlife professionals. No doubt the impacts of issues such as climate change, human-wildlife conflict and urbanization will be in good hands.

Dana Kobilinsky is an associate science writer at The Wildlife Society.

Get InvolvedThe “Next Generation” tab on the wildlife.org homepage offers a wide range of resources designed to cater to students’ needs. Exploring this tab, students will find the TWS Student Chapter Toolkit — an invaluable manual outlining successful fundraising, chapter operations and professional development. On the Annual TWS Student Conclaves page, students can learn about the competitive events that test their wildlife knowledge and skills. Or visit the Internships and Jobs page where employers post positions and students can post their resumes free of charge.

Credit: Janet Ng

A ferruginous hawk fitted with a transmitter is ready to be released. Janet Ng, a doctoral candidate at the University of Alberta, has been studying the hawks for her thesis. She is working with other undergraduate and graduate students to determine how the Canadian prairie landscape is affecting the species.

GO BEYOND YOUR STUDENT CHAPTER MEMBERSHIP

Invest in yourself and your future

I’m LaRyssa and I’m a TWS Parent SocietyStudent Member

Enhance your RESUME

• Leverage the prestige of professional society membership

• Achieve Associate Wildlife Biologist®

Access important RESOURCES• 6 issues of The Wildlife Professional magazine• 52 issues of the eWildlifer: direct links to

wildlife news and job announcements• 104 video presentations from the most recent

TWS Annual Conference (TWS Talks)• 5% discount on American Public University online

courses• Up to 30% discount on textbooks

Only $41/year!less than $3.50/month

Learn more at www.wildlife.org/join/

©John Loegering

Expand your NETWORK

• Save $200 on TWS Annual Conference registration

• Interact with professionals through ourmembers-only Working Groups (small additional fee may apply)

22 The Wildlife Professional, January/February 2016 © The Wildlife Society

On March 24, 2000, the U.S. Fish and Wild-life Service listed the Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) population in the contiguous

United States as a threatened species under the fed-eral Endangered Species Act. Now, nearly 16 years later, a formal recovery plan for the carnivores has yet to be issued.

Since the listing, the Service has taken other steps to address the dwindling lynx population. A 21-page recovery outline — prepared for USFWS internal use — followed by a 2006 Federal Register notice designating critical habitat as well as revisions in 2009 and 2014 provided an interim strategy to guide their recovery efforts. Then in early 2015, the

Service announced that it was beginning a formal species status assessment in order to clarify the ex-tent and magnitude of threats to lynx so that future recovery plans can incorporate those concerns.

This status assessment is the first step toward evaluating whether the threats that originally led to the lynx listing have been adequately addressed and whether continued ESA protection is warrant-ed. A new threat that the USFWS will also consider is the impact of climate change on lynx habitat. Depending on their findings, the Service will then decide if further recovery planning is warranted at the federal level.

Given the slow pace of the federal recovery plan-ning process, many individual state fish and wildlife agencies have already moved ahead with their own efforts to develop and implement lynx conservation strategies. At the request of Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Director Jeff Hagener, the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (AFWA) initiated a survey in August, 2014 of state agencies — which included interviews with lynx biologists and state wildlife program managers — to iden-tify state activities aimed at lynx populations. The survey results show that states have undertaken a broad suite of conservation activities to help lynx populations recover. Here we highlight some of those efforts.

Brief History of Lynx Management Canada lynx — a boreal forest carnivore char-acterized by its long ear tufts, flared facial ruff, and short, bobbed tail with a black tip — occurs throughout Canada, Alaska and portions of the contiguous United States (Ruggiero et al. 1994). Highly valued by trappers for their thick, soft fur, at one time the medium-size cats were even subject to predator control efforts (Stinson 2001).

But concerns about population declines in the southern portion of the species’ range led to the elimination of bounties and the closure of harvest seasons in many states (Interagency Lynx Biol-ogy Team 2013). In 1991, the USFWS received a petition to list the North Cascades population of

A collared Canada lynx takes its first strides in Colorado’s snowy, forested habitat. From 1999 – 2006, state wildlife managers released 218 animals into sites in southwestern Colorado as part of its reintroduction program. Credit: Colorado Parks and Wildlife

RESEARCH AND PRACTICE

By Jonathan Mawdsley, John Vore and Eric Odell

HOW STATE CONSERVATION EFFORTS ARE ADVANCING RECOVERY

The Elusive Canada Lynx

23www.wildlife.org© The Wildlife Society

Canada lynx as endangered under the ESA, which was followed by litigation and the eventual listing as threatened in 2000.

Since that time, state wildlife agencies have un-dertaken many efforts to benefit their own state’s populations. These include habitat conservation, conservation planning, reintroduction, monitoring, research, best practices to avoid non-target capture by trappers, updates to trapping regulations to minimize incidental lethal and live takes, enforce-ment of those regulations using trained wildlife personnel, and 24-hour hotlines to minimize harm to cats caught in traps prior to release.

Habitat Conservation Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks identified the cat and its habitat as a conservation priority in the state’s 2005 State Wildlife Action Plans as well as all subsequent plans. To date, the state agency and its partners have invested more than $30 million to permanently protect nearly 40,000 acres of des-ignated critical habitat. These lands were some of the most important unprotected lynx habitat in the western U.S. and are now being managed by the state agency, with an emphasis on habitat conserva-tion and improvement.

Conservation PlanningSeveral states also have initiated their own lynx conservation planning. Washington State’s Depart-ment of Fish and Wildlife released its own recovery plan for the species in 2001 (Stinson 2001), shortly after the federal ESA listing. Maine also initiated a Canada Lynx Assessment (Vashon et al. 2012) that has been used to develop management goals and ob-jectives for the species through a public engagement process. The resulting incidental take plan — which explains the benefits of trapping lynx predators such as the fisher (Martes pennanti) — has been deemed sufficient to support a Habitat Conservation Plan Permit after a federal review found regulated trap-ping caused no adverse impacts to habitats.

Thirteen states included lynx as a Species of Great-est Conservation Need in their 2005 State Wildlife Action Plans. Colorado, Idaho, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Utah, Vermont, Washington and Wyoming — which cover most of the species’ range in the lower 48 states — can use federal State Wildlife Grant funding for conservation activities benefit-ting the species.

Species TranslocationTwo states, New York and Colorado, translocated animals to large, unoccupied blocks of boreal forest. Between 1989 and 1992, the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry conducted a series of experimental lynx releases in the Adirondack region of the state. Although these releases did not result in the establishment of a viable population, the program did underscore the importance of habitat management.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife, formerly the Colorado Division of Wildlife, released 218 lynx from 1999 to 2006 into sites in southwestern Colorado. A state review of the lynx reintroduction program in 2010 concluded that it was highly successful in meeting its initial population objectives for the species.

Legal Protections, Special Status DesignationsIn addition to the federal listing status, five states — Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Hampshire and Washington — reported that lynx are also state-listed under their endangered species laws. Maine has reviewed the lynx under its own ESA on multiple occasions, most recently finding in 2014 that the species is too widespread, abundant and productive

Jake Ivan, a Colorado Parks and Wildlife Mammals researcher, gets ready to release a lynx to its capture location after it was collared. Adult cats weigh 18–24 pounds, have a short tail, characteristic tufts of black hair on the tips of their ears, and in the winter they have large, padded paws for walking on the snow.

Credit: Colorado Parks and Wildlife

24 The Wildlife Professional, January/February 2016 © The Wildlife Society

to qualify for listing. Four states also mentioned putting in place special trapping regulations or guidelines to prevent accidental harvest of the cats.

Monitoring and Research ActivitiesLynx are notoriously elusive animals and many states have established programs to detect and monitor the forest carnivores. Depending on the informa-tion needs of managers, states conduct monitoring activities such as tracking and camera surveys, DNA sampling, marking and recapture studies, collaring studies and documenting road kills.

States and their partners also reported directing their own research activities. For example, Washington and British Columbia are conducting range-wide genomics analyses. A wolverine study in Wyoming is also documenting lynx observations, and Colorado has an ongoing study of lynx habitat use in relation to winter recreation areas. In another program, Colorado is also monitoring lynx statewide using a combination of snow tracking and remote cameras. Two states, New

Hampshire and Vermont, monitor the cats living in high-elevation habitats using trail cameras and limited track transects.

In addition, Idaho developed a multi-species baseline initiative that has collected data on lynx and other species of conservation interest. Maine recently concluded a 12-year field study of adult lynx survival and productivity and documented demographic vital rates and track counts indicative of a population expanding in range and abundance (Vashon et al. 2012)

Population EstimatesWith funding from a variety of sources — includ-ing State Wildlife Grants, Pittman-Robertson and USFWS Section 6 Grants — state wildlife agencies

have also developed estimates of their lynx populations over the last 20 years. Although highly precise estimates over the species’ entire range in the lower 48 states are difficult to develop, increased monitoring efforts since the ESA listing in 2000 indicate lynx populations are now more robust in many areas includ-ing Maine, Minnesota, New England and the Great Lakes Region.

In other areas such as the state of Washington, monitoring efforts show that lynx numbers have dropped. In addition, Idaho, Wyoming and south-western Montana report that their lynx populations are not persistent. In northwestern Montana, however, monitoring suggests lynx are occupy-ing suitable habitat, and population

Co-author Eric Odell of Colorado Parks and Wildlife holds a sedated lynx that was captured and collared for a study examining their responses to human recreation. States such as Colorado have created their own successful reintroduction programs. Wildlife managers documented the first litter of lynx kittens (inset) in the spring of 2003.

Credit: Colorado Parks and Wildlife

Credit: Colorado Parks and Wildlife

25www.wildlife.org© The Wildlife Society

numbers are stable as a result of considerable investments in land easements and statutory pro-tections on federal lands. Also, Colorado, which reintroduced lynx in the late 1990s, now has a reproducing population.

New Conservation OpportunitiesGoing forward, state managers have identified several new and exciting opportunities for coordi-nated multi-state conservation actions to benefit lynx recovery. For example, as the USFWS works through the species status assessment, state agen-cies will have an opportunity to be proactive in developing a comprehensive conservation plan.

In interviews conducted as part of the AFWA survey, several state managers suggested that it is time to consider delisting lynx under the federal ESA. The criterion given by USFWS in 2000 for the threatened listing was inadequate regulatory mechanisms. Additionally, there was a general lack of information about the status of the species. Significant progress has been made since then in addressing both of these issues. The impacts of climate change on the species in the lower 48 states are unclear, however.

Today, states have gathered substantial new information about current and historical lynx population size, dynamics and movements. Federal land management agencies such as the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. For-

est Service also have incorporated conservation measures for lynx in their management plans (In-teragency Lynx Biology Team 2013). States and partner organizations are moving forward, too, by developing suitable mechanisms for managing the species, including best management practices for hunting and trapping that avoid incidental takes. In light of these important new developments, it may be an appropriate time to consider whether primary management responsibility for Canada lynx should be transferred back to the state fish and wildlife agencies.

John Vore, MS, CWB®, is game management bureau chief for

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and a past-president of the TWS Montana Chapter.

Jonathan Mawdsley, PhD, is the fish and wildlife science coordinator

for the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies.

Eric Odell is species conservation program manager for Colorado

Parks and Wildlife and a past-president of the TWS Colorado Chapter.

After introducing its Verizon and AT&T versions, Spartan GoCam is releasing the new Sprint version for 2016. With its data plan starting from $8.33/month, the Spartan GoCam is becoming the favorite remote scouting tool on the market today!

The GoCam maThe GoCam makes wildlife monitoring from anywhere in the world possible. It also works with the GoWireless web portal, accessible from the web and the mobile app, to provide you with the best user interface. You are now able to manage your cameras like never before, with advanced two-way communications and control features. Control your camecameras via the web or on the mobile app. View images immediately, not hours or days later. The GoWireless Web Portal features camera management, synchronizing camera settings, camera delivery options, management/viewing photos plus firmware OTA (Over-The-Air) update.

INTRODUCING

YOUR NEW

Cellular Remote Monitoring Camera

Activate and Deactivate service at any time. No Contract Required!

Affordable rate plans starting at $8.33/month.

Advanced two-way communication and control. Send your pictures wherever you want!

GoWireless web portal and mobile apps supported.

26 The Wildlife Professional, January/February 2016 © The Wildlife Society

Acritically endangered Hawaiian monk seal pup was dying at Kure Atoll in the North-western Hawaiian Islands. The female pup

— tagged “KF04” by researchers — may have been prematurely weaned because its mother had died or was too sick to care for it, or the pup had been switched between lactating females. Either way, the pup’s odds of surviving its first year of life were low.

The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands begin at Nihoa Island, 300 miles from Honolulu, and the chain of low-lying islands and atolls stretches from there across a span of 1,100 miles — roughly the dis-tance between Texas and the coast of California. Researchers temporarily stationed in the remote region lacked access to suitable veterinary facili-ties and infrastructure and, as a result, couldn’t do much to help rescue the ailing pup. Within eight weeks, KF04 disappeared — a common occur-rence among juveniles living on the nutritional and physiological edge — and, a few months later, it unexpectedly resurfaced, weak and emaciated.

Coincidentally, our team of monk seal scientists was aboard a NOAA ship bound for the island. The ship

arrived at the atoll two days later to transport KF04 and malnourished seals from other islands to The Marine Mammal Center’s (TMMC) Ke Kai Ola, a non-profit veterinary rehabilitation facility at the op-posite end of the archipelago. We carried a severely weakened KF04 aboard the ship and, in the midst of our other research objectives, cared for the pup around the clock. Nine days and 1,500 miles later, the stabilized pup arrived at Ke Kai Ola in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, and formal rehabilitation began.

Recovering a Struggling SpeciesHawaiian monk seals — endemic to the state — are one of the world’s most endangered marine mam-mals, with a population of approximately 1,100 individuals. They are protected under the federal Endangered Species Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act and under Hawaii’s state law. They’re also listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Found primarily in the North-western Hawaiian Islands, these seals face threats of malnutrition, predation, disease, entanglement, aggression from conspecific males, and changing climate. The cumulative impact of these hazards, particularly on juvenile seals, has led to a dramatic

By Michelle Barbieri, Frances Gulland and Charles Littnan

REHABILITATING HAWAII’S STRUGGLING MONK SEALS

A Predicament in Paradise

Credit: Robin Eitelberg

Emaciated Hawaiian monk seal KF04 waits to be transported to a NOAA ship and, ultimately, to The Marine Mammal Center’s Ke Kai Ola rehabilitation facility in Kailua-Kona on Hawaii Island.

HEALTH AND DISEASEHEALTH AND DISEASE

27www.wildlife.org© The Wildlife Society

decline in the population since the 1950s — a decline that has slowed, but not ceased, in recent years.

Research on stable or increasing wildlife populations typically focuses on population-level health monitor-ing. But for such a small population, focused efforts on individuals not only improve likelihood of their survival but also salvage their reproductive poten-tial. Cumulatively, the outcomes of rehabilitation efforts can substantially impact species recovery. The process of rehabilitating Hawaiian monk seals has been tried before — in fact, a program under-taken by NOAA in the 1980s was the first attempt at hospitalized care for struggling juvenile females. Many challenges were overcome, and the lessons learned in these early years translated into species-specific approaches that are applicable to current rehabilitation practices. Among those was the realization that the best way to integrate seal reha-bilitation into the larger recovery effort was with an independently run and funded facility dedicated solely to the unique needs of juvenile monk seals and supported by private donations and community volunteers. This vision would provide the best avail-able care for the seals and allow NOAA to continue dedicating its limited resources to other research and recovery activities for the species.

TMMC’s Ke Kai Ola is the result of this realization. Set up in 2014, with the support of public donations and grants, the facil-ity was designed solely to meet the needs of struggling juvenile female monk seals and create a bridge for them to reach their re-productive potential in the wild.

Targeted RehabilitationMonk seal rehabilitation comes with its share of challenges. For instance, rehabilitated individuals from the Northwestern Hawai-ian Islands must be returned to that region, not the more acces-sible main Hawaiian Islands. As a result, scientists must rely on extensive support from research vessels, which is often limited by availability of resources and weather conditions. Animal care costs also can add up if there

are seven or more months between research cruises. Further, rehabilitators must be careful to limit hu-man presence in an effort to avoid habituation over a long period of care; however, housing multiple seals together can provide much-needed enrichment and keep the animals from getting stressed or habituated to humans. In addition, steps such as reliance on volunteers and donations and using pre-existing in-frastructure are important in keeping operating costs down. (See table on page 28 for more on rehabilita-tion challenges and solutions.)

Despite the challenges, a combination of careful triage, multidisciplinary cooperation and strategic investment has paid off. A recent study illustrated

Courtesy of NOAA

Credit: Julie Steelman

A rehabilitated KF04 rests at Ke Kai Ola — roughly six months after it was rescued from Kure Atoll.

This map of the Hawaiian archipelago shows KF04’s journey to rehabilitation. Rescued at Kure Atoll — the westernmost atoll of the Hawaiian archipelago — the emaciated seal was transported 1,500 miles to Ke Kai Ola on the west side of Hawaii Island at the opposite end of the archipelago.

28 The Wildlife Professional, January/February 2016 © The Wildlife Society

that as much as one-third of the current Hawaiian monk seal population is composed of seals — and their offspring — that received interventions such as disentanglement or rehabilitative care (Harting et al. 2014). The study provides quantitative support that sustained efforts spanning several decades have made a measurable difference for the population.

In fact, since July 2014, the expanding Hawaiian monk seal partnership has successfully rehabilitat-ed and released eight individuals. Federal agencies provide opportunities for animal rescue using exist-ing resources and research platforms, and TMMC lends more than 20 years of seal rehabilitation expertise and volunteer coordination. This renewed capacity to rehabilitate seals also provides palpable relief and encouragement for field staff, communi-ties and the general public, which in turn generate momentum for greater conservation efforts.

Collaborative SuccessHawaiian monk seals are not the first mammals to be guarded from extinction through hands-on, individually focused care. Consider the black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes). The species was declared extirpated in the wild in the mid-1980s; however, populations rebounded from less than 20 individu-als through a trial-and-error process of hands-on care, captive breeding, vaccination and wild rein-troductions (Roelle, et al. 2006; Dobson and Lyles 2000). These activities remain core tenets of the species’ continuing recovery, manifested by a vast array of partner institutions, while agency leaders

continue to address underlying threats to habitat and prey availability (Roelle, et al. 2006). Similarly, the red wolf (Canis rufus) population in the United States, which once faced extinction, has rebounded from 14 individuals to 100 — a success that’s over-whelmingly attributed to successful captive breeding and rearing programs (Phillips, et al. 2003).

A common thread to these conservation successes is the cooperation among partners in government, non-governmental organizations, indigenous com-munities, and the blending of private and public resources to achieve meaningful outcomes.

KF04 is proof of this collaborative success. In late March, scientists with NOAA, the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Hawaii’s Department of Land and Natural Resources and TMMC released the 200-pound monk seal back to its natal island.

Today, field staff at Kure Atoll sees KF04 regularly, although the seal bears little resemblance to the debilitated pup that was taken aboard the NOAA ship months earlier. Looking beyond its thick shoulders, however, one can see that this indi-vidual is densely scarred — the result of scuffles with other seals. KF04 has clearly fought to survive and by returning to the wild with a lifetime of reproductive potential, this seal is giving the entire species a fighting chance.

Frances Gulland, Vet. MB, PhD, is the senior scientist at The Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, Calif., and one of three commissioners presently serving on the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission.

Michelle Barbieri, MS, DVM, is the attending veterinarian at Ke Kai Ola and oversees health and disease studies of the NOAA Hawaiian Monk Seal Research Program in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Charles Littnan, PhD, is the lead scientist of the Hawaiian Monk Seal

Research Program for the NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center in Honolulu, Hawaii.

WDA is all wildlife diseases, all conservation, all one health, all the time.

Addressing Common Concerns Regarding Rehabilitation

Concern/Criticism Solutions

Cost • Collaborative use of pre-existing platforms and infrastructure.

• Reliance on volunteers and community for facilities, maintenance, animal care support and outreach.

• Private fundraising within the animal welfare sector does not detract from other conservation-based fundraising efforts.

Disease introduction • Rehabilitation provides opportunities to conduct health monitoring and disease surveillance, which informs baseline population health status and aids in early detection of pathogens of emerging importance.

• Effective quarantine measures and preparedness.

Rehabilitation activities divert resources from broader ecosystem concerns

• Rehabilitation facilities engage community leaders, senior politicians and managers, providing an opportunity for discussion.

www.livetrap.com

30 The Wildlife Professional, January/February 2016 © The Wildlife Society

The Gulf Coastal Plains and Ozarks Land-scape Conservation Cooperative (GCPO) faces the difficult task of designing and

conserving landscapes in hardwood forests of the south-central United States. Their challenge is to devise a plan that takes into account an uncertain future of climate change and that is capable of sus-taining plant and animal populations in landscapes that may look significantly different from those today. The forest’s current species are unlikely to respond similarly to a particular restoration scenario, which creates complicated tradeoffs among the responses as well as uncertainty in how individual species respond to the habitat, their own population dynamics, and changes to climate and the landscape.

Such scenarios are common in natural resource man-agement today. No one in our profession particularly likes uncertainty, but resource management decisions of any scope and consequence invariably entail some degree of uncertainty and risk. When interpreted cor-rectly, uncertainty itself is valuable information that helps natural resource professionals evaluate scenari-os and ultimately make management decisions.

Risk in All We DoRisk — essentially a measure of the probability and consequence of uncer-tain events — is an inevitable element of natural resource management. Risk analysis and risk management are integral parts of decision analysis. In classic decision theory, decisions focused on meeting stated objectives are based on articulating alternative potential actions, outcomes of those actions, probabilities of those outcomes occurring, and their costs and benefits.

Risk analysis focuses on outcomes and their associated probabilities as influ-enced by particular decisions, whereas risk management entails making deci-sions based on those probabilities and the associated costs and benefits of the outcomes.

Researchers and managers consider risks created by natural phenomena such as fires, floods and storms as well as risks or unintended consequences introduced by management actions. Applying risk management principles can help our profession grapple with problems of uncertainty and complex-ity and help identify which decisions are most likely to achieve the desired outcomes.

When decisions become actions, managers craft specific steps — which take into account knowns and unknowns — to implement a decision or sequence of decisions. It’s the unknowns that can provide valuable insight on which steps to take, how fast to implement actions, and what to track over time that might require redoing assessments, reevaluating decisions, and even revisiting objec-tives. Key questions about uncertainty should be considered throughout the risk analysis-risk man-agement cycle.

In particular, the decision theory approach includes clearly articulating management objectives and using the best available science. It also encourages ongoing collaboration among decision-makers, ana-

By Bruce G. Marcot, Matthew P. Thompson, Thomas W. Bonnot and Frank R. Thompson

HOW ACCOUNTING FOR DOUBT HELPS INFORM DECISION MAKING

Uncertainty Is Information, TooCredit: Matthew Thompson

A group of researchers, scientists and managers examine forest conditions and habitat suitability. One of the uncertainties they face is how alternative fuel management practices could reduce fire risk. By looking at various scenarios and the associated uncertainty, the team can develop risk metrics to help them compare the practices under consideration.

RESEARCH AND PRACTICE

31www.wildlife.org© The Wildlife Society

lysts and stakeholders (Marcot et al. 2012b, Muro et al. 2012). A key value of this approach is identifying uncertainties such as measurement errors, system variability and knowledge gaps. It’s also useful to report how each of these sources of uncertainty influences analyses and decisions, particularly when managers must determine how well they can control specific outcomes.

When Experts DisagreeExperts can disagree on natural resource man-agement decisions. Rather than arming political debate, knowing what experts disagree on can be useful information for making decisions. Working with expert panels and retaining their individual responses can help researchers and managers determine how and why interpretations diverge (Gregory et al. 2012).

In addition, disagreements among experts can be used to develop competing hypotheses and predictions as well as tests of those hypotheses. This approach was used successfully to determine the potential effects of reintroducing threatened bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) on existing threatened salmonids in northwest Oregon rivers (Marcot et al. 2012a).

Filling in the BlanksUncertainty itself is important information that helps decision makers determine the potential influence and value of additional information on analyses and models. In decision science, iden-tifying and weighing the relative influence of key knowledge gaps, measurement errors, and system variability play a major role. Such influences should be ranked to help prioritize actions for inventory, monitoring and research.

But not all uncertainties need to be reduced or eliminated. In fact, some uncertainties by their very nature can’t be, and it may be surprising which uncertainties we can live with.

Your Risk Is Not My RiskUncertainties in natural resource risk assessments also can have different meanings depending on the setting. For example, researchers primarily consider the future viability of a population when crafting a recovery plan for a threatened species. On the other hand, land managers quite legitimately also may consider the risks of losing support from interest groups and the public as well as not meeting mul-tiple resource objectives, reducing political capital

for future conservation efforts, and so on, when applying a recovery plan.

Even when management objectives are consis-tent, attitudes toward risk influence decisions and implementation of recovery planning efforts. In this context, uncertainty becomes information when risk attitudes are made clear. This can be as simple as explaining what is deemed to be at risk and how objectives balance those risks.

In risk assessment, it’s helpful to depict the course of an action’s outcome in best-to worst-case sce-narios (Reichert et al. 2015). Researchers and land managers may interpret those scenarios differently. This type of analysis is frequently used to identify tradeoffs such as between species conservation and recreational access; therefore, an explicit analysis of their differences is often valuable.

Another helpful exercise is depicting the most likely outcomes within the spread of outcomes. This assess-ment is akin to how meteorologists project potential pathways of hurricanes within a cone of uncertainty to help prepare communities that could be affected.

Uncertainty Doesn’t Always Widen Over TimeUncertainty and risk are usually depicted as increasing as outcomes are projected further into the future. However, especially with the declining availability of natural resources, there can be great-er uncertainty even in the short term. An example is

This flow chart shows some key questions about uncertainty in risk management. Effectively addressing uncertainty in decision making requires managers to invest considerable time and effort to understand the uncertainties they face, how those uncertainties might affect decisions and whether additional investments of resources to reduce uncertainty are warranted.

Key Questions About Uncertainty in Decision Making

32 The Wildlife Professional, January/February 2016 © The Wildlife Society

projecting global oil reserves. Initially, the degree of uncertainty in multiple models is high, but models eventually converge to near zero by the middle of the next century as reserves become depleted.

Projections of the extent of Arctic sea ice in Septem-ber (Collins et al. 2013) and polar bears’ population response (Amstrup et al., 2010, Atwood et al. 2015) also show this pattern in models of greenhouse gas concentration scenarios. Most scenarios project low sea-ice coverage with high certainty and adverse population outcomes by the end of the 21st century. However, the uncertainty — which depends on the extent of regional warming — is far greater over the first two to three decades.

Such predictions also have implications for anticipat-ing the time lag of these climate effects and how soon decisions need to be made in order to avoid inevita-ble outcomes. Here, using uncertainty as information could help identify short-term planning and manage-ment directions that help preserve future options aimed at saving the bears from possible extinction.

Uncertainty Guides Monitoring and ResearchOne of the great values of conducting a needs as-sessment is that it takes stock of what is known about systems or species that may require conserva-tion measures in the future. It also helps identify which unknowns may have the greatest influence on outcomes and the relative influence of those un-knowns, which ultimately helps managers prioritize monitoring and research.

This concept is at the heart of adaptive manage-ment. A number of tools and approaches can help evaluate implications of unknowns such as analyz-ing the value of perfect and additional information (Maxwell et al. 2015) and using sensitivity and influence analysis models. For example, researchers (Johnson et al. 2014) analyzed the expected values of perfect and partial information to determine the best way to manage northern bobwhite quail (Coli-nus virginianus) in Florida. Their model included a dynamic strategy that not only improves water management but also eliminates uncertainty over population decline resulting from overharvesting and human disturbance.

Real World ExamplesHow the GCPO is looking at scenarios for re-storing forest habitats that promote species viability provides a good example of structured decision-making. Model predictions for wood thrush (Hylocichla mustelina) in central hard-wood forests do not show a clear distinction in the population’s potential responses to climate change projections. Researchers with the University of Missouri, U.S. Forest Service, the Central Hard-woods Joint Venture and the Northeast Climate Science Center have teamed up with the GCPO to combine population viability and landscape model-ing with structured decision making to take into account uncertainty and reduce the complexity of forest management decisions.

The models project the impacts of climate and land-scape change and habitat restoration on regional

Wood thrush (inset) is a focal species of the Gulf Coastal Plains and Ozarks Landscape Conservation Cooperative (hashed area of the region). Future abundance of this bird in the central hardwood forests of the United States under severe (green line) and moderate (red line) climate change scenarios are similar. However, the projections are highly uncertain, with the 80 percent confidence intervals (shaded areas) predicting a population in 2100 anywhere between half to double present day estimates.

33www.wildlife.org© The Wildlife Society

populations of focal species, while also accounting for demographic uncertainty and environmental variabili-ty. However, the considerable uncertainty surrounding the models’ projections could quickly overwhelm deci-sion making under various conservation scenarios.

In this case, interpreting uncertainty in terms of risk provides a powerful approach to restoring the forest habitat while also promoting species viabil-ity. Uncertainty actually reflects information about viability, which can be distilled into estimates of risk. The results indicate there could be a 32 percent chance that the wood thrush population will decline by half in the next 100 years in a severe climate sce-nario and a 28 percent chance in a moderate one.

By simultaneously conveying responses of wildlife pop-ulations to conservation scenarios and the uncertainty in those responses, risk metrics can provide managers with a more intuitive and defensible way of comparing choices for a given species. Tradeoffs among conser-vation scenarios across species can be resolved by identifying scenarios that minimize the maximum risk for all, called a mini-max strategy, or maximize the minimum viability for all, called a maxi-min strategy.

The Future Is Sooner Than We ThinkIt is human nature to discount the future. Peoples’ attitudes toward risk can change drastically depend-ing on what is perceived to be at risk and when the risk may occur.

Therein lies the reason for — and the bane of — adaptation planning for climate change (Lin et al. 2014). For example, the greater the uncertainty in projections of the pace and effects of rising sea levels on inundating coastal wetlands — and the further into the future such effects might occur — the less apt people may be to take immediate costly conservation actions (Quiodbach et al. 2013) such as acquiring expensive land parcels further inland for eventual marsh migration.

In other words, greater future uncertainty imparts greater present certainty in avoiding expensive activities. The longer the time frame, the greater is the propensity of people to downplay risks of failure and probabilities of future threats. This dilemma is not new in natural resource management.

So how can natural resource professionals gain ap-proval for ecosystem restoration projects given the accelerating rate of climate change over time scales

that span multiple decades, when planning cycles run only five to 15 years, elections occur every few years, and budgets cover only a single fiscal year?

The answer lies in creating formalized planning mechanisms for climate change adaptation, similar to how establishing urban growth boundaries has both constrained excessive development and allowed for future development. The challenge that we face as natural resource professionals is retaining viable options into the future for species and ecosystems given the types, degrees and perceptions of uncertainty in changing environments.

To retain options — not just for climate change adaptation planning but for most resource management issues — means transparently identifying and evaluating uncertainties and recognizing that they can impart valuable information for resource management decisions. From a practical and policy perspective, uncertainty of future outcomes can be viewed as a welcome opportunity for meeting unforeseen changes in social needs and interests.

Thomas W. Bonnot is a research specialist in the School of Natural

Resources, University of Missouri, and a fellow with the Northeast Climate Science Center in Columbia, Mo.

Matthew P. Thompson, PhD, is a research forester with the U.S. Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station in Missoula, Mont.

Frank R. Thompson is a project leader with the U.S. Forest Service, Northern

Research Station in Columbia, Mo.

Bruce G. Marcot, PhD, is a research wildlife biologist with the U.S. Forest

Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station in Portland, Ore.

34 The Wildlife Professional, January/February 2016 © The Wildlife Society

Going back to work after having a baby can be daunting enough, but mothers who return to work and want to continue nursing their

babies face another challenge — expressing milk in their work setting. This juggling act can be espe-cially difficult for mothers involved with wildlife field work.

Expressing breastmilk takes considerable planning, dedication and flexibility. Here, I share practical tips I picked up while nursing my baby and work-ing as a wildlife biologist. I hope my experience will help women overcome one of the unique challenges they face in wildlife careers.

Plan AheadBefore the baby arrives, discuss your lactation plans with your supervisor. Highlight how continuing to nurse will benefit your employer. Breastmilk contains important components that aid babies’ im-mune systems, and a healthier baby means you will use less sick leave.

Ask to meet with your supervisor before you go on maternity leave to document work priorities and goals for your return. Be realistic about what is pos-

sible. For example, you might be able to spend your time analyzing data or writing manuscripts while scaling back on or postponing field work. You also may want to propose a work schedule that provides flexibility and allows you to leave work briefly dur-ing your lunch break to nurse your baby at home or daycare. Another suggestion is to ask your supervi-sor if the caretaker can occasionally bring the baby to work for a quick nursing session.

Be flexible about when and where you can fit pump-ing into your busy work day. When I had to be out in the field, I used a parked vehicle with the win-dows covered for privacy. On long survey flights, I either broke the trip into two flights and expressed in between or took shorter flights on consecutive days. Not ideal, but it worked.

If you are attending an offsite work conference, consider bringing the baby and a caretaker with you. Alternatively, you can express while away and find a way to freeze the milk to bring home after the conference.

Even trips to the backcountry are possible. Wildlife moms have told me stories about going behind a tree or ducking into their tent to pump and discard the milk while in the field. Doing so will help main-tain your milk supply when away from the baby and a freezer for longer than a day.

Breast Pump OptionsUsing an electric pump with two ports offers some advantages because you can empty both breasts at the same time and shorten the time spent ex-pressing. If possible, it’s also helpful to have two complete pumps — one at work and one at home. This way you don’t have to lug the machine to and from work every day. Also, when one isn’t work-ing — which will likely happen if you express milk long enough — you have a backup while you wait for replacement parts.

I especially liked having two different styles of pumps: a strong, reliable pump and a gentle, albeit

By Shannon M. Barber-Meyer

TIPS FOR NURSING MOTHERS IN THE WILDLIFE PROFESSION

Balancing a New Baby and Your Career

Credit: Tara Kay Photography

Author Shannon Barber-Meyer and her husband take their two girls on many family excursions outdoors. When her younger daughter was born, Barber-Meyer chose to continue breast feeding while she worked as a wolf researcher, a decision that required some flexibility and accommodations from her employer.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

35www.wildlife.org© The Wildlife Society

a bit more fragile, one. This allowed me to switch pumps depending on my body’s needs. Two weeks before I returned to work, I pumped after each nursing session so I could verify the pumps were working properly. Doing so also allowed me to col-lect extra milk and freeze it for my first days back at work.

On the JobFederal law entitles women to reasonable breaks and “a place, other than a bathroom, that is shielded from view and free from intrusion from coworkers and the public, which may be used by an employee to express breastmilk” for up to one year.

When I was expressing milk at my desk, I put up a temporary divider with a do-not-disturb sign. This gave me privacy and the ability do some work activi-ties such as reading journal articles or watching educational videos while pumping. Our office sink, like most, isn’t always the model of cleanliness. I kept my own container at work to wash all the pump parts after each session.

Accessorize! I also opted to have a breast pump that was battery-powered in case I didn’t have access to electricity. My pump also had a car adapter, which was especially handy while working in the field. When you are away from the office, it’s a good idea to carry a second set of pump parts so you don’t have to worry about cleaning the first set before expressing a second time. If you have to clean pump parts in the field, carry at least one large bottle of water in case a clean water supply is not available. Other useful accessories are hand warmers, ice packs and a cooler. In the field, hand warmers help soothe plugged nipple ducts, and ice packs and a small cooler keep milk from spoiling. One wild-life biologist mom told me that she always wore a tank top under her shirt so she could remain at least partially covered — and a little warmer — if she had to pump in the field. One time, she even pumped on a cold day outside of a helicopter dur-ing wolf captures!

Knowing how to express milk by hand is also useful as is carrying a small manual pump in the event of a lactation emergency in the field.

Storing MilkSterile baggies are excellent for storing breastmilk in single-feeding quantities. If the milk is not used the next day, it can be easily frozen flat without taking up much space in the freezer. By carefully recording the amount of milk and date collected on the baggie, you will be able to thaw just what the baby needs and use the older milk first to avoid wastage. I also labeled the baggies with what I had recently eaten to help track any reactions my baby might have to my diet.

Maintaining Your Milk Supply Besides the enjoyment of spending time with your baby, nursing before the start of your workday and when you return home will reduce the number of times you have to express breastmilk while at work. To keep up my milk supply, I initially had to express about three times during an eight-hour work day for up to 20 minutes each time. Keep a log of the ounces you produce, the time spent ex-pressing and the time of day to help optimize your milk production to match your baby’s needs. This approach is also useful if you are trying to collect extra milk to freeze.

Communicating with your baby’s caregiver dur-ing the day is also helpful. I usually checked

Courtesy Shannon Barber-Meyer

Working full time as a wildlife biologist after having a baby and continuing to nurse requires some creativity when out in the field, but wildlife moms can make it work. Author Shannon Barber-Meyer, shown here processing a female wolf as part of her work with a volunteer crew in Minnesota’s Superior National Forest, took breaks and expressed milk while doing her field work.

36 The Wildlife Professional, January/February 2016 © The Wildlife Society

midafternoon to see how much milk my baby had consumed relative to what I had produced that day. This information helped me decide if I should ex-press one more time at work or wait until I arrived home to nurse the baby.

Hang in There!Before your baby arrives — and then periodically after the child is born — you may want to seek advice from lactation and medical professionals. Of course, anytime there is a specific problem, you should seek advice as soon as possible. Don’t forget that many online resources are available, too.

One of my favorite books while I was breast feeding was “The Nursing Mother’s Companion” by Kath-leen Huggins. You may also want to attend local La Leche League meetings for advice and help. Sur-rounding yourself with supportive women — both in person and online — who have also embraced the challenges of nursing and working is very ben-eficial, especially when you encounter problems.

Be gentle with yourself if things don’t go as planned. It’s not easy to work full time and contin-

ue to nurse. Remind yourself that you are doing an important thing for your baby’s health and yours. And you are fostering a connection to your little one even when you are not there.

How much and how long you nurse is a personal choice. Try not to think of yourself as failing if you later elect to supplement with or switch to formula. One lactation consultant told me that even one breastmilk feeding is better than none.

So if you find it’s too difficult to stick to your origi-nal goal, take the time to celebrate what you were able to do for you and your baby. Then move on and enjoy the next adventure in parenting!

SEE Y

OU IN

RAL

EIGH!

23RD ANNUAL CONFERENCERALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA

OCTOBER 15 - 19, 2016

THE WILDLIFE SOCIETY’S

“Leaders in wildlife science, management and conservation.”

Education & Program proposal submissions due by February 5.Contributed Paper and Poster submissions will be accepted beginning February 22.For more details visit wildlife.org/tws-23rd-annual-conference/

Shannon Barber-Meyer, PhD, lives in Ely, Minn., where she studies wolves and deer.

www.clsamerica.com

38 The Wildlife Professional, January/February 2016 © The Wildlife Society

Modern geospatial technology has been a boon to the study of wildlife. A quick survey of the articles in volume

78 of the Journal of Wildlife Management reveals that 40 of the 136 articles, or about

29 percent, involved GPS technology. Given its usefulness for mapping specific landmarks like animal dens, trails and water bodies, as well as creating sampling transects and grids, it’s fair to say that having some level of geospatial literacy today is essential for wildlife professionals (O’Neil et al. 2012).

Nevertheless, few wildlife sciences programs re-quire coursework in the technology (LeGrande and Frair 2014), and most geospatial courses taught at the university level give little — if any — attention to mapping-grade GPS receivers as an important source of spatial data acquisi-tion, management and updating. The Wildlife Society’s criteria for becoming an Associate or Certified Wildlife Biologist also do not specify requirements for education or experience in GPS technology.

Some details and definitions about these GPS receivers and training options are presented here to help wildlife professionals embrace this powerful technology.

Types of GPS ReceiversThere are three classes of GPS receivers — recreational, map-ping (including mobile GIS) and survey grade — that differ in how accurately they measure a position and how they gather, manipulate and store data (ESRI 2004, O’Neil et al. 2012).

Recreational units are the least expensive and easiest to use, but also the least accurate. These units are designed to log a point position on a map and navigate to a previously logged position. Most recreational-grade units cannot store information about positions other than a name and brief comment, and they cannot link

By Cary D. Chevalier

TIPS ON SELECTING MAPPING-GRADE GPS RECEIVERS FOR WILDLIFE STUDIES

The Difference Between Here and There

Credit: Cary D. Chevalier

A Missouri Western State student logs the position of a raccoon den on a mapping-grade GPS receiver.

A GIS map shows the location of raccoon scat on the Missouri Western State University campus. Students learned how to use GPS mapping as part of a study of roundworm prevalence and distribu-tion in raccoons.

Cre

dit:

Car

y D

. Che

valie

r

TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGY

39www.wildlife.org© The Wildlife Society

data to a point feature such as a fence post or an animal den that is compatible with GIS. Further, recreational-grade units cannot log line or area features.

These units also use minimal data from GPS satel-lites and perform very few or no quality control analyses of the satellite signals when calculating po-sitions. However, some recreational GPS receivers are capable of using the Federal Aviation Admin-istration’s real-time differential correction system called Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) to reduce the position error to the three-to six-meter range (ESRI 2003; Federal Aviation Administration Navigation Programs). Professional GPS systems are the most important type for wildlife work. Known as mapping- and survey-grade units, these systems incorporate more data from GPS satellites and provide more control of the input data quality for calculating positions. As a result, greater accuracy can be achieved in logging feature positions as well as navigating to features. The systems use software to collect data — called at-tribute values — about features in addition to their positions and associate this data with the features in GIS-compatible formats.

Mapping-grade systems can use several real-time differential correction methods that depend upon unit type, software and user needs. These include satellite-based augmentation systems like WAAS and the commercially available Om-niSTAR — which is similar to WAAS but with worldwide coverage — and the U.S. Coast Guard beacon system, a ground-based augmentation system. In some applications, these methods can calculate position solutions down to less than 10 centimeters. Mapping GPS units are also capable of very accurate navigation down to one meter or less, depending upon the correction system used. This capability is important if you are looking for small features such as animal burrows or uncom-mon plants spread widely across a big landscape, especially when recording or updating data.

GIS mobile technology is the integration of mapping GPS receivers with mobile data loggers and GIS software. Several companies offer open-computer, data logger-based GPS receivers. These usually run on mobile operating systems such as Windows Mobile loaded with GIS and/or GPS control soft-ware. This type of receiver is really a mobile GIS

station as well as a GPS receiver. Vendors’ GIS and GPS integration software can be loaded onto map-ping receivers so that the GPS data can be collected directly into GIS software.

Choosing a GPS SystemIt’s important to know some details about the size of the area you want to map, accessibility of the terrain, and physical obstructions before choosing a GPS system.

Accuracy also is a key factor. Mapping-grade GPS receivers can produce highly accurate, real-time positions and have greater capabilities for evaluat-ing GPS satellite data. These receivers can analyze real-time differential correction data from several real-time sources more efficiently, and some are capable of sub-decimeter to centimeter accuracy.

To increase accuracy even more, mapping-grade units typically allow the user to make corrections after the data is collected. This is done by using reference data from base stations (ESRI 2003, O’Neil et al. 2012). These continuously operating stations log their location over a known position and then calculate the magnitude and direction of any induced error, based on the known refer-ence spot. The differential data is then used to remove the error from the data recorded by the GPS receiver. However, the operation requires companion editing software produced by a GPS manufacturer, such as Trimble’s Navigation’s Pathfinder Office integration and processing software. Examples of base station networks are the Trimble Reference Station network and the

On a cold day, participants in a professional workshop offered as a continuing education course at Missouri Western State test their skills on mapping-grade GPS systems. Such courses offer the opportunity to work with others who are also learning about using the equipment and to share experiences.

Credit: Cary D. Chevalier

40 The Wildlife Professional, January/February 2016 © The Wildlife Society

National Geodetic Survey’s continuously operat-ing reference stations network.

Another consideration is the unit’s data quality control capabilities. High-level accuracy is neces-sary for assessing and controlling the quality of the satellite data used by the receiver to calculate posi-tions. Examples include: sample size of positions used to calculate a feature position; which satel-lites are allowed to contribute to the calculation of a position; the minimum quality of the geometric pattern of available satellites in the skyplot al-lowed; minimal signal strength delivered by a satellite; minimal elevation of a satellite above the horizon; and the logging interval or how often a po-sition is calculated. Most mapping-grade receivers integrate with control software such as Trimble’s Terrasync, which allows the user to evaluate and set the quality control standards that the receivers use. The most common quality control standards include satellite elevation height above the horizon, signal-to-noise ratio, logging interval and the geo-

metric arrangement of the satellite group that will provide GPS solutions (O’Neil et al. 2012).

Helpful Field Techniques Mapping-grade GPS units have many valuable field applications including offsetting, nesting and continuing a feature.

Offsetting is especially useful when the operator cannot get close to the feature. For example, the feature allows the user to log the position of a tree with an eagle nest whose canopy or surrounding features obstruct the GPS satellite signals or has some physical barrier that blocks access to it. To pinpoint the tree’s position, the user first logs his own position and then inputs offset factors of his distance and bearing from a north reference to the tree. The tree feature on the resulting map would be displayed where the real tree is, not where the user is standing. Offsetting can be applied to point features, line features such as a fence line or area features such as a pond. It’s also very helpful for plotting sampling transects and grids without hav-ing to walk every plot with a measuring tape.

Nesting is used to move down a line or area feature — like a fence row, pathway, or habitat boundary — while logging other point features along the way. For example, the operator can log a fence line and along the way use the nesting feature to log point features such as posts, gates, trees and other point structures without leaving the line feature in the GPS receiver.

Continuing a feature is similar to nesting, except it allows the user to leave a line or area feature and log other lines, areas or points and then return to the original line or area feature and continue it. Do-ing so saves a lot of time as well as backtracking to log the other features.

Tips for Acquiring GPS Units There are several options for acquiring a GPS map-ping unit and software, including purchasing new or used equipment, renting or borrowing.

If you think you will be using the unit regularly, then purchasing your own may make sense. Con-sider how often you intend to use the equipment, its impact on your efficiency and productivity, and any projected cost savings. You will have to do your homework before buying because there are a wide variety of mapping-grade unit makes and models. New units range from $1,000 to well over $10,000. Much depends upon the model, its

Good Sources of Information on Using GPS SystemsIn addition to the websites below, GPS manufacturers feature a wealth of information on their sites. FAA GPS Navigation ProgramsThe official site of the FAA’s navigation program, which includes information on satellite augmentation systems like WAAS

National Geodetic Survey Site of the NOAA network of continuously operating reference stations and a major source of free differential correction base stations data and correction services

National Park Service GPS Site A very informative website focused on GPS related sources and information in national parks

U.S. Coast Guard Navigation CenterInformation on the Coast Guard land-based augmentation, real-time differential correction services

U.S. Government GPS SiteThe official U.S. government site with a wealth of information about GPS and related topics

U.S. Forest Service GPS An excellent source of forestry-related GPS information, including a convenient source of Trimble Community Base Station reference data as well as receiver performance reports

41www.wildlife.org© The Wildlife Society

options and what type of purchasing program is available to you through your employer.

To save money, you also can purchase used equipment. While harder to find, sometimes organizations purchase equipment for a specific project and then no longer need it. This is particu-larly true for contract and grant projects. Dealer demos and rental equipment offer similar savings. Seiler Instruments, GPServe and Wind Envi-ronmental Services are examples of dealers with rental programs.

Some dealers also offer equipment rentals for as short as one day. This is particularly useful for sporadic or seasonal use. The support software may or may not be part of the rental package, so be sure to ask.

Borrowing from other work units or organizations is another option. If you are part of a large orga-nization, check on borrowing a unit from a sister unit. Other organizations in your area also may be willing to loan their equipment.

Many academic faculty work with geospatial technology and may be willing to collaborate on projects. They frequently have equipment as well as students eager to gain experience in the field, often as part of their degree requirements. TWS Student Chapters or other natural resource-oriented student organizations are constantly looking for opportuni-ties to apply their skills to real-world projects.

Training OptionsWhile figuring out how to use a mapping-grade GPS on your own is always an option, it’s not for everyone. Learning informally from someone who does know is another approach. Ask around to get someone to show you how to use the equipment or collaborate with someone who has experience.

Professional training is the most efficient and cost-effective way to master new technology. It also can be the most fun because you are with like-minded, motivated folks. Some organizations such as fed-eral and state agencies have their own trainers and programs. Venders also provide workshops and have certified trainers. Examples include Trimble Navigation and ESRI.

Many universities also have continuing education programs that offer instruction from faculty or other knowledgeable individuals on a wide variety of topics. Check in your local area for courses on

geospatial technology. Sometimes these trainers are certified by equipment manufacturers.

Get MappingIt is now up to you to take the next step. Get jazzed up about learning how to use mapping-grade GPS receivers and technology, get trained, find some equipment, and then go out and use it in your next wildlife study.

Cary D. Chevalier, PhD, CWB®, is a professor of biology and coordinator

of the Wildlife Conservation and Manage-ment Program at Missouri Western State University, the faculty advisor to the TWS MWSU Student Chapter, and a certified Trimble mapping-GPS trainer.

Personal re�ections of the “foibles, fears, mistakes, misadventures, successes, failures, and comedies of errors and ego” learned along the way to a full, remarkable career. Read the Jack Ward �omas Trilogy today!

Now available from the Boone and Crockett Club.Sold individually for $24.95 each or in a box set.

ORDER TODAY!Visit www.boone-crockett.org/jwt Or call 888-840-4868Visit www.boone-crockett.org/jwt

T H EJACK WARD THOMAS TRILOGY

42 The Wildlife Professional, January/February 2016 © The Wildlife Society

Several years ago, double-crested cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) were proving to be the bane of Michigan’s existence. The birds

were feeding on yellow perch (Perca flavescens), northern pike (Esox lucius), smallmouth bass (Mi-cropterus dolomieu) and other fish and, as a result, the public wanted them removed.

My team and I — as then-acting chief of the wildlife division of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources — regularly met with state sena-tors and representatives to address the issue and appeared at legislative committee meetings and hearings. We collaborated with the DNR’s fisheries division to determine whether cormorant control would affect fish populations. Amidst increasing pressure over the issue, I reviewed available infor-mation and decided to begin the process of getting the necessary permissions to control cormorant

numbers in key locations. While some applauded the decision, others derided it.

Over the span of my more than 30-year career as a wildlife professional, I have encountered several similar challenges as well as successes that have helped shape my craft. Here, I share lessons that I’ve learned along the way as well as tips for aspir-ing wildlife professionals.

Transitioning from Biologist to SupervisorIn order to advance in public service it is often neces-sary to take on supervisory responsibilities. Most supervisory duties are fun and rewarding if they are approached with a positive attitude. Still, all posi-tions have challenges. Not long after I became a supervisor, the working relationship between two of my employees at a remote location deteriorated quickly. Soon their “war of words” escalated to more

serious confrontation, and the situation became very stressful. The issues that created the conflicts were not remotely related to wildlife management. I found myself asking, “Is handling this kind of conflict really what I want to do for the rest of my career?” Fortunately, my su-pervisor had decades of experience and he mentored me through the situation. He also helped me make the decision to remain a supervisor and choose train-ing, readings and practices that helped me become a more effective supervisor.

Yet, supervision is not for everyone. One of my colleagues became a supervi-sor and after a time decided that was not what she really wanted to do. She went back to being a field biologist and is happier in that role. If possible, get some experience in “acting” roles for several months so you can “try on” something different, before making your decision. If acting roles are not available, discuss with current supervi-sors the expectations for the position so

By Douglas Reeves

CAREER ADVICE FOR ASPIRING WILDLIFE PROFESSIONALS

Climbing the State Agency Ladder

Credit: Michigan DNR/Wildlife Division

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

On a cold February day at Michigan’s Gratiot-Saginaw State Game Area, author Douglas Reeves and a colleague with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, clear the area around soft-mast-producing trees and shrubs and build brush piles for wildlife. Over his 30-plus year career, Reeves has encountered numerous challenges and opportunities that have helped hone his skills as a wildlife professional.

43www.wildlife.org© The Wildlife Society

you can be as informed as possible about what you may be getting into.

Is Administration for You?I have been asked, “What biologist in their right mind would want to go into administration?” Sometimes I wonder that myself. Yet, it is at this level — connecting wildlife trust managers with trustees to accomplish the agency mission — that I have learned the most and had the largest impact managing wildlife and wild places. As an adminis-trator I have learned to bridge idealist views with the practicalities of politics, including regulations, budgets, and departmental priorities.

To me, administration is simultaneously one of the most satisfying and frustrating of jobs. At this level, people who are in positions of power or influence, and the relationships among them, are the biggest concerns. Knowing people who have the ability to help or hinder wildlife conservation at the high-est levels, knowing issues that are most important to them, and being able to convince them to take action to promote wildlife conservation is what will help you accomplish your mission. Learning which wildlife-related issues are important to a legislator or other influential individual can help you relate to them and have an effective conversation with them. In fact, the more you understand about those folks and their constituencies, the more likely you will be to have productive interactions and professional ex-periences with them, even if the initial contacts are adversarial. In most cases diplomacy and engage-ment are likely to be more productive in this arena than science and “reason.” This may seem a harsh reality; yet, the most effective administrators find ways to include scientifically sound reasoning with diplomacy when discussing issues with those who influence wildlife policy and regulation. We may not like it but administration comes with some politics. Integrating science into the political process is a challenge you must accept to be successful. If you avoid politics at all costs, administration in this sense isn’t necessarily for you.

Handling ChangeRegardless of whether you are a field biologist, supervisor or administrator, it is important to pay attention to changes in priorities, both obvious and not so evident, that come when there are leadership changes in elected officials or the agency. Replace-ment of a governor, key legislator or a single person

on a management team, commission, board or executive team changes dynamics and priorities for better or worse. There is usually some unpredict-ability while people learn to interact effectively with new leaders. You can minimize confusion during adjustment by quickly learning how their priorities may affect your agency’s mission and priorities.

Observe and AdaptIn addition to introducing a new set of priorities, new leaders also bring different management styles. Paying particular attention to the differences can help ease the transition from one leader to another.

Several years ago, our agency transitioned from a chief with a management style that communicated directives with specific expectations to a chief with a develop-on-the-go style. After the new chief arrived employees continued to expect that when he pro-nounced a task to be done, their job was to carry it out. Before long there was substantial frustration on the part of both the new chief and members of the management team about what the “real” set of pri-orities included. I observed that the new chief made statements that sounded like priority decisions but he was really “thinking out loud” with the intention of promoting problem-solving. After discussing the situation with the new chief, I presented my ob-servations, which I called, “interpreting the chief,” at a management team meeting. It was amazing to hear how much people appreciated that session. It helped some of them have more effective commu-nications with the new boss. It is important to learn the management styles of the people you work with because clear priorities and expectations are key to effective leadership.

Managing wildlife effectively requires many people filling many roles, and each position comes with its own set of challenges and rewards — both in wildlife-related outcomes and personal satisfaction. Choosing what fits you best and working to improve every day will keep your career exciting.

Douglas Reeves is assistant chief of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Division.

44 The Wildlife Professional, January/February 2016 © The Wildlife Society

Jack Ward Thomas has been admired — even revered — by wildlife biologists and conservationists for decades. His scientific

publications provided a path for more effec-tive analysis of wildlife effects. His speeches, presentations and papers provided technical information but also encouragement, inspiration, leadership and wisdom during a time when biolo-gists were few and the battles were big.

This revealing, often deeply personal trilogy — Forks in the Trail, Wilderness Journals, and Hunting Around the World — provides insight into the origins and evolution of Thomas’ land

and wildlife ethic. It also describes the people who were his anchors and the experiences that shaped him as a wildlife professional and ultimately helped him become an eminent con-servation leader and the 13th Chief of the U.S. Forest Service.

The first book describes Thomas’ formative years and his professional career. The lessons he learned from family and colleagues who loved wild places and things framed his life choices and became the foundation to a career lasting more than 55 years.

As the son and grandson of lively story tell-ers, Thomas relates family experiences in vivid vignettes and provides colorful descriptions of the people and events that developed his persona and thinking. Teachable moments such as the dust storms of his youth and his early conservation experiences, particularly with his “Big Dad,” are fond memories but clearly much more.

He shares those lessons as amusing anecdotes — often told at his own expense — and reminds us of how such experiences contribute to an indi-vidual’s effectiveness in life. Among some of the quotes Thomas provides are many gems. “Try not to be a smartass. Most folks don’t like that.” “There are times to talk and times to listen.” “Dif-ferentiate between werewolves and pissants.” All sage advice! His emotional growth as a person and a biologist are evident as poignant stories of ignorance and arrogance culminate with mo-ments of evolved understanding and wisdom.

Those many developmental experiences prepared him — at least at some level — for the numer-ous times he broke new trails and for the many controversial, contentious and highly significant conservation issues of his career. The recounting of those sometimes painful experiences provides great insight to the toll that leadership often takes. It also reminds the reader that no matter

By Melanie M. Woolever

A BIOGRAPHICAL TRILOGY BY JACK WARD THOMAS

Reflections of a Conservation Leader

Courtesy The Boone-Crocket Foundation

Born in 1934 in Fort Worth, Texas, Jack Ward Thomas tells us about his deep-rooted passion for wild places and wildlife in a trilogy of books. He led the U.S. Forest Service from 1993 – 1996 and was president of The Wildlife Society from 1977 – 1978.

REVIEWS REVIEWS

45www.wildlife.org© The Wildlife Society

how prepared or wise we think we are, the forks in the trail could be dead ends — or at the very least hard traveling — even when they work out. In the long run, Gifford Pinchot’s goal of provid-ing the greatest good for the greatest number — as the first USFS Chief aspired to do — wasn’t as easy as it sounds!

Wilderness Journals spans 13 years of horse packing into the “capital W” designated wilder-ness areas and the “little w” roadless areas with Thomas’ friend and mentor, Bill Brown. Few of us will personally experience the riches of the Eagle Cap Wilderness or the uplands of Hells Canyon National Recreation Area, but Thomas takes us there through his beautifully descrip-tive prose. He provides a sensory experience that draws us into the vast expanses untram-meled by man, as he shares his passion for these wild places and the wildlife that inhabit them. The seclusion, solitude, silence and beauty are palpable. These escapes to the wilderness were more than recreation. The forays restored his tired mind and weary soul; rejuvenated his hope, energy and spirit; and brought respite from over-whelming grief and stress.

Thomas’ musings about the trips give the reader glimpses into the majesty and the magic of wilderness. His writings create a feeling of awe, peace and connection to place that he clearly felt when journaling his deeply personal thoughts while recounting camping, fishing and packing successes and mishaps. He provides food for thought regarding the value of wilderness — designated or not — while exhorting us to remain vigilant as the vagaries of social, economic and political norms could eventually threaten the existence of such wildlands.

The final book, Hunting Around the World, con-tinues to stimulate the reader’s thinking about hunting, wildlife, wildlife habitat and the ap-propriate management of public lands. Thomas shares hunting trips taken over 18 years, enrich-ing his stories with experiences, perceptions and beliefs from his youth and career. Recognizing that there is no single answer to why hunt-ers hunt, Thomas asserts that he hunted with success in mind because it simply was a very important part of who and what he was.

Although the kill was important, so were the experiences on every hunt that overloaded his senses and ours in the re-telling. He is animated, alive, and intensely aware of being in the mo-ment as he describes all that he sees, smells and feels in pursuit of his prey. Whether he bagged game or not, Thomas saw many wonderful things and soaked them in. He describes this sense to us in reverent, explicit detail. His profound love and respect for the animals he pursued and for the trickling streams, mountain peaks, sunrises, and sunsets surrounding him are evident. The memories of experiences, magnificent vistas and the magic of seeing wildlife in wild places are Thomas’ cherished trophies.

Throughout his trilogy, Thomas reminds us that the victories of preserving our precious wild places and things are not permanent. He im-plores us to remain vigilant and pass on a deep sense of responsibility and caring. Heirs of this treasure must be compelled to pick up the torch, continually making choices to treasure, protect and pass the legacy on. Science is not enough. It will take political acumen to engage decision makers and involve the public in perpetuating wild places.

Thomas’ goal to stimulate others to care deeply about wildlife, wildlife habitats and the welfare of our national forests and other public lands is heartfelt and unquestionably achieved.

Dispose of these magical national treasures, our heritage?

Read the books and you’ll concur with Thomas, “No damned way!”

Melanie Woolever retired last year after serving as a wildlife biologist for

the U.S. Forest Service for more than 36 years. She was the 2015 recipient of the USFS Lloyd W. Swift Sr. Award presented to employees who demonstrate a lifetime of dedication, commitment and leadership in management of wildlife and fisheries resources. She has known Jack Ward Thomas

for the majority of her career and shared professional and social interactions with him and other colleagues.

46 The Wildlife Professional, January/February 2016 © The Wildlife Society

Special Cameras Help Protect Hibernating Bats From Intruders

Wildlife managers in Pennsylvania have a new tool to help them stop intruders from disturbing the slumber of hibernating bats.

The state is a haven for old mine shafts — many of them relics from its oil and coal days. Some of the locations aren’t even known, but others are known to provide important habitat for bats currently suffering from huge losses from white-nose syndrome (WNS).

While it’s illegal to go into these old mines, curious explorers still do, waking the bats by making noise or shining flash-lights, which causes the animals to deplete critical energy in the process.

In order to give habitats for species such as the little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus) — among the hardest hit by the disease — extra protection, the state has erected a number of locked gates at these sites that allow free airflow and bat movement, but restrict humans from disturbing the bats.

“We’ve had people use equipment like reciprocating saws and plasma torches to get into the gates,” said Greg Turner, a wildlife biologist and supervisor for the nongame mammals section of the Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC).

These areas are difficult to monitor, as some of them are quite remote. Turner says PGC has turned to camera traps used to track mammals in projects such as the online Pennsylvania Mammal Atlas as a new way to protect bats.

Except there’s a catch. The special cameras set up at these mine sites snap images of humans coming into the protected area and send photos in real time to wildlife conservation officers.

“We now have the ability to monitor these really remote sites and try to keep that human disturbance out of these sites,” Turner said.

He says that a large proportion of the fat reserves a bat needs is consumed by natural arousals from hibernation. But if humans wake bats, juveniles can die in late winter and females can have lower reproduction rates, among other things.

“As a manager of this resource, it’s very important to keep these disturbances down at these rare and valuable sites,” Turner said.

New App Makes Bird ID Easier

Are you confused by drably colored warblers in the fall or still trying to identify all the species of ducks? Now there’s an app for that.

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Merlin app combines basic questions with location data to help sort out what species of bird you may be looking at.

It basically works like this. You see an unknown bird and open the app. Merlin reads your location through GPS and confirms the date of the sighting. Then you answer a series of ques-tions based on characteristics such as relative size and colors. The app contains information on 400 species in the United States and Canada, depicted in 2,000 images along with 1,000 bird sounds. However, Jessie Barry, the project leader of the Merlin app, says that Cornell staff are currently working on adding 250 more species — and birds found in Mexico — as well as a Spanish-language option.

The Cornell team is also currently beta testing another feature online that automatically identifies bird photos up-loaded by users.

Funded in part by the National Science Foundation, the program was initially created to spark public interest in birds. Today the information gathered from users gets fed back into Cornell’s system to expand knowledge about bird ranges.

“The community contribution to the project has been enor-mous,” Barry said. “As we’re able to open the door to more

Credit: Greg Turner, PA Game Commission

People illegally entering mines, such as this one in Pennsylvania where the gate has been cut with a reciprocating saw, may be disturbing bats already threatened by the deadly white-nose syndrome.

Field Notes

Tools and Techniques for Today’s Wildlife Professional

47www.wildlife.org© The Wildlife Society

sightings, we’re also starting to learn about species distribu-tion across the world.”

Genetic Fingerprints From Turtle Eggs

Approaching endangered turtles on beaches to check flip-per tags can be disruptive to the reproductive process and requires an enormous amount of monitoring work across thousands of miles of beach.

But Campbell Nairn, a professor at the University of Geor-gia, spoke at the 2015 Wildlife Society Annual Conference in Winnipeg about a new process of extracting a tiny bit of DNA from a single loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) egg that helps genetically identify the female that laid the eggs without disrupting the nesting female.

Nairn and his coauthors published a series of papers — the latest one in Molecular Ecology Resources — describing the technique they developed and have been using to track female turtle nest-ing habits. While a single unincubated egg is destroyed for the DNA testing, the practice is deemed a better option than disturb-ing a nesting female laying dozens of other eggs.

In order to confirm the process worked, the researchers recruit-ed hundreds of volunteers and wildlife managers to monitor around 750 miles of beach habitat in Georgia, Virginia and the Carolinas during loggerhead nesting from May to September over six years. In an earlier pilot test, the volunteers verified

which females laid eggs by checking flipper tags and taking a biopsy of the reptile. In later studies, the researchers removed a single egg to test in the laboratory. This allowed them to iden-tify the mother turtle from their previous studies.

The researchers found that in the core area of the turtle popu-lations they were tracking in Georgia and South Carolina, the majority of individual female loggerheads laid their handful of nests within 20 and 25 miles of each other. But when they looked at nests in the northern part of South Carolina and the state to the north, they found that the turtles didn’t stick to the same pattern as much.

Nairn said he didn’t know why the female turtles behaved this way, but it could be that turtles at the edge of the habitat are more prone to wander to new areas. Based on the turtles’ endangered status, this is a good thing, he said. “Turtles that wander more are going to establish newer populations.”

Contributed by Joshua Rapp Learn

Erratum

In the winter issue we incorrectly identified the buffalo in the 2015 Photo Contest Winners section under the “Mammals” category on page 60. We stated it was a water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) when the animal was in fact a cape buffalo (Syncerus caffer). We apologize for this error, which we have corrected in the online PDF of the magazine.

Credit: J.P. Bond

Brian Shamblin, assistant research scientist at the University of Georgia, prepares DNA from a loggerhead turtle egg. The technique allows researchers to genetically identify females that laid the eggs and study their nesting habits.

Courtesy of Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Cornell has created a new app that helps users identify birds in their backyards or other locations through a simple series of questions.

A researcher holds juvenile California red-legged frogs (Rana draytonii) as part of an annual survey of these and California tiger salamanders (Ambystoma californiense). The survey is part of a larger study to determine how conservation grazing can be used to restore degraded livestock ponds and rangeland habitat, essential for these two species. Photo by Christy Wyckoff, Senior Wildlife Ecologist at California’s Santa Lucia Conservancy.

Gotcha!

www.ATStrack.com/Neolink

http://www.vectronic-aerospace.com/