The future of wildlife damage management

Clay offers his perspective on what the wildlife damage management profession was like when he began his career, what it's like currently, and what he thinks the future holds. Thirty-five years ago in their program, wildlife damage management activities across the country focused primarily on protecting livestock from predators as well as protecting many agricultural crops like corn, rice, and sunflowers from bird damage. Since transferring from the Department of the Interior to the Department of Agriculture in 1986, they have seen a significant increase in the range and extent of wildlife damage requests for services. There have been many challenges and successes dealing with wildlife damage management issues during the past 35 years, and there will be many more in the future. There will always be the need for dedicated, trained, professional wildlife biologists to address these issues on behalf of the public, and this will continue to be a critical component if humans and wildlife are to coexist.