Conservation Leaders for Tomorrow
Hunting Awareness & Conservation Education
Contemporary Management Issues
Summary:
Hunting and harvest management, however contentious, are core responsibilities of wildlife and
other natural resource professionals across the United States. It is therefore necessary to be aware
of many of the issues that exist, not only in one’s home state, but also across the country.
Contemporary Management Issues aims to address some of the most contentious issues by
reviewing the issue, the proposed solutions, and the outcome.
Objectives: After this block of instruction the student will be able to:
1. Identify, review and discuss hunting-related issues with which natural resource management
agencies currently and commonly grapple
2. Explain that wildlife managers deal with issues practically and efficiently, not merely
academically or philosophically
3. Recognize that hunting related issues are typically not resolved with consensus.
Why this matters to natural resource managers:
Some issues regarding managing hunting and wildlife resources are controversial. Some of the
controversy stems from a lack of understanding of all of the ramifications of the activity. Being
able to explore and discuss the full array of aspects involved in hunting, will assist managers to
more fully understand these issues and become aware of effective methods to discuss them with
future constituents. Managers should be aware of the complex values associated with hunting
and be open to the possibility that their values may conflict with some of the values held by some
participants. Care should be taken to ensure that the manager’s values are only imposed on the
participants after a well thought out, participatory process.
Additional Resources:
Provide relevant citations for literature and books, or relevant websites.
Selected Literature: 1
Ackerman, J.T., J.M. Eadie, M.L. Szymanski, J.H. Caswell, M.P. Vrtiska, A.H. Raedeke, J.M.
Checkett, A.D. Afton, T.G. Moore, F.D. Caswell, R.A. Walters, D.D. Humberg, and L.L.
1
Note: These publications are simply an example of some contemporary management issues that have been expressed in scientific
literature. Many examples of issues exist throughout the country and participants are encouraged to seek out literature on other issues.
Lee. 2006. Effectiveness of spinning-wing decoys varies among dabbling duck species
and locations. Journal of Wildlife Management 70(3): 799-804.
Coltman, D.W., P.O’Donoghue, J.T. Jorgenson, J.T. Hogg, C. Strobeck, and M. Festa-Bianchet.
2003. Undesirable evolutionary consequences of trophy hunting. Nature 426: 655-658.
Harden, C.D., A. Woolf, and J. Roseberry. 2005. Influence of exurban development on hunting
opportunity, hunter distribution, and harvest efficiency of white-tailed deer. Wildlife
Society Bulletin 33(1): 223-242.
Jonker, S.A., R.M. Muth, J.F. Organ, R.R. Zwick, and W.F. Siemer. 2006. Experiences with
beaver damage and attitudes of Massachusetts residents toward beaver. Wildlife Society
Bulletin 34(4): 1009-1021.
Menu, S., G. Gauthier, and A. Reed. 2002. Changes in survival rates and population dynamics of
greater snow geese over a 30-year period: implications for hunting regulations. Journal of
Applied Ecology 39:91-102.
Riley, S.J., D.J. Decker, J.W. Enck, P.D. Curtis, T.B. Lauber, and T.L. Brown. 2003. Deer
populations up, hunter populations down: implications of interdependence of deer and
hunter population dynamics on management. Ecoscience 10(4):455-461.
Van Deelen, T.R., B. Dhuey, K.R. McCaffery, R.E. Rolley. 2006. Relative effects of baiting and
supplemental antlerless seasons on Wisconsin’s 2003 deer harvest. The Wildlife Society
Bulletin 34(2):322-328.