Wildlife management has come a long way from the days of Aldo Leopold traversing the New Mexico mountains on horseback and the Wisconsin River Valley by canoe.
Back then, most decisions were based primarily on observation and experience. Today, highly trained wildlife biologists use sophisticated research, technology and mountains of data to understand everything from population dynamics and habitat needs to disease transmission and predator-prey relationships.
We need these fish and wildlife scientists. We actually need more of them than we currently have. No matter how hard segments of society fight back against the basic principles of science, we are reliant on these scientists to use data to make the best decisions possible, even if we don’t stand to personally benefit from the outcomes.
The Boone and Crockett Club recently announced an impressive investment in the scientific side of that equation. Alongside the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and the UW-Stevens Point Foundation, the Club has established the Stephens Family Foundation Boone and Crockett Wildlife Professor at UWSP. A permanent $1-million endowment will support research, education and public outreach focused on black bear management and conservation.
“Partnering with UW-Stevens Point expands our commitment to hands-on, science-based wildlife conservation within our University Programs,” said Steve Leath, executive vice president of administration for the Boone and Crockett Club. “This endowment ensures long-term scientific research for Wisconsin’s black bear population while equipping the next generation of natural resource leaders with the tools they need to manage critical predator species effectively.”
This is exactly the sort of investment conservation needs. Wildlife management is becoming increasingly complicated. Habitat loss, disease, changing land use, predator conflicts and public attitudes toward hunting all require professionals with extensive scientific training. But, just as important as science is communication. Our scientists must be able to explain what they know to the people who ultimately have to understand and support wildlife management.
A few years ago, I created and taught a course at the University of Missouri called Communications in Natural Resources. The idea was born out of frustration.
I had spent years working around scientifically trained fish and wildlife professionals who possessed an incredible wealth of knowledge about our natural resources. They could explain complicated biological systems in Latin to other scientists, but many struggled to communicate that same information to the average hunter, angler or landowner. This is a huge problem.
In my class, I tried to teach students how to take complicated natural resource issues and break them down to their core. We worked on communicating through writing, public speaking, media and other forms of outreach. The goal wasn’t to make the science less scientific. It was to make the science far more understandable and relatable. There is an important difference.
Scientists are trained to be precise. They should be. But communicating with the public requires understanding your audience. A deer hunter doesn’t necessarily need a graduate-level explanation of epidemiology. He needs to understand what is happening to the deer herd, why it matters, what wildlife managers are asking him to do and how those actions might help.
Chronic Wasting Disease is the greatest recent example of where natural resource communication has struggled. The rollout of CWD information to deer hunters across the country has been a debacle. The disease itself is complicated enough. Add changing regulations, mandatory testing, carcass transportation restrictions, baiting bans, targeted removals and sometimes conflicting messages, especially from state to state, and it’s easy to understand why many hunters have become confused or skeptical.
When people don’t understand the reasoning behind management decisions, they often begin questioning the decisions themselves. Eventually, they may begin questioning the people making them. This is dangerous territory for conservation.
This is why I believe strategic communication courses should be required for students pursuing careers in fisheries, wildlife and other natural resource sciences. Knowing the science is essential. Knowing how to explain the science should be considered essential, too. The new UWSP position offers an opportunity to help bridge that gap.
“The Stephens Family Foundation is proud to partner with the Boone and Crockett Club,” said Angie Larson, a Stephens Family Foundation representative. “The new endowment will support the goal of increasing our understanding of the role black bears play in the great state of Wisconsin and on the landscape as a whole.”
Cady Sartini, an associate professor of wildlife at UWSP who will serve as the Stephens Family Foundation Boone and Crockett Wildlife Professor, also recognizes the opportunity.
“This new endowment will boost our research efforts, allowing us to do better things for bears, for students, and for the state of Wisconsin,” said Sartini. “We’ll be able to tackle bigger conservation questions by partnering with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources on projects they might not be able to handle on their own. It’s a win-win for everyone, and I’m so grateful to get to be a part of it.”
Boone and Crockett’s University Programs already connect faculty and students at universities across the country with real-world wildlife management. That’s important because tomorrow’s biologists simply can’t operate solely in laboratories or behind computers. They’ll testify before legislators, present to agency leaders, answer to commissions, talk to reporters, attend public meetings and explain management decisions to citizens.
Science tells us what must to be done. Communication determines whether anyone listens.
See you down the trail. …
III
Brandon Butler is an outdoors columnist for the News Tribune. Contact him at [email protected].
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