Eastern Wildlife Damage Control Conferences
Date of this Version
February 1991
Abstract
It is a pleasure and privilege to again have a part in the Eastern Wildlife Damage Control Conference and to return to Ithaca and Cornell. The opportunity is much appreciated. I commend the sponsors of the conference and their selection of the theme, "Human and Wildlife Interactions: Public Perceptions and Management Realities"-an increasingly important and compelling topic. It will be my purpose to discuss the responsibilities of various agencies and stress the obvious imperative of coordination, cooperation, and support. In keeping with the conference theme, I would like to develop the concept that the cooperating agencies should assume a greater responsibility for identifying, justifying, and supporting animal control. In other words, those who request and share in the benefits of needed control should carry its banner and share in its criticism. Wildlife damage management is one area where public perceptions and management realities are light-years apart.