Wildlife Management and Conservation Alabama Hunter Education Program

Introduction Objectives: • Understand the principles of wildlife management. • Understand the role the hunter plays in modern wildlife management and conservation.

What is Wildlife? • Wildlife is all nondomesticated animals, including mammals, birds, and fish, which may or may not be hunted as controlled by laws and regulations.

Wildlife Categories • Game animals – generally classified based on edibility, population numbers, or hunting challenges. • Non-game wildlife – wildlife species that are not hunted or trapped • Threatened – Species that could possibly become endangered. Typically have been subjected to indiscriminate killing, loss of habitat, or environmental pressures. • Endangered – Species that are in danger of becoming extinct.

What is Wildlife Management? • Wildlife management is the science of manipulating habitat to improve conditions for wildlife resources and man

1800’s – A Period of Exploitation • Few laws or regulations enacted. • Market hunting and over-harvesting of wildlife were common.

1907 – A Big Year for Conservation • Legislation created a Dept. of Game and Fish, licenses, and limited seasons. • Same legislation also required hunters to obtain landowner permission to hunt on private property. • State title to ownership of wild birds and animals. Ownership of land does not include ownership of wildlife.

Contemporary Conservation 1930’s – 1960’s • Began an era of protectionism • 1937 Pittman-Robertson Federal Aid to Wildlife Restoration Program. • 1939 – Present day Department of Conservation created by legislature

Restoration of Resources 1970’s - Present • Began to employ expanded numbers of trained wildlife biologists. • Deer and turkey populations beginning to increase as a result of earlier restoration efforts.

Funding sources for wildlife management in Alabama? • Do taxpayers contribute to wildlife management in Alabama? • No, The Alabama Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries does not receive any revenue from the state “general fund” budget. • There are two primary sources of revenue for wildlife management activities.

Hunting Licenses • Hunting licenses provide a major percentage of the Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries annual budget.

Lifetime Licenses • Lifetime Licenses are an investment in the future of Alabama’s wildlife resources. • By law, principal is invested in perpetuity and only the interest is allowed to be spent. • Benefit to the Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries and the license holder • Pays for itself in approximately 19 years with the present license fee structure.

Federal Aid to Wildlife Restoration Funds • Pittman-Robertson Act(1937) 11% excise tax on arms and ammunition • Provided to states on 3: 1 match • Can only be used for programs such as wildlife management, surveys, hunter education, species restoration, and range development • Gave state agencies a dependable and consistent funding source.

Approximate Funding Source Percentages for the Wildlife Section Endangered Species 4% Timber Sales 5% DMP, Alabama Power Mitigation and Other Sources are each < 4% Corps of Engineers 6% Federal Funds 58% Hunting Licenses 19%

What This Means! • Licensed hunters and sport shooters have been the primary source of revenue for modern wildlife management activities since 1937. • Hunters should be aware of this fact and promote their accomplishments whenever possible!

People and Wildlife Share the Environment • Both need food, water, shelter, and enough space to survive. • All of these make up habitat. • Is the amount of available wildlife habitat increasing or decreasing? • Decreasing!

Man’s activities change habitat. • Arrangement of food, water, and cover affects habitat quality and carrying capacity.

Carrying Capacity • The number of animals that a given unit of area can support in healthy condition each year.

When properly done, timber harvesting is of benefit to many wildlife species. However, harvesting operations should be kept to small tracts to maximize wildlife benefits. Generally speaking, habitat quality improves with the degree of interspersion of habitat types. A single aged mono-typical forest is of poor habitat quality and low carrying capacity.

What Is Edge? FOOD EDGE COVER • Edge is the area of interspersion between different components of habitats.

Edge Effects • Generally speaking, the greater the edge effect, the greater the carrying capacity. • Is the diagram to the left symbolic of poor or good edge? • Good, high degree of interspersion

Do all wildlife species require the same food and shelter? • No • Each species has particular needs for food and shelter. • For example, gray squirrels require mature forest habitat with a large portion of mast(nuts and berries) producing trees. • Bobwhite quail require early successional habitat such as weedy borders that provide nesting cover, insects, seeds and other food sources.

Principles of Wildlife Management 1. Wildlife management must be based on fact. 2. Man affects wildlife. 3. Management must help the habitat to benefit wildlife populations. 4. Conservation is the wise use of resources. Preservation is the non-consumptive use of resources.

What are the two biggest factors affecting population dynamics? • Birth Rate – number of animals born each year. This is determined by breeding age, number of litters per year, and how many are born in each litter. Also affected by animal’s health, food supply, and the number of animals competing for the food supply. • Death Rate – number of animals that die each year.

When birth rate equals death rate, a population is • Increasing, decreasing, or stable? • Stable

When birth rate is greater than death rate, a population is • Increasing, decreasing, or stable? • Increasing

What are the five primary factors that affect death rates: 1. Starvation – indication that the habitat is unable to support the population 2. Climate 3. Disease and parasites 4. Predation

5. Hunting – removes surplus animals that would otherwise be lost due to other causes.

“The Doomed Surplus” • A certain segment of a population will die each year as a result of climate, disease, starvation, predation, or hunting. • It makes sense to use the doomed surplus of this renewable resource wisely when possible.

Can You Stockpile Wildlife? • No, a given unit of area can only support a certain number of animals for any given time limit. • Populations can exceed carrying capacity for a short period of time until one of the causes of mortality acts on the surplus animals.

Restocking Efforts • Must have suitable habitat for any possibility of success to occur. • Stocked animals should come from wildtrapped populations only. • No pen raised animals. • In areas of small wildlife populations, habitat quality must improve for stockings to be successful.

Conservation Advisory Board • The Advisory Board is the group that is responsible for setting seasons and bag limits for Alabama’s game and fish resources.

Public Input REGULATORY PROCESS Conservation Advisory Board 12 Members; 10 appointed to staggered 6 year terms. Meets in March and May Division recommendations for seasons and bag limits Input from field biologists and enforcement officers Recommendations to Commissioner promulgates regulations

The Future of Our Wildlife Resources • Dependent on an informed public • Positive public support of hunting when harvested animals are used for food. Less support for “trophy” and recreational hunting. • Many game species populations are at all time highs as a result of modern wildlife management. It is a very good time to be a hunter.