SAES-422 Multistate Research Activity Accomplishments Report
Sections
Status: Approved
Basic Information
- Project No. and Title: NE1005 : Management of Wildlife Damage in Suburban and Rural Landscapes
- Period Covered: 04/01/2003 to 04/01/2004
- Date of Report: 06/21/2004
- Annual Meeting Dates: 04/26/2004 to 04/26/2004
Participants
Decker, Daniel (djd6@cornell.edu) - Cornell University; Menzel, Bruce (BMenzel@csrees.usda.gov) - USDA-CSREES; Curtis, Paul (pdc1@cornell.edu) - Cornell University; Brown, Tom (tlb4@cornell.edu) - Cornell University; Ramakrishnan, Uma (Uma.Ramakrishnan@po.state.ct.us) - Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station; Anderson, James (jander25@wvu.edu) - West Virginia University; Drake, David (drake@AESOP.Rutgers.edu) - Rutgers University; Parkhurst, James (jparkhur@vt.edu) - Virginia Tech (written comments received)
The annual meeting for NE1005 was held on April 26, 2004 at the Princess Royale Oceanfront Hotel & Conference Center, in conjunction with the 60th NE Fish & Wildlife Conference, Ocean City, MD.
Officers for NE1005: U. Ramakrishnan, Chair; P. Curtis, Secretary
See complete meeting minutes posted at: http://wildlifecontrol.info/.
1. USDA-CSREES Updates (Menzel): (a) USDA CSREES has a new web page at: http://www.csrees.usda.gov. (b) Agency transformations: New USDA staff in the soils and global change programs; currently searching to fill 3 forestry positions and 1 plant ecologist (invasive species). (c) Budget outlook: Small decreases anticipated in federal formula funds for most program areas; RREA Program-hopefully current cuts will be temporary, strategic planning for RREA will help set future directions and possibly increased funding. (d) Funding opportunities: Higher Education Challenge Grants may provide resources for wildlife-related projects; USDA-NRI is the major research program for USDA, but supports mostly basic agricultural research; plan to promote NRE program area and more open input on RFP priorities; up to 20% of funding for integrated programs - projects must support 2 elements of the land-grant mission (e.g., research-extension or teaching-extension); NRE program focal area includes `impacts on wildlife by landscape changes;` Diana Jerkins is NRE Program Leader-current proposal success rate is 10-20% (>200 proposal received annually).
2. Administrative Updates (Decker): Need to develop a coherent project with focused effort. If unsuccessful in receiving a USDA-NRI grant, consider changing to a multi-state coordinating committee. Expand membership of NE1005 to include USDA-APHIS and state wildlife agency staff. NCT185 (J.I. Gray, Mich., Admin. Advisor) ongoing deer research in the Midwest; Tom Brown serves on this committee and will help coordinate activities with NE1005
3. Developing New Funding to Support Research Objectives: Since 2001, The Northeast WDM Cooperative has provided about $250,000 to fund applied research and extension projects. Need to put collaborative efforts into a multi-state proposal to evaluate deer impacts to forest regeneration, biodiversity, and ecosystem health. All participating states should contribute to this effort. The group will target USDA-NRI ecosystem management program area. David Drake will take the lead on writing the USDA-NRI proposal. We will plan a conference call and e-mail exchanges during early summer to develop a writing plan. We may consider submitting a NRI Workshop Research Planning proposal this year ($5K-$10K).
4. State Reports
CT - Deer census method research is completed; line transects were the best technique at CT study sites; IR-triggered cameras provided the best data on herd composition (see attached report). A survey of deer damage (n=640; 342 responses) was distributed to the CT Nursery and Landscape Association following the protocol for the NY deer damage survey. Have analyzed 2001, 2002 deer-vehicle accident data for CT-no patterns emerging. (See Connecticut Survey Findings report on meeting minutes website.)
NJ - On-going study to evaluate bird dispersal at dairy farms. Bird Gard worked best to deter pigeons and starlings. Bird-bangers were the second best technique, but scarecrows were ineffective. Compared three different methods for estimating deer density in suburban areas: road counts, FLIR, catch-unit-effort. All three provided similar estimates of deer abundance. Best to do counts after leaf-fall in autumn. J. Paulin conducting a study on tolerance of wildlife damage caused by deer/bear/geese in low and high density areas.
WV - Nuisance black bear study with two components: (1) examine ear-tagged bears involved with nuisance complaints - those moved farther were less likely to cause a repeat complaint; (2) examining behavior of nuisance bears treated with rubber buckshot/pyrotechnics vs. untreated control bears. Aversive conditioning was not effective - some bears repeated nuisance behavior after 24 hours, all bears repeated nuisance activity by 20 days post-treatment. Moving bears resulted in less `reported` nuisance behavior, but some damage was probably not reported.
NY - Completed a statewide survey of deer damage to agriculture for major crops. Farmers reported losing about $58M in 2002 because of deer damage. Completed a study of the effects of hazing on dispersal of nuisance geese from suburban areas. Mortality was slightly higher for hazed vs. control flocks. No technique was completely effective for dispersing geese. Dogs seemed to work best during the day, and laser lights worked best at night. (See reports for Projects 1 and 2 on meeting minutes website.)
VA - A statewide meeting of municipal and county leaders was organized (e.g., Boards of Supervisors, City Managers, Town Selectmen, etc.), for a 2-day workshop in early June on how counties, cities, and towns can prepare for and anticipate dealing with human-wildlife conflicts. For many of these people, we have found there is no forethought about this until it becomes a problem and by then it already has become polarized. In this workshop, we are basically introducing them to the fact that real problems do in fact exist. The Secretary of Natural Resources for VA has agreed to come as keynote speaker because he is quite serious about resolving these wildlife problems. There will be a panel discussion involving state, federal and private assistance resources (who`s who, what do they do, what they don`t do, etc.) and how to get in contact with them. We then have a morning session based on 3 case studies from VA in communities that either initiated work themselves to design and implement a comprehensive program or were thrust into having to deal with a problem under pressure. Then, I have a facilitation team coming in to talk about community interactions, available resources, how to develop and work with task forces and focus groups, how to get to YES, i.e., the human dimension side of the situation. Finally, I am having participants complete a survey which will be the lead-in to the next phase of my plan, that being to conduct a series of regional self-help and design workshops. A team of partners will assist me in actually helping communities or groups of neighboring communities develop and implement comprehensive wildlife damage management programs to deal with existing and anticipated situations before they become conflict-ridden. This endeavor was a necessary outgrowth of trying to avoid the growing onslaught of individual towns coming to me seeking help after they had found themselves embroiled deeply in a mess like the numerous deer reduction/control controversies, except now it involves 5-8 wildlife species, not just deer.
Vole management programs are being conducted in forest regeneration situations. Our VA Department of Forestry people are woefully lacking in understanding in this arena and are not helping landowners prepare for and cope with a very serious problem. So, through a series of classroom and field demo sessions, we are going to get the foresters up to speed on recognizing the damage, knowing something about the options, and how to implement treatment. Then, as a follow-up to that, we have a series of programs scheduled for landowners. The situation in the home landscape and nursery industry is exploding, too, so that may be the next target audience.
The other issues that keep rearing their head in VA involve beaver (increasing numbers and damage everywhere), vultures (USDA-WS has a big study going on in VA), and as always, more deer concerns. I still hear about a growing problem with turkeys, particularly in vineyards and fruit orchards (eating buds, fruits, breaking branches and vines, etc.), but hard data simply is not available right now.
5. NEREC Proposal and Activities: David Drake (Rutgers) is the *champion* for the NEREC project. To date, efforts to pursue funding have not born fruit. The current plan is to keep this project active and continue to explore funding options with various stakeholder groups. It will take a concerted effort in several states to develop the support needed to garner new federal dollars for this initiative.
Officers for NE1005: U. Ramakrishnan, Chair; P. Curtis, Secretary
See complete meeting minutes posted at: http://wildlifecontrol.info/.
1. USDA-CSREES Updates (Menzel): (a) USDA CSREES has a new web page at: http://www.csrees.usda.gov. (b) Agency transformations: New USDA staff in the soils and global change programs; currently searching to fill 3 forestry positions and 1 plant ecologist (invasive species). (c) Budget outlook: Small decreases anticipated in federal formula funds for most program areas; RREA Program-hopefully current cuts will be temporary, strategic planning for RREA will help set future directions and possibly increased funding. (d) Funding opportunities: Higher Education Challenge Grants may provide resources for wildlife-related projects; USDA-NRI is the major research program for USDA, but supports mostly basic agricultural research; plan to promote NRE program area and more open input on RFP priorities; up to 20% of funding for integrated programs - projects must support 2 elements of the land-grant mission (e.g., research-extension or teaching-extension); NRE program focal area includes `impacts on wildlife by landscape changes;` Diana Jerkins is NRE Program Leader-current proposal success rate is 10-20% (>200 proposal received annually).
2. Administrative Updates (Decker): Need to develop a coherent project with focused effort. If unsuccessful in receiving a USDA-NRI grant, consider changing to a multi-state coordinating committee. Expand membership of NE1005 to include USDA-APHIS and state wildlife agency staff. NCT185 (J.I. Gray, Mich., Admin. Advisor) ongoing deer research in the Midwest; Tom Brown serves on this committee and will help coordinate activities with NE1005
3. Developing New Funding to Support Research Objectives: Since 2001, The Northeast WDM Cooperative has provided about $250,000 to fund applied research and extension projects. Need to put collaborative efforts into a multi-state proposal to evaluate deer impacts to forest regeneration, biodiversity, and ecosystem health. All participating states should contribute to this effort. The group will target USDA-NRI ecosystem management program area. David Drake will take the lead on writing the USDA-NRI proposal. We will plan a conference call and e-mail exchanges during early summer to develop a writing plan. We may consider submitting a NRI Workshop Research Planning proposal this year ($5K-$10K).
4. State Reports
CT - Deer census method research is completed; line transects were the best technique at CT study sites; IR-triggered cameras provided the best data on herd composition (see attached report). A survey of deer damage (n=640; 342 responses) was distributed to the CT Nursery and Landscape Association following the protocol for the NY deer damage survey. Have analyzed 2001, 2002 deer-vehicle accident data for CT-no patterns emerging. (See Connecticut Survey Findings report on meeting minutes website.)
NJ - On-going study to evaluate bird dispersal at dairy farms. Bird Gard worked best to deter pigeons and starlings. Bird-bangers were the second best technique, but scarecrows were ineffective. Compared three different methods for estimating deer density in suburban areas: road counts, FLIR, catch-unit-effort. All three provided similar estimates of deer abundance. Best to do counts after leaf-fall in autumn. J. Paulin conducting a study on tolerance of wildlife damage caused by deer/bear/geese in low and high density areas.
WV - Nuisance black bear study with two components: (1) examine ear-tagged bears involved with nuisance complaints - those moved farther were less likely to cause a repeat complaint; (2) examining behavior of nuisance bears treated with rubber buckshot/pyrotechnics vs. untreated control bears. Aversive conditioning was not effective - some bears repeated nuisance behavior after 24 hours, all bears repeated nuisance activity by 20 days post-treatment. Moving bears resulted in less `reported` nuisance behavior, but some damage was probably not reported.
NY - Completed a statewide survey of deer damage to agriculture for major crops. Farmers reported losing about $58M in 2002 because of deer damage. Completed a study of the effects of hazing on dispersal of nuisance geese from suburban areas. Mortality was slightly higher for hazed vs. control flocks. No technique was completely effective for dispersing geese. Dogs seemed to work best during the day, and laser lights worked best at night. (See reports for Projects 1 and 2 on meeting minutes website.)
VA - A statewide meeting of municipal and county leaders was organized (e.g., Boards of Supervisors, City Managers, Town Selectmen, etc.), for a 2-day workshop in early June on how counties, cities, and towns can prepare for and anticipate dealing with human-wildlife conflicts. For many of these people, we have found there is no forethought about this until it becomes a problem and by then it already has become polarized. In this workshop, we are basically introducing them to the fact that real problems do in fact exist. The Secretary of Natural Resources for VA has agreed to come as keynote speaker because he is quite serious about resolving these wildlife problems. There will be a panel discussion involving state, federal and private assistance resources (who`s who, what do they do, what they don`t do, etc.) and how to get in contact with them. We then have a morning session based on 3 case studies from VA in communities that either initiated work themselves to design and implement a comprehensive program or were thrust into having to deal with a problem under pressure. Then, I have a facilitation team coming in to talk about community interactions, available resources, how to develop and work with task forces and focus groups, how to get to YES, i.e., the human dimension side of the situation. Finally, I am having participants complete a survey which will be the lead-in to the next phase of my plan, that being to conduct a series of regional self-help and design workshops. A team of partners will assist me in actually helping communities or groups of neighboring communities develop and implement comprehensive wildlife damage management programs to deal with existing and anticipated situations before they become conflict-ridden. This endeavor was a necessary outgrowth of trying to avoid the growing onslaught of individual towns coming to me seeking help after they had found themselves embroiled deeply in a mess like the numerous deer reduction/control controversies, except now it involves 5-8 wildlife species, not just deer.
Vole management programs are being conducted in forest regeneration situations. Our VA Department of Forestry people are woefully lacking in understanding in this arena and are not helping landowners prepare for and cope with a very serious problem. So, through a series of classroom and field demo sessions, we are going to get the foresters up to speed on recognizing the damage, knowing something about the options, and how to implement treatment. Then, as a follow-up to that, we have a series of programs scheduled for landowners. The situation in the home landscape and nursery industry is exploding, too, so that may be the next target audience.
The other issues that keep rearing their head in VA involve beaver (increasing numbers and damage everywhere), vultures (USDA-WS has a big study going on in VA), and as always, more deer concerns. I still hear about a growing problem with turkeys, particularly in vineyards and fruit orchards (eating buds, fruits, breaking branches and vines, etc.), but hard data simply is not available right now.
5. NEREC Proposal and Activities: David Drake (Rutgers) is the *champion* for the NEREC project. To date, efforts to pursue funding have not born fruit. The current plan is to keep this project active and continue to explore funding options with various stakeholder groups. It will take a concerted effort in several states to develop the support needed to garner new federal dollars for this initiative.
Accomplishments
The regional multi-state project NE1005 has been active in addressing wildlife damage concerns. Experiments have been conducted concerning effective means of non-lethal hazing (e.g. noise, lights, sprayed scents) to reduce adverse impact of geese on turf grass (turf loss, soil erosion, feces and feather deposition) at school yards and other public recreational sites. Applied research and outreach activities relating to deer-damage management have been conducted, including efforts to more accurately document the economic impact of deer-damage in the Northeast, evaluate deer damage to forest regeneration and effects on biodiversity, and field-test new animal-repellent devices. In addition, deer population modeling was conducted to determine levels of herd reduction needed to reduce impacts at both site-specific and landscape scales. Research has also focused on non-lethal options for herd control in suburban locations. Funding proposals were developed to sponsor critically needed enhancements to wildlife damage research and outreach programs.
Impacts
- Activities and federal formula fund support associated with NE1005 resulted in a first-ever, jointly-funded survey of deer-damage to crops in NYS. The survey assessed the effectiveness of site-specific deer management methods and other deer control options. This unique collaborative effort involved the NY Farm Bureau, Cornell University AES, NYS Dept. of Env. Conserv., NYS Dept. of Agriculture and Markets, and Cornell`s Human Dimensions Res. Unit.
- A summary of research targeted at reducing deer-vehicle crashes concluded that well-designed and maintained highway fencing, combined with underpasses/overpasses as appropriate, was the only widely-accepted method with solid evidence of effectiveness. Other techniques (deer whistles, roadside reflectors) have no/very limited effects. Temporary passive signage and active signage were promising in specific situations. Continuing research is still required.
Publications
Brown, T.L., D.J. Decker, and P.D. Curtis. 2004. Farmers estimates of economic damage from white-tailed deer in New York State. HDRU Series No. 04-3, Dept. of Natural Resources, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.
Curtis, P.D. and P.G. Jensen. 2004. Habitat factors affecting beaver occupancy along roadsides in New York State. Journal of Wildlife Management 68(2):278-287.
Curtis, P.D., W.F. Siemer, and J.E. Shanahan. 2004. The role of educational intervention in community-based deer management. Transactions North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference 68:197-208.
Hedlund, J.H., P.D. Curtis, G. Curtis, and A.F. Williams. 2004. Methods to reduce traffic crashes involving deer: what works and what does not. Traffic Injury Prevention 5:1-10.
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):356-362.
Curtis, P.D. and P.G. Jensen. 2004. Habitat factors affecting beaver occupancy along roadsides in New York State. Journal of Wildlife Management 68(2):278-287.
Curtis, P.D., W.F. Siemer, and J.E. Shanahan. 2004. The role of educational intervention in community-based deer management. Transactions North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference 68:197-208.
Hedlund, J.H., P.D. Curtis, G. Curtis, and A.F. Williams. 2004. Methods to reduce traffic crashes involving deer: what works and what does not. Traffic Injury Prevention 5:1-10.
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):356-362.