"Animal Damage Control" 



Moderator: Bart O'Gara, Leader, Montana Cooperative Wildlife Research 

 Unit, University of Montana 



1. "The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Policy": 

 Don Minnich, Region Six Director, Denver 



2. "A Woolgrower's Perspective": 



Marvin Cronberg, President, National Woolgrower's Association 



3. "Current Events Update": 



Jim Zumbo, Western Field Editor, OUTDOOR LIFE magazine 



BART O'GARA : This should be an interesting discussion. I've heard 

 people introduce discussions of the Animal Damage Control program 

 before as controversial. I'm going to take exception to that and say we 

 all agree on it. None of us are happy with it. Before I get too many 

 people mad, I'll expand on that a little bit. 



Actually, the general public likes predators and they are generally 

 unhappy that there is such a thing as the Predator Control Program. 

 The stockman that is suffering losses is often unhappy because he 

 doesn't feel like enough is being done in actual research to find better 

 control methods. The control agents charged with carrying out 

 predator control are often frustrated, partly by regulations that 

 hamper their work and partly by the attitude of the public towards 

 anyone that's quote "a paid killer." The politicians aren't particularly 

 happy with the Animal Damage Control Progam, mostly because they 

 catch hell from both sides and anything they do about it is going to 

 make someone unhappy. This sounds a little bit like a no-win situation 

 and who is to blame? I think probably the same people that are 

 unhappy with the program. The general public has, I believe, let 

 itself be led down the primrose path, believing all predators are good, 

 every place, every time and so forth. That's somewhat unrealistic 

 approach. 



The stockmen understand the problems but in the past some of 

 them have been pretty insensitive to the public's liking for predators 

 and have done some things that have outraged the public against 

 predator control. Most control agents have probably done a credible 

 job themselves but their parent organization, which is also the 

 organization I work for, has done a pretty poor job in public relations, 

 of putting the Animal Damage Control Program in perspective. How 

 does it fit in with fur-trapping? How many animals are taken by 

 comparison? How much land is actually being subject to predator 

 control? And what are the needs in some places and at some times? 



The politicians, I suppose, have too many other problems and they 

 generally simply react to the most vocal proponent or opponent of 

 predator control. And this, of course, leads to something of a 

 piece-meal approach to predator control instead of working towards an 

 effective program with adequate funding and research to improve it. 



