As a result of this new emphasis, the Center's 

 current research projects have been realigned 

 under three new Research Programs: 



• Agriculture and Resource Protection — Focuses 

 on reducing wildlife damage to crops, aquaculture 

 facilities, and timber resources; developing new 

 repellants; reducing predation losses to livestock 

 and property damage; and examining the ecology, 

 behavior, and management of mammalian 

 predators. 



• Invasive Species and Technology Development — 



Develops methods for reducing invasive species 

 damage to native wildlife and ecosystems and 

 encompasses studies for pesticide registration, 

 formulation chemistry, chemical analysis, 

 benefit-cost analysis, and wildlife contraceptive 

 development. 



• Wildlife Disease — Explores ways to reduce the 

 spread and transmission of diseases from wildlife 

 to humans and domestic animals; develops 

 disease diagnostic methods; develops methods 

 and strategies to monitor wildlife pathogens; 

 provides risk assessments for agriculture and 

 human health and safety; and assists WS 

 operations for surveillance and monitoring efforts. 





The new 25,000-ft2 ISRB enhances NWRC's ability to study 

 invosive (nonnative) wildlife species. 



Construction Update 



NWRC's 43-acre headquarters campus is located 

 on Colorado State University (CSU) land in Fort 

 Collins, CO. During fiscal year 2007, several planning 

 and construction activities took place, related to 

 completing the Master Plan for the NWRC site. 



Invasive Species Research Building — On 



December 6, 2006, WS celebrated the opening 

 of its new 25,000-ft- Invasive Species Research 

 Building (ISRB). More than 100 people attended 

 the opening ceremony, including representatives 

 from USDA, the builders (a Federal-private sector 

 partnership), and CSU. 



The facility, built by the General Services 

 Administration (GSA) and Everitt/Keenan Associates 

 (a private developer), expands upon NWRC's 

 existing capabilities to conduct wildlife research by 

 providing a state-of-the-art complex where invasive 

 wildlife can be properly cared for and studied. The 

 ISRB also enhances NWRC's ability to study the 

 ecology, biology, behavior, and physiology of invasive 

 wildlife species and to develop management tools 

 and strategies for mitigating their damage and 

 controlling their spread. The building is designed 

 to simulate temperature and humidity ranges from 

 temperate to tropical ecosystems. The flexibility of 

 these environmental controls allows for the year- 

 round study of invasive wildlife species. Examples 

 of invasive species NWRC will study in the facility 

 include nutria; Norway, roof, and Gambian giant 

 pouched rats; European starlings; brown treesnakes 

 (BTSs); Nile monitors; Burmese pythons; and 

 Caribbean tree frogs. 



Biosafety Level-3 Suite— In early 2007, the 

 Biosafety Level-3 (BSL-3) laboratory suite opened 

 at the NWRC Fort Collins campus. The new 

 2,500-ft2 suite, located in the existing Animal 

 Research Building (ARB), includes two large 

 animal-research rooms, six smaller animal rooms, 

 a virology laboratory, and showers and autoclave 

 rooms for decontamination of staff and clothing. 

 The suite contains four levels of protection for the 

 safety of the surrounding community and staff, as 



2 Introduction 



