Recent conservation action and successes in the Midwest and neighboring regions have built strong core populations of many species that were once extinct in the region. Communities are starting to once again come into contact with wolves, black bears, mountain lions, and many other potentially dangerous species. Identifying strategies and implementing policies that will proactively deal with human-wildlife conflict will help mitigate damage to both wildlife and communities across the Midwest.

 

The main focus of the project is to work with local stakeholders to build proactive solutions to future or recent human-wildlife conflict. The majority of responses to human-wildlife conflict to date has been reactive, where managers often wait until there is a severe conflict before intervening. This tends to lead to the death of the animal or animals involved in the conflict, and is unsustainable in the long-run. 

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This project focused on identifying collaborative strategies for mitigating human-wildlife conflict at the local, state, and regional levels. Drawing on my past work identifying dispersal paths for megafauna, I identified ways to use predictive mapping to predict areas of potential conflict. I then outlined how to identify local and regional stakeholders through low-cost channels such as social media and organizational networks. Next, I suggested how to best identify local stakeholder values through snowball surveys and stakeholder  meetings. Lastly, I describe potential ways to collaborate with stakeholders to create solutions to proactively implement conservation policies. 

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This project was presented at the 2018 National Areas Association Conference in Bloomington, IN. 

 

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