Enhancing Wildlife Sciences' Linkage to Public Policy: Lessons from the Predator-Control Pendulum

Abstract

t Policy decisions in wildlife management and conservation are made for many reasons. The degree to which information generated by scientific research is incorporated into these decisions depends on several factors. We believe wildlife science can help create the social and political climates that foster new policy directions. Regarding United States (U.S.) predator-control policy, science provided the neutral ground on which the debate could focus, thus tempering the value questions, while allowing for the gradual accrual of new technical information. Because of the nature of scientific research, there is often considerable lag time between the generation of new information, its acceptance by stakeholders, and its subsequent incorporation into policy. We believe wildlife managers can compensate for this lag time by actively engaging in policy-oriented learning at the local level. This approach will address public concerns arising from perceptions that wildlife management policies and actions are derived within an information vacuum. Such efforts will ultimately result in better decisions on wildlife and its management and serve to temper wide swings in the public policy.