The "Wild Side" of Conflict Resolution

By day, Wildlife Master volunteer Dick Andrews does conflict resolution with humans in his work for the federal government's U.S. Geological Survey. In his off hours he devotes time to resolving conflict of another kind.

Through Colorado State University Extension's Wildlife Master Program, Andrews works to resolve the increasing friction between humans and wildlife in rapidly growing Jefferson County. He does this by sharing research-based information about human-wildlife interaction with residents who call in their "wildest" concerns.

The building boom along Colorado's Front Range has forced wildlife to flee or to adapt to urban living, and the resulting human-animal conflicts are the source of a multitude of questions from the general public.

"Animals that adapt often find themselves face to face with humans who don't want to share the habitat," said Shelley Stanley, Extension natural resource agent in Jefferson County, and current coordinator of the program.

The Wildlife Master Program, developed in Jefferson County in 1987, was designed to prevent or to help overcome these human-wildlife conflicts. It was modeled after the Master Gardener Program, Extension's nationally recognized volunteer program. Today the Jefferson County program has 22 volunteers who field hundreds of calls each year. The Wildlife Master Program has since spread to other rapidly-growing counties, including neighboring Adams, Arapahoe and Park counties.

Andrews said he volunteered because he is concerned about the impact humans are having on wildlife habitat.

"I see a lot of wildlife in my own neighborhood and I see a lot of people who don't understand what to do and how to maintain a peaceful coexistence. This gives me a chance to get involved in something I really think is important and to give a little back to my county and my neighborhood."

Answering questions about wildlife fills an important niche, Stanley said. "These are questions that the Colorado Division of Wildlife truly doesn't have a lot of time to answer."

Volunteers for the program are carefully selected for their willingness to be unbiased and provide all of the research-based options they are trained to offer callers, Stanley said. Participants receive a minimum of 20 hours of training each of their first two years with the program and agree to give back volunteer hours. Training draws on the expertise of several wildlife agencies including Colorado State, the Colorado Division of Wildlife, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Wildlife Research Center and Wildlife Service, Jefferson County Parks and Open Space, and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

Through the Wildlife Master Program, Stanley sees cooperative relationships developing with these and other agencies. The program shares training with Jefferson County Animal Control, for example, which receives a growing number of wildlife-related calls. People seeking information from the Wildlife Master Program call the Extension office and leave their questions on a voice-mail system. Then, from home, the Wildlife Master on duty picks up the questions and calls back.

Wildlife Masters not only answer questions and provide information over the telephone, but they often send written information and refer callers to relevant websites.

Callers pose a variety of questions, said Andrews, including everything from, "there's a bear in the backyard, to a nest of snakes under my porch, bats in my attic or a bird pecking a hole in my house. What can I do?"

Clara and Wes Zerbe, of Adams County were also trained in Jefferson County as Wildlife Masters. After their third year in the program, the couple is used to a wide variety of questions.

"Most of the calls we get are about rodents and snakes," Wes said. "We've also had some strange stories about skunks!"

Mice, rats, pocket gophers, tree and ground squirrels are frequent query topics. Next come skunks and raccoons, followed by birds. All questions related to injured animals or large mammals, such as elk, bear or mountain lions, are referred to the Colorado Division of Wildlife.

"They have the equipment, the personnel and the training to handle conflicts with these species," Stanley said.

Users indicate consistently high levels of satisfaction with the program. In 2000, 94 percent of survey respondents said they were highly satisfied with the service. An equal number said they used or implemented the advice they received from Wildlife Master volunteers.

"So not only are residents getting the information, but they're using it," Stanley said. Within those statistics are success stories. For instance, Stanley described a homeowner in Park County who was able to peacefully resolve his struggle with a northern flicker, a type of woodpecker, and educate his neighbors as well, thanks to advice from a Wildlife Master. The bird had drilled holes in wooden siding causing thousands of dollars of damage. When the homeowner employed a scare tactic outlined in a Extension Fact Sheet, the bird stopped drilling and never returned.

"It saved the bird and it saved the property," Stanley said. "But the bigger lesson is that other people learned something. Neighbors took notice of the glittering Mylar^TM strips the homeowner hung to deter the flicker. The advice worked!" she said.--Sue Lenthe

For more information, contact your local Colorado State University Extension office.

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