History of Wildlife Conservation in Ohio Jason T. Warren State Wildlife Officer Assigned to Ashtabula County.

History of Wildlife Conservation in Ohio

Jason T. Warren State Wildlife Officer Assigned to

Ashtabula County

Objectives

• Loss of Wildlife • Recovery • Success Story's • Human Wildlife Conflicts

Early 18th & 19th century

• Wildlife was vanishing and in trouble– Habitat Loss • 1900 Ohio was ~ 10% Forested • Today over 30% Forested • Lost around 90% of our wetlands

– Market Hunting • Food • Clothing

– No Laws Protecting Wildlife

First “Conservationists”

• Recreational Hunters – New York Sportsmen’s Club – Boone and Crocket Club• Theodore Roosevelt

– Preserved ~ 230 Million Acres of Public Land

“There can be no greater issue than that of conservation in this country.” ~Theodore Roosevelt

Wildlife Laws

• First Game Wardens – Maine – 1850• States Began Passing Laws Protecting Wildlife • Lacy Act – 1900• Migratory Bird Treaty Act – 1918• Ohio Fish Commission -1874

Wildlife Laws

• Wildlife Officers • Licensing • Bag Limits • Season Dates

Wildlife Fund

• Ohio Division of Wildlife is almost solely funded by…………– Hunting and fishing license sales – Pittman Roberson funding – Dingell Johnson funding

Funding

• First Hunting License Law 1895 – North Dakota• 1937 – Pittman Robertson Act

• Tax on hunting equipment and firearms • Ohio has received more than $85 Million in funding

• 1950 Dingell Johnson Act• Tax on fishing equipment• Ohio has received more that $81 Million in funding

• 1934 Duck Stamp Act• $800 Million Raised • 6 Million Acres of Wetland Preserved

White Tailed Deer

• 1943 Deer Harvest -168• 2013 Deer Harvest-– 191,000

River Otters

• Reintroduced in 1986 into Grand River watershed

Sandhill Crane

• ~ 25 Nesting Pairs • Produced 27 Colts last year • Wetland Dependent

Black Bear

• By 1850 gone from Ohio• ~ 6 living in Ashtabula County

Bald Eagle 4 breeding pairs in 1979

In 2012 an estimated 213 pairs of Bald Eagles produced an estimated 321 young

Bald Eagles are no longer listed as a State or Federal Threatened or Endangered Species

Eastern Massasagua

Coyote

• Western US / Canada• First Ohio Record 1919

Human Wildlife Conflicts

• Zoonotic Diseases– A zoonotic disease is a disease that can be passed

between animals and humans.• Rabies• Hantavirus

• Collisions– Air strikes – US Airways Flight 1549– Deer vs. Vehicle = 200 lives lost / 1.1 billion in

property damage

Human Wildlife Conflicts

• Crop Damage • $ 4.5 Billion Annually • 80% of farmers report damage by wildlife

• Urban Wildlife