WFB Wildlife and Society Fall, 2011

Transcription

1 WFB Wildlife and Society Fall, 2011 Location: Jeffords 112 Meeting Time: 4:00 to 5:15 p.m. - Tuesday and Thursday Instructor: Office Hours: Walt Kuentzel 10:30 to 12:00 p.m. walter.kuentzel@uvm.edu Tuesday and Thursday 357 Aiken Center Drop-ins are fine, but you may want to make an appointment. Course Web Page: Course Objectives: This course will investigate how peoples relationship with wildlife - their attitudes, institutions, policies, and behaviors - have affected the distribution and behavior of wildlife across the North American landscape. The class will look at the history of human use of wildlife and the growing social conflict that surrounds use of wildlife. We will see how wildlife management practices and policies shape the behavior of both people and wildlife. The class will explore contemporary human attitudes towards wildlife, focusing particularly on social controversies between the human use of wildlife and the new protest tactics of the animal rights movement. The course aims to provide students with practical managerial skills and techniques, as well as conceptual analytical skills for engaging in public debate about wildlife issues. Required Texts: (Available at the UVM Book Store). Boglioli, M. (2009). A Matter of Life and Death: Hunting in Contemporary Vermont. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press. Leopold, A. (1949/1991). A Sand County Almanac. New York: Ballantine. Manfredo, M. J. (2008). Who Cares About Wildlife? Social Science Concepts for Exploring Human-Wildlife Relationships and Conservation Issues. New York: Springer. On-Line Readings: Available as needed on course web page:

2 ASSIGNMENTS Green Fire Paper Read Leopold s essay Thinking Like a Mountain along with the two readings assigned for September 6 th. 1) Then list and describe three reasons why Leopold s fierce green fire image has been so important in changing the relationship between humans and animals in the modern world. 2) Do you think that the principles of game management outlined by the Mystery Author (9/6 readings) are consistent with ideas Leopold expressed in Thinking Like a Mountain? Why or why not? 3) Do you think Guha s challenge to the wildlife management profession compliments Leopold s Green Fire ideas, or contradicts those ideas? (No more than 3 double spaced typed pages) State Hunting, Fishing, and Trapping Regulations - Choose a state in the United States. Go to their Fish and Wildlife Department website and download their hunting, fishing, and trapping regulations. Read (and skim) through the document and identify 5 instances in which specific state fish and wildlife laws illustrate principles in the North American model of wildlife management. (No more than 2 double spaced typed page) YouTube Intrusive Wildlife Watching Find a video on YouTube where someone has photographed a wild animal in an intrusive way. For example, the film could depict a person harassing wildlife in some way, an animal harassing a person in some way, or an animal that has become too comfortable with the presence of people. (Please note: I m not interested in blood and guts in this assignment. Please do not use videos of lion attacks, bear attacks, or anything where someone is seriously injured or dies. Those videos are sensationalist, exploitive, and gross.) Describe the potential impacts to the individual animal and the species population from this particular event. Be sure to draw from the materials presented in class e.g., changes in animal physiology, behavior, and fitness. Is the impact you observe likely to have an additive or compensatory effect on the animal population? (No more than 2 double spaced typed pages.) Attitude Paper - Identify a specific wildlife management controversy that is a controversy at an identifiable time in a particular place (e.g., cormorant egg oiling on Young Island in Lake Champlain, lampricide efforts in VT rivers and streams, coyote tournaments in Vermont, etc.) (Please do not use wolves or wolf reintroduction as your topic. This is a very complex topic, with a great deal that has already been written on the issue.) Use any written sources you can find (academic journal articles, online agency reports, newspaper editorials, etc.) to analyze public attitudes towards the wildlife species involved.

3 You should then use your sources to infer social values, attitude structure, attitude strength, attitude polarization, etc. Given these considerations, you should also assess the potential for public compromise. Finally, given your analysis, identify 3-4 management alternatives for dealing with the controversy. (No more than 3 double spaced typed pages) Group Project You will work in groups of three people to collaboratively create management recommendations for dealing with an issue of social conflict over wildlife e.g., coyote hunting tournaments in Vermont, closure of rock climbing areas because of peregrine falcon nests, or Canada Goose control near urban airports. (Please do not use wolves or wolf reintroduction as your topic. This is a very complex topic, with a great deal that has already been written on the issue.)when selecting a topic, you need to identify at least two separate groups of people who are at odds over the issue. Specifically, your report should include the following: 1) A description of the dynamics of social conflict. This part need not focus on the biological dimensions of the problem, but instead should analyze why people are arguing about the issue. Your focus here should be on the human/human conflict a description of the arguments made through the media, on-site conflicts, or in the political arena. 2) Use the materials of the class to thoughtfully analyze the human dimensions of the issue. How does social psychology help us understand the root of conflict e.g., differences in values, attitudes, norms, etc? 3) Your recommendations for how the problem might be solved e.g., education, public participation, group influence. Be sure to discuss the limitations of these solutions. Why might educating the public not work? When is public participation ineffective? Class Participation - In addition to regular in class discussion, I will occasionally ask you to bring examples of a specific topic to class and be prepared to talk about them. Grading Tests 15% each) 30% Green Fire Paper 10% Regulations 5% YouTube Assignment 10% Attitude Paper 10% Final Group Project 25% Class Participation 10%

4 TENTATIVE COURSE OUTLINE Fall, 2011 DATE TOPIC READING ASSIGNMENT ASSIGNMENT August 30 Introduction Green Fire Dying September 1 Wildlife and Social Change Mystery Author (Who is it?) History of Ideas in Game Management. Pp Guha, R. (1997). The Authoritarian Biologist... The Ecologist Pp Humans and Wildlife - Subsistence and Landscape Change September 6 Capitalists and Native Americans I Cronon, W. (1983). Changes in the Land. Chapter 1, Pp. 3-6 Only Chapter 2, Pp Chapter 3, Pp Green Fire Paper September 8 Capitalists and Native Americans II Cronon, W. (1983). Changes in the Land. Chapter 4, Pp Chapter 5, Pp September 13 Market Hunting Era Tober, J. A. (1981). Who Owns the Wildlife? Chapter 3, Pp September 15 Societal Response to Scarcity Tober, J. A. (1981). Who Owns the Wildlife? Chapter 5, Pp Chapter 6, Pp September 20 Wildlife Management in the 20 th Century Bolen & Robertson. Wildlife Ecology and Management, Chapter 22 Wildlife Management September 22 State Wildlife Management Prukop & Regan (2002). The value of the North American model of fish and wildlife conservation. September 27 Federal Wildlife Management Decker et al. (2001). Human Dimensions of Wildlife Management Chapter 5 & 6 Pp State Fish & Wildlife Laws September 29 International Wildlife Management - CITES and Endangered Species - What is it? - What is the history? - What are the appendices? - What animals on it surprise you? October 4 Test #1 Contemporary Wildlife Recreation October 6 U.S. Hunting & Fishing NSFHWAR

5 October 11 October 13 October 18 The Experience of Sport Hunting Hunting in Vermont Hunting in Vermont Ortega y Gassett. (1985). Meditations on Hunting. The Essence of Hunting, Pp Leopold, A. (1949/1991). A Sand County Almanac. Boglioli, M (2009) A Matter of Life and Death. Pp Boglioli, M. (2009) A Matter of Life and Death. Pp October 20 Hunting in Vermont Boglioli M. (2009) A Matter of Life and Death. Pp October 25 October 27 November 1 Watchable Wildlife Wildlife Impacts: Overview Specific Impacts I Rolston. Beauty & the Beast NSFHWAR Knight & Gutzwiler (1995). Chapter 4-6. Knight & Gutzwiler (1995). Chapter 7-8. Guest Speaker: Marc Boglioli Questions for Marc Guest Speaker: Allan Strong November 3 Specific Impacts II Knight & Gutzwiler (1995). Chapter Management From the People Perspective November 8 Psychobiology Manfredo (2008) Who Cares about Wildlife. Chapter 2 You Tube Intrusive Wildlife Watching November 10 Emotions Manfredo (2008) Who Cares about Wildlife. Chapter 3 November 15 Attitudes, Norms & Values I Manfredo (2008) Who Cares about Wildlife. Chapter 4 November 17 Attitudes, Norms, & Values II Manfredo (2008) Who Cares about Wildlife. Chapter 5 Social Conflict over Wildlife November 29 The Ethics of Animal Rights Singer, P. (1975). Animal Liberation. Chapter 1, Pp Attitudes Paper Regan, T. (2001) The case for animal rights: A decade s passing. Leopold, A. (1949/1991). A Sand County Almanac The Land Ethic. Pp December 1 Protest Techniques Jasper and Nelkin (1992). The Animal Rights Crusade

6 Chapter 1-4 Pp December 6 The Anti-Hunting Debate Wood, F. The Delights and Dilemmas of Hunting. December 13 Final Test Tuesday, 4:30 p.m. Additional Course Information Academic Support Programs (ASP); ASP includes ACCESS, the Learning Cooperative, and TRIO/Student Support Services (SSS). ASP is an excellent resource for UVM students. Take advantage of their services as appropriate. ACCESS: In keeping with University policy, any student with a disability who needs academic/classroom accommodations should contact ACCESS. ACCESS coordinates reasonable accommodations for students with documented disabilities. They are located at A170 Living/Learning Center, and can be reached by phone at , or by ing access@uvm.edu. Visit their website at The Learning Co-op offers a variety of resources such as Supplemental Instruction, Writing Center, subject-specific tutoring, etc. Whether you are excelling or having trouble with a class, the Learning Co-op is a valuable resource. I particularly recommend the Writing Center ( If you need help putting ideas to paper, if you need proof-reading help, or if you just want to improve your writing, the Writing Center is a great campus resource. ASP also includes TRIO, a spectrum of services for eligible first-generation or limited-income students. UVM Official Policy on Religious Holidays: Students have the right to practice the religion of their choice. Each semester students should submit in writing to their instructors by the end of the second full week of classes their documented religious holiday schedule for the semester. Faculty must permit students who miss work for the purpose of religious observance to make up this work. UVM Academic Integrity Policy: Offenses against the Code of Academic Integrity are deemed serious and insult the integrity of the entire academic community. Any suspected violations of the code are taken very seriously and will be forwarded to the Center for Student Ethics & Standards for further investigation. Cutting-and-pasting from internet sources (without proper citation) is plagiarism. Instances of this type of plagiarism are not hard to find, and we do check. So, here s what we expect. The words you turn in should be your own. If you use text from the internet in the body of your assignment, it 1) must be enclosed in quotation marks, and 2) must be properly cited in your

7 document. Failure to do so will result in an F on the assignment, and in extreme cases can mean an F for the course. Computers in the Classroom. I do not ban computers from the classroom (yet!). However, I do offer a couple of observations about computer use during class: 1) It s your money. Each 75-minute class session costs about $45 for in-state students and about $110 for out-of-state students. You must decide for yourself if access to Facebook, YouTube, or Ebay, etc. during class is worth that kind of money to you. 2) Research in cognitive psychology shows that multi-tasking on high-effort mental tasks (like learning) significantly lowers performance. Over the past two years (when computer use in the classroom has exploded), we have noticed a negative correlation between computer use and class performance. Test score distributions in classes typically show a normal curve. Recently, test score distributions have skewed a bit toward the D and F range, and classroom computer use tends to be the reason. Learning to focus is a really important life-skill, and computers in the classroom don t help.