Living With Wildlife on the Rural-Urban Interface
By Dan Decker, Heather Wieczorek Hudenko, Bill Siemer and Paul Curtis, Cornell University; John Major and Lou Berchielli, NYS Department of
Environmental Conservation
What is the Issue?
New York State (NYS) is home to hundreds of species of wildlife. Interactions
with wildlife such as white-tailed deer, black bear, Canada geese, and coyotes
are common for residents of rural, exurban, and urban-rural interface
communities. Most of these interactions are positive, but some may have
negative economic, aesthetic, health, and safety impacts. Although regional
NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) offices partner with
communities by providing technical advice, issuing necessary permits, and
providing referrals to other agencies or the private sector, it’s not their focus,
nor do they have the resources, to deal with wildlife management solutions at
an individual community level. Community residents and local institutions
need to assume responsibility and play multiple roles in identifying and
implementing effective approaches to achieve peaceful human-wildlife
coexistence in partnership with state and federal agencies.
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