The Center for Human-Wildlife Conflict Resolution (or The Center) was established at Virginia Tech in 2004 to provide needed services to Virginians. The Center relies upon the resources available to the Conservation Management Institute (CMI), a research center is housed in the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation within the College of Natural Resources and the Environment at Virginia Tech, and is affiliated with the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service to address these multi-discipline natural resource management challenges. The Center integrates science, information technology, and human dimensions research to help resolve difficult problems. CMI has conducted projects throughout North America that address landscape ecology, education, outreach, and the application of information technology. The Virginia Cooperative Extension Service has decades of service and experience in providing constituents with educational opportunities, resources, and unbiased information.
The Center is directed by Dr. Jim Parkhurst, Associate Professor of Wildlife Science and Wildlife Extension Specialist in the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation at Virginia Tech. The Center is staffed by biologists, public affairs specialists, and students at Virginia Tech and is affiliated with many agencies and organizations.
The Center attempts to resolve human-wildlife conflicts by including a focus on factors related to human populations that contribute to problems associated with wildlife. Perceptions about a problem often drive the selection of management actions considered appropriate and thus define the possible outcomes. The Center emphasizes the need to base management decisions upon the concept of “cultural carrying capacity” (i.e., the number of animals in any one area that society can tolerate, as determined by a combination of biological factors in conjunction with economics and concerns about public safety) rather than biological factors alone to produce more realistic expectations among the public. The Center is devoted to promoting and increasing the use of vertebrate integrated pest management in Virginia.
If you have questions or inquiries about The Center or management of human-wildlife conflicts, please contact us.