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