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- Info
Urban wildlife and the Fish and Wildlife Service: Meeting a growing challenge
| Author: |
Dunkle, Frank H. |
| Date: |
1987 |
| Periodical: |
In: Adams, L.W.; Leedy, D.L., eds. Integrating Man and Nature in the Metropolitan Environment: Proceedings of the National Symposium on Urban Wildlife; 1986 November 4-7; Chevy Chase, MD. Columbia, MD: National Institute for Urban Wildlife |
| Abstract: |
Wildlife, thus, continues to be an integral part of the cities, towns, and villages in America. Is the Fish and Wildlife Service concerned and involved with these "metropolitan" critters? You bet we are.
The Service has a mission: “ . . . to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people." Noting that three quarters of our citizens live in urban areas, what is more fitting than a mission that recognizes urban wildlife and their habitats? Your conference theme virtually paraphrases the job description of several managers of national wildlife refuges across the country. From Tinicum Refuge in Philadelphia to Parker River near Boston to the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge practically in the heart of the Twin Cities to the San Francisco Bay Refuge, the Fish and Wildlife Service has been doing its very best to integrate "man and nature in the metropolitan environment." It has not always been an easy or harmonious process. We are still learning. We are still trying to spread the word of productive coexistence with wildlife and, at the same time, make the world a more hospitable place for wild species and a richer place for people.
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