We value input from members of state fish and wildlife agencies, universities, and our supporters. Following the original legislation that created the CRU Program (Public Law 86–686, 74 Stat. 733), all Unit research priorities are set locally at each Unit in consultation with Federal and State cooperators. Unit scientists and supervisors work with cooperators to help them identify their research needs, and Unit supervisors ensure that all research is aligned with the USGS mission. We are extremely grateful to each of our cooperators and partners for their continued support of the CRU Program. Our continued success depends on the active engagement, participation, and support from our cooperators and partners. We thank you for everything that you do for our program, and we look forward to continued collaboration with you in the coming years. We hope you enjoy our quotes from our cooperators and success stories from the field. If you have a story to share, we would love to hear it. Please contact us through the connect page.
New York Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
"Each year of this valuable research increases our understanding of New York’s moose population and its vital role in our State’s biodiversity." —Basil Seggos, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner.
Indiana Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
“The creation of this new Unit is another milestone in the highly successful USGS Cooperative Research Units Program, and we are proud to join the State of Indiana, Purdue University, the USGS, Wildlife Management Institute and the others to address conservation questions facing Indiana and the region,” said FWS Science Applications Program Assistant Regional Director, Craig Czarnecki. “We look forward to engaging with the students and professionals at Purdue University as we codevelop scientific research and support the next generation of conservationists.”
Michigan Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
"The Department of Fisheries and Wildlife and College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Michigan State University were delighted to welcome the Michigan Unit to campus in 2023. Our Department and College have long-standing relationships with State, Federal, Tribal, and industry natural resources partners, but the addition of the Michigan Unit takes those relationships to a new level and adds critical science capacity. Science-based conservation is legislatively mandated in Michigan, and we look to the Unit for helping us advance actionable science in support of natural resource conservation for the State, region, and Nation.” Gary Roloff, Chair, Fisheries and Wildlife Department, Michigan State University
Amphibian Disease Ecology by Wendy Estes-Zumpf, Herpetological Coordinator, Wyoming Game and Fish Department
Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at University of Wyoming
Infectious diseases pose a serious threat to the health of people, domestic animals, and wildlife alike. A deeper understanding of how organisms respond to disease better equips us to improve human and animal health in the face of infectious onslaughts.
Results of these studies will be used by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and other management agencies working to protect boreal toad populations. Further, by investigating the behavioral and demographic responses of wild animals to disease, this research advances our understanding of host-pathogen relationships and informs conservation efforts geared toward precluding further declines of populations challenged with infectious disease.
Since 2015, the Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, in collaboration with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and the U.S. Forest Service, has investigated amphibian responses to a pathogenic fungus. The chytrid fungus, which causes a skin disease in amphibians, is responsible for declines in hundreds of amphibian populations globally.
Boreal toads, once common in high-elevation habitats across the Rocky Mountain West, have suffered severe declines as a result of chytrid fungus in recent decades. By evaluating the movement and infection status of boreal toads through time, Gabriel Barrile (Ph.D. candidate) and faculty advisors Anna Chalfoun and Annika Walters (assistant unit leaders) revealed a defensive strategy whereby individuals used moist, sheltered habitats when disease-free but moved to warmer, more open habitats when infected. Switching habitats in response to infection appeared to be advantageous, as increased warmth in open habitats was associated with the clearing of infection. These findings suggest that small-scale microhabitat manipulation to create warm patches may be an effective mitigation action against the chytrid fungus and possibly other amphibian diseases.
The Wyoming Unit is also conducting an extensive mark-recapture project to examine how the chytrid fungus influences population dynamics of boreal toads, such as annual survival and recruitment rates.
Maine Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
Thanks for your willingness to tackle this emerging “and very challenging new issue.” —Francis Brautigam, Director of Fisheries & Hatcheries, Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
State-Threatened, Riparian-Obligate Raptors in the Trans-Pecos Region by Russell Martin, Wildlife Diversity Biologist, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
Texas Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at Texas Tech University
Desert riparian systems are distinct narrow drainages that provide environmental conditions for vegetation dependent on permanent or ephemeral surface and subsurface water. Desert riparian zones associated with these systems provide important nesting and foraging habitat in an otherwise highly arid land-scape.
These riparian systems have been identified as a priority for conservation throughout the southwestern United States. Within these riparian zones in the Chihuahua Desert Ecoregion of Texas are three State-threatened birds of prey—the common black hawk, the gray hawk, and the zone-tailed hawk. Only the most basic observed presence information has been available for these species in the region; thus, species assessments and management has been hampered by a lack of quantitative data.
The Texas Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit has partnered with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Big Bend Ranch State and National Parks, and private conservation entities to assess the abundance, habitat characteristics, productivity, and community structure of these species in riparian zones of the Trans-Pecos region of Texas.
Researchers anticipate that the results will provide the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department with data to make informed decisions for status assessment updates and identification of priority areas for conservation and restoration of these State-threatened species.
Indiana Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
“The addition of Indiana to the USGS Cooperative Units Program is a proud moment for WMI [Wildlife Management Institute], the only national, private cooperator,” said Wildlife Management Institute president, Tony Wasley. “WMI was involved in the creation of the CRU Program in 1935, and we applaud the 2023 agreement as this new Unit will serve as a model for researchers to work collaboratively with the conservation community to benefit wildlife and their habitats. It is especially exciting to have this multiagency program bringing together the passion and expertise of partners and resources to open new doors of opportunity and to learn and apply the best available natural resource science to real-world, real-time challenges.
Tracking Seabirds by William B. Uihlein, III Assistant Regional Director, Science Applications and Migratory Birds, South Atlantic-Gulf and Mississippi Basin U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
South Carolina Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at Clemson University
Conservation efforts are challenging for species of wildlife that are highly transboundary in their movements. Seabirds epitomize this transboundary challenge, regularly occupying terrestrial and marine ecosystems and often traversing State, regional, and international boundaries on a regular basis while foraging.
During the past 10+ years, the South Carolina Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit has been collaborating with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, as well as with other State, Federal, and international agencies, to enhance understanding of the daily and annual movement patterns of seabirds.
The South Carolina Unit has undertaken two extensive projects focused on the spatial ecology of brown pelicans. In the Gulf region, Juliet Lamb (a former Ph.D. student; now a Marie Curie Fellow) used satellite tags to assess risk exposure of brown pelicans throughout their annual cycle, identifying temporal and spatial “hot-times and hot-spots.”
In the South Atlantic Bight region, Ph.D. candidate Brad Wilkinson is using satellite tags to explore brown pelican daily movement patterns and to model how their migration patterns may be affected by climate change.
The South Carolina Unit has also undertaken several efforts to track seabirds that breed in the Caribbean and southern Gulf, but perhaps none is more important than their work on the endangered Black-capped Petrel. This research continues to substantially increase knowledge of this endemic and enigmatic seabird, thereby identifying threats that the species faces in United States waters as well as in international waters. Information learned from these studies is being used by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other resource management decision makers to inform actions, such as management of marine and terrestrial systems, to provide key science information in species status assessments and to underpin science critical to oil spill planning and response.
Michigan Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
“The Department of Fisheries and Wildlife and College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Michigan State University were delighted to welcome the Michigan Unit to campus in 2023. Our Department and College have long-standing relationships with State, Federal, Tribal, and industry natural resources partners, but the addition of the Michigan Unit takes those relationships to a new level and adds critical science capacity. Science-based conservation is legislatively mandated in Michigan, and we look to the Unit for helping us advance actionable science in support of natural resource conservation for the State, region, and Nation.” —Gary Roloff, Chair, Fisheries and Wildlife Department, Michigan State University.
Standardizing Sampling of North American Fish Populations by Julie Meka Carter, Aquatic Wildlife Branch Chief, and Andy Clark, Statewide Sportfish Program Supervisor, Arizona Game and Fish Department
Arizona Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at the University of Arizona
Arizona Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit M.S. students Joshua Grant and Steven Ingram, in collaboration with the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD), are calibrating gear and testing new fish sampling techniques (hydroacoustics and electrofishing boat operation) in western canyon-bound reservoirs.
This research compares current AZGFD sampling protocols with American Fisheries Society (AFS) standard methods; facilitates AZGFD’s adoption of AFS standard sampling techniques they are not already using; and will help inform the next edition of the AFS’ “Standard Methods for Sampling North American Freshwater Fishes” (AFS Standard Methods), a sampling guide used by fisheries biologists across North America.
Standardization of fisheries sampling across North America has many positive benefits. These include the ability to measure large-scale effects of climate change and increasing water demand; larger sample sizes to test effects of regulations, habitat improvements or other management techniques; reliable means to check for species presence; easier communication among fisheries professionals and the public; and simpler data sharing across State and Provincial boundaries.
With these and other needs increasing, reasons for wide-scale standardization are more compelling than ever. The AZGFD has consistently supported this multiagency effort from the beginning. The AZGFD, along with nine other sponsors, helped support development of the first edition of AFS Standard Methods, released in 2009, which is widely used in the United States and elsewhere. Since then, State agencies and others have aggressively requested an update to include new methods, gears, data, and expanded web-based tools to support data analysis and comparison.
Additionally, the AZGFD, as part of the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, strongly supported the development of a second edition of AFS Standard Methods. To date, more than 400 biologists from the United States, Canada, and Mexico have been involved in this project, along with many Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units. This collaboration is resulting in advances in fisheries management that extend far beyond the boundaries of Arizona.
Oklahoma Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
“The Oklahoma Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit is a long-trusted research partner of the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation. Through dozens of Federal grant program partnerships, the Oklahoma Unit provides robust scientific expertise, ecological knowledge, and the dedicated human capital essential to addressing research needs for the benefit of conservation action delivery to Oklahoma’s passionate outdoor enthusiasts. We rely on this critical partnership to answer difficult questions which guide our fish and wildlife management and conservation, and to help foster stewardship with those who care for natural resources.” —Wade Free, Interim Director, Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation
Neonicotinoids by Joel Porath, Wildlife Section Chief, Missouri Department of Conservation
Missouri Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at the University of Missouri
The outcomes of these collaborative research projects contributed toward a decision by Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) to phase out use of neonicotinoid seed treatments on all lands owned or managed by the MDC.
Neonicotinoids are systemic, chemical insecticides widely used as pre-planting treatments on crop seeds to control insect agricultural pests. Neonicotinoids are a controversial class of insecticides given their ability to be acutely toxic to nontarget insects as well as insect pests.
Across the midwestern United States, thousands of hectares of public land are cultivated annually for production of agricultural crops, food plots, and cover for wildlife. Many of these public lands have historically used neonicotinoid seed treatments on crops such as corn, soybean, and sunflowers. Because of their relatively long half-lives in soil, high water solubility, and the potential for exposure to nontarget insects, a priority information need of the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) was determining if these chemicals persisted in concentrations detrimental to insect communities on public conservation areas.
During 2016–2020, the Missouri Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, in collaboration with the MDC, quantified neonicotinoid concentrations in soils (fields and margins), vegetation (field crop and margin flowers), and wetlands on public lands to evaluate the effects of annual neonicotinoid seed-treatment use on native bees and aquatic macroinvertebrate communities.
Anson Main (postdoctoral research associate at the Missouri Unit) and advisors Lisa Webb (Missouri Unit) and Keith Goyne (professor, University of Missouri) found widespread and persistent presence of neonicotinoids in soils of agricultural fields and field margins on public lands, with some measured concentrations exceeding those known to have sublethal effects on ground-nesting bees. The experimental study provides evidence over two seasons that annual use of neonicotinoid seed treatments can result in reduced abundance and richness of ground-nesting bees living in or near agricultural fields.
In a concurrent project, Kyle Kuechle (M.S. student) found widespread and persistent presence of neonicotinoids in water and sediments of public wetlands across Missouri. Mean aquatic neonicotinoid concentrations met or exceeded the chronic exposure threshold for aquatic life established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for 75 percent of sampling events."
Joel Porath, Wildlife Section Chief, Missouri Department of Conservation
Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
“The Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit has served as a catalyst for growth in our School of Natural Resources in the last two decades. Beyond their impactful research and graduate training, the Unit scientists have a tradition of collaboration and engagement that directly benefits their colleagues within the School.” —Larkin Powell, Director of the School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Fisheries Management in Lake Ontario by Chris Legard, Lake Ontario Unit Leader, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
New York Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at Cornell University
This stock assessment is generating information for joint United States–Canada management of this hallmark Great Lakes fishery.
Chinook salmon is the most popular recreational fishery in Lake Ontario and contributes to the $2 billion recreational fishing industry in New York; however, the continued success of this fishery is dependent on the availability of a key prey fish population, alewife. Great Lakes fisheries generate substantial revenues and livelihoods and contribute to the cultural identity of lake communities. However, the long-term sustainability of these fisheries requires that managers regularly evaluate stocking and harvest strategies in response to shifting ecological, environmental, and social factors.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) and the New York Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit are collaborating to develop cutting-edge quantitative tools to help inform fisheries management in Lake Ontario.
In collaboration with NYSDEC and other United States and Canadian regional partners, Kimberly Fitzpatrick (Ph.D. student) and Dr. Suresh Sethi (Assistant Unit Leader) designed a multispecies stock assessment model to jointly estimate the population dynamics of Chinook salmon and alewife in Lake Ontario. By including both predator and prey dynamics, this novel modeling framework provides an assessment of both the status of the fishery and the risk of future population instability.
Tennessee Cooperative Fishery Research Unit
“The Tennessee Cooperative Fishery Research Unit continues to be the research branch for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.” —Mark Thurman, Chief of Fisheries, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency
Identifying Optimal Harvest Regulations for Fall Wild Turkey Hunting Seasons by Bryan Burhans, Executive Director, Pennsylvania Game Commission
Pennsylvania Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
Wild turkey populations are a valuable natural resource and the second most popular game species in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Game Commission’s (PGC) main tool for managing wild turkey population levels is through fall hunting season regulations, specifically through the regulated harvest of hen turkeys, as shown through previous applied research with USGS. PGC’s current framework for fall season regulations lacks a standardized decision matrix to predict the effect of different season lengths on future turkey populations. The current research project utilizes results from 3 previous studies with USGS to develop a new wild turkey population dynamics model that predicts the response of turkey populations to changes in fall turkey harvest regulations. Through this cooperative project, also with North Carolina State University, we are integrating the model into a decision-making framework that will allow PGC to identify fall harvest regulations that optimize hunting opportunity and wild turkey populations. Model development has been challenging. USGS has identified several modifications to data variable collection methodology and analyses to improve the model for more accurately predicting population response to seasons. This research will be incorporated directly into the PGC’s wild turkey management program and may serve as a template for other state wildlife agencies. The Pennsylvania Unit has been integral to wild turkey research and management in Pennsylvania for over two decades. The Unit brings expertise in designing research projects that we integrate directly into our management program. The Unit developed a new method for estimating survival and harvest rates that resulted in significant cost savings for studies of both hen and gobbler survival and harvest rates. Dr. Diefenbach also assisted with the design of a research project that quantified the effect of fall hunting seasons on turkey harvests. The research projects are now being integrated into a decision model that will help the agency set fall hunting season regulations with the best objective data available. The Pennsylvania Unit has helped greatly in the effort to develop a decision model by bringing in collaborators from the Alabama Unit and NC State University.
Effects of Catch-and-Release Fishing on Survival of Native Trout and Steelhead by Jeff Dillon, Fishery Research Manager, Idaho Department of Fish and Game
Idaho Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
Over the last several years, fish and wildlife agencies have been hearing increasing concern by angling and conservation groups over potential mortality associated with anglers removing fish from water prior to releasing them. In cooperation with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) the Idaho Unit recently completed a series of research projects to better understand the effects of catch-and-release angling on survival and reproductive success of native trout and steelhead. The cornerstone of this work was completed by Michael Quist and graduate student Curtis Roth at the University of Idaho Unit. They evaluated the relative survival of pre-spawn wild Yellowstone cutthroat trout caught and exposed to air for various durations. Additionally, genetic parentage assignment was used to compare progeny production from air-exposed and control fish. Finally, covert observation of anglers was used to assess actual duration of air exposure in a catch-and-release wild trout fishery. Results indicated that air exposure of up to one minute had no effect on adult trout survival or reproductive success. Furthermore, angler observation studies demonstrated that wild trout anglers rarely hold fish out of the water for a duration that would affect survival. The IDFG conducted similar studies of angler-caught hatchery steelhead, measuring air exposure duration and the effects on eye-up rates in their eggs. Again, there was no measurable effect from air exposure durations that typically occur in catch-and-release steelhead fisheries. Results of these projects and other similar work in Idaho have been shared widely in news articles, peer-reviewed literature, interagency and professional meetings, as well as with angling and conservation groups across the state. Collectively, these outreach efforts by the Idaho Unit and IDFG were recently recognized by the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies with the Ernest Thompson Seton Award for promoting public awareness and support for the science and practice of fish/wildlife management.
Wolf Harvest Management and Monitoring by Justin Gude, Chief of Research and Technical Services, Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks
Montana Fishery Cooperative Research Unit
One of the best collaborative efforts that we’ve had with the Montana Wildlife Unit is in relation to wolf harvest management and monitoring program development. The Montana Wildlife Unit has been intimately involved with this effort since the initial planning stages for the first ever regulated hunting season for wolves in the contiguous United States, beginning in 2007. This was hugely controversial because it was implemented immediately on the heels of wolf delisting under the Endangered Species Act, and the public across the country closely scrutinized what transpired as wolves were delisted in 2009, relisted, then delisted again in 2011.
Over the first few years of the program, the public interest within Montana was such that Commission meetings to set wolf seasons were moved to the Montana Supreme Court Chambers to accommodate the large public in attendance. Mike Mitchell and his student at the time (now a scientist at the Idaho Unit) helped develop the first simulation model used to predict the effects of various hunting season quota levels on wolf population sizes. Mike then worked closely with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) staff to facilitate a structured decision making process that has framed wolf season setting in Montana for every subsequent season. Mike has continued to work closely with FWP staff on population modeling and evaluating the effects of public harvest, including several back-and-forth exchanges in scientific journals with program critics. He helped to develop statistical methods to estimate wolf population parameters (breeding pairs) that FWP was required to monitor by State and Federal law, saving FWP tens of thousands of dollars annually over the intensive, field-based monitoring otherwise required.
Mike then supervised a master’s student and a post-doctoral scientist through development of novel wolf monitoring methods based on occupancy modeling of wolf sightings by hunters to replace the expensive, field-intensive method of collaring and following individual wolf packs to obtain minimum population counts, saving FWP hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. The new monitoring method has officially replaced the field-intensive minimum count method with the 2018 Montana wolf program report, which was just released with population estimates generated by the method Mike helped to develop and without minimum count statistics. Finally, Mike currently has 2 PhD students that are working on evaluating the effects of public wolf harvest on key assumptions that underpin the accuracy of the occupancy-monitoring approach, further developing models to predict the effects of harvest, and packaging the monitoring and modeling methods together with the decision frame he previously helped to create in an Adaptive Management framework. The key to all of this success is that Mike, his staff, and his students at the CRU have worked directly with FWP wildlife managers and researchers in a truly collaborative way, fostering trust and ownership by everyone involved.
Growth and Mortality of Eastern Oysters by Carolina Bourque, Oyster Program Manager, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Louisiana Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at Louisiana State University
Eastern oysters have been an important species, culturally and economically, in Louisiana for over a century, and local information on their growth and mortality in relationship to regarding temperature and salinity is needed to make long-term, sustainable management decisions. Through the Louisiana Unit, a combination of applied research looking at long-term data and graduate research was able to describe growth and mortality as a function of oyster size and local environmental temperature and salinity between two adjacent estuaries (Breton Sound-BR, Barataria Bay-BA) in Louisiana. The study indicated that growth and mortality differed at small spatial scales (immediately east and west of the Mississippi River) despite similar environmental conditions, although the “ proximal cause of the difference is unknown. The parameters studied were also able to refine and improve the Sustainable Oyster Shellstock (SOS) budget model. This model and oyster stock data collected annually by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries are used to have a sustainable harvest at no-net-shell-loss reference levels on Louisiana public oyster grounds. These data and models can be used to estimate the effects of coastal restoration projects, disasters, and harvest regimes to help insure successful management of this cultural and commercial species into the future. The Louisiana Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit has been instrumental in helping to develop these models, and train graduate students to assist the state.
Idaho Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
“The Idaho Department of Fish and Game has long relied on the Idaho Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit as an extension of research capacity to address key fisheries and wildlife management questions in Idaho.” —Lance Hebdon, Idaho Department of Fish and Game Fisheries Bureau Chief, and Shane Roberts, Idaho Department of Fish and Game Wildlife Bureau Chief
We value input from members of state fish and wildlife agencies, universities, and our supporters. Following the original legislation that created the CRU Program (Public Law 86–686, 74 Stat. 733), all Unit research priorities are set locally at each Unit in consultation with Federal and State cooperators. Unit scientists and supervisors work with cooperators to help them identify their research needs, and Unit supervisors ensure that all research is aligned with the USGS mission. We are extremely grateful to each of our cooperators and partners for their continued support of the CRU Program. Our continued success depends on the active engagement, participation, and support from our cooperators and partners. We thank you for everything that you do for our program, and we look forward to continued collaboration with you in the coming years. We hope you enjoy our quotes from our cooperators and success stories from the field. If you have a story to share, we would love to hear it. Please contact us through the connect page.
New York Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
"Each year of this valuable research increases our understanding of New York’s moose population and its vital role in our State’s biodiversity." —Basil Seggos, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner.
Indiana Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
“The creation of this new Unit is another milestone in the highly successful USGS Cooperative Research Units Program, and we are proud to join the State of Indiana, Purdue University, the USGS, Wildlife Management Institute and the others to address conservation questions facing Indiana and the region,” said FWS Science Applications Program Assistant Regional Director, Craig Czarnecki. “We look forward to engaging with the students and professionals at Purdue University as we codevelop scientific research and support the next generation of conservationists.”
Michigan Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
"The Department of Fisheries and Wildlife and College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Michigan State University were delighted to welcome the Michigan Unit to campus in 2023. Our Department and College have long-standing relationships with State, Federal, Tribal, and industry natural resources partners, but the addition of the Michigan Unit takes those relationships to a new level and adds critical science capacity. Science-based conservation is legislatively mandated in Michigan, and we look to the Unit for helping us advance actionable science in support of natural resource conservation for the State, region, and Nation.” Gary Roloff, Chair, Fisheries and Wildlife Department, Michigan State University
Amphibian Disease Ecology by Wendy Estes-Zumpf, Herpetological Coordinator, Wyoming Game and Fish Department
Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at University of Wyoming
Infectious diseases pose a serious threat to the health of people, domestic animals, and wildlife alike. A deeper understanding of how organisms respond to disease better equips us to improve human and animal health in the face of infectious onslaughts.
Results of these studies will be used by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and other management agencies working to protect boreal toad populations. Further, by investigating the behavioral and demographic responses of wild animals to disease, this research advances our understanding of host-pathogen relationships and informs conservation efforts geared toward precluding further declines of populations challenged with infectious disease.
Since 2015, the Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, in collaboration with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and the U.S. Forest Service, has investigated amphibian responses to a pathogenic fungus. The chytrid fungus, which causes a skin disease in amphibians, is responsible for declines in hundreds of amphibian populations globally.
Boreal toads, once common in high-elevation habitats across the Rocky Mountain West, have suffered severe declines as a result of chytrid fungus in recent decades. By evaluating the movement and infection status of boreal toads through time, Gabriel Barrile (Ph.D. candidate) and faculty advisors Anna Chalfoun and Annika Walters (assistant unit leaders) revealed a defensive strategy whereby individuals used moist, sheltered habitats when disease-free but moved to warmer, more open habitats when infected. Switching habitats in response to infection appeared to be advantageous, as increased warmth in open habitats was associated with the clearing of infection. These findings suggest that small-scale microhabitat manipulation to create warm patches may be an effective mitigation action against the chytrid fungus and possibly other amphibian diseases.
The Wyoming Unit is also conducting an extensive mark-recapture project to examine how the chytrid fungus influences population dynamics of boreal toads, such as annual survival and recruitment rates.
Maine Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
Thanks for your willingness to tackle this emerging “and very challenging new issue.” —Francis Brautigam, Director of Fisheries & Hatcheries, Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
State-Threatened, Riparian-Obligate Raptors in the Trans-Pecos Region by Russell Martin, Wildlife Diversity Biologist, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
Texas Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at Texas Tech University
Desert riparian systems are distinct narrow drainages that provide environmental conditions for vegetation dependent on permanent or ephemeral surface and subsurface water. Desert riparian zones associated with these systems provide important nesting and foraging habitat in an otherwise highly arid land-scape.
These riparian systems have been identified as a priority for conservation throughout the southwestern United States. Within these riparian zones in the Chihuahua Desert Ecoregion of Texas are three State-threatened birds of prey—the common black hawk, the gray hawk, and the zone-tailed hawk. Only the most basic observed presence information has been available for these species in the region; thus, species assessments and management has been hampered by a lack of quantitative data.
The Texas Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit has partnered with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Big Bend Ranch State and National Parks, and private conservation entities to assess the abundance, habitat characteristics, productivity, and community structure of these species in riparian zones of the Trans-Pecos region of Texas.
Researchers anticipate that the results will provide the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department with data to make informed decisions for status assessment updates and identification of priority areas for conservation and restoration of these State-threatened species.
Indiana Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
“The addition of Indiana to the USGS Cooperative Units Program is a proud moment for WMI [Wildlife Management Institute], the only national, private cooperator,” said Wildlife Management Institute president, Tony Wasley. “WMI was involved in the creation of the CRU Program in 1935, and we applaud the 2023 agreement as this new Unit will serve as a model for researchers to work collaboratively with the conservation community to benefit wildlife and their habitats. It is especially exciting to have this multiagency program bringing together the passion and expertise of partners and resources to open new doors of opportunity and to learn and apply the best available natural resource science to real-world, real-time challenges.
Tracking Seabirds by William B. Uihlein, III Assistant Regional Director, Science Applications and Migratory Birds, South Atlantic-Gulf and Mississippi Basin U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
South Carolina Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at Clemson University
Conservation efforts are challenging for species of wildlife that are highly transboundary in their movements. Seabirds epitomize this transboundary challenge, regularly occupying terrestrial and marine ecosystems and often traversing State, regional, and international boundaries on a regular basis while foraging.
During the past 10+ years, the South Carolina Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit has been collaborating with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, as well as with other State, Federal, and international agencies, to enhance understanding of the daily and annual movement patterns of seabirds.
The South Carolina Unit has undertaken two extensive projects focused on the spatial ecology of brown pelicans. In the Gulf region, Juliet Lamb (a former Ph.D. student; now a Marie Curie Fellow) used satellite tags to assess risk exposure of brown pelicans throughout their annual cycle, identifying temporal and spatial “hot-times and hot-spots.”
In the South Atlantic Bight region, Ph.D. candidate Brad Wilkinson is using satellite tags to explore brown pelican daily movement patterns and to model how their migration patterns may be affected by climate change.
The South Carolina Unit has also undertaken several efforts to track seabirds that breed in the Caribbean and southern Gulf, but perhaps none is more important than their work on the endangered Black-capped Petrel. This research continues to substantially increase knowledge of this endemic and enigmatic seabird, thereby identifying threats that the species faces in United States waters as well as in international waters. Information learned from these studies is being used by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other resource management decision makers to inform actions, such as management of marine and terrestrial systems, to provide key science information in species status assessments and to underpin science critical to oil spill planning and response.
Michigan Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
“The Department of Fisheries and Wildlife and College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Michigan State University were delighted to welcome the Michigan Unit to campus in 2023. Our Department and College have long-standing relationships with State, Federal, Tribal, and industry natural resources partners, but the addition of the Michigan Unit takes those relationships to a new level and adds critical science capacity. Science-based conservation is legislatively mandated in Michigan, and we look to the Unit for helping us advance actionable science in support of natural resource conservation for the State, region, and Nation.” —Gary Roloff, Chair, Fisheries and Wildlife Department, Michigan State University.
Standardizing Sampling of North American Fish Populations by Julie Meka Carter, Aquatic Wildlife Branch Chief, and Andy Clark, Statewide Sportfish Program Supervisor, Arizona Game and Fish Department
Arizona Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at the University of Arizona
Arizona Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit M.S. students Joshua Grant and Steven Ingram, in collaboration with the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD), are calibrating gear and testing new fish sampling techniques (hydroacoustics and electrofishing boat operation) in western canyon-bound reservoirs.
This research compares current AZGFD sampling protocols with American Fisheries Society (AFS) standard methods; facilitates AZGFD’s adoption of AFS standard sampling techniques they are not already using; and will help inform the next edition of the AFS’ “Standard Methods for Sampling North American Freshwater Fishes” (AFS Standard Methods), a sampling guide used by fisheries biologists across North America.
Standardization of fisheries sampling across North America has many positive benefits. These include the ability to measure large-scale effects of climate change and increasing water demand; larger sample sizes to test effects of regulations, habitat improvements or other management techniques; reliable means to check for species presence; easier communication among fisheries professionals and the public; and simpler data sharing across State and Provincial boundaries.
With these and other needs increasing, reasons for wide-scale standardization are more compelling than ever. The AZGFD has consistently supported this multiagency effort from the beginning. The AZGFD, along with nine other sponsors, helped support development of the first edition of AFS Standard Methods, released in 2009, which is widely used in the United States and elsewhere. Since then, State agencies and others have aggressively requested an update to include new methods, gears, data, and expanded web-based tools to support data analysis and comparison.
Additionally, the AZGFD, as part of the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, strongly supported the development of a second edition of AFS Standard Methods. To date, more than 400 biologists from the United States, Canada, and Mexico have been involved in this project, along with many Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units. This collaboration is resulting in advances in fisheries management that extend far beyond the boundaries of Arizona.
Oklahoma Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
“The Oklahoma Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit is a long-trusted research partner of the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation. Through dozens of Federal grant program partnerships, the Oklahoma Unit provides robust scientific expertise, ecological knowledge, and the dedicated human capital essential to addressing research needs for the benefit of conservation action delivery to Oklahoma’s passionate outdoor enthusiasts. We rely on this critical partnership to answer difficult questions which guide our fish and wildlife management and conservation, and to help foster stewardship with those who care for natural resources.” —Wade Free, Interim Director, Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation
Neonicotinoids by Joel Porath, Wildlife Section Chief, Missouri Department of Conservation
Missouri Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at the University of Missouri
The outcomes of these collaborative research projects contributed toward a decision by Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) to phase out use of neonicotinoid seed treatments on all lands owned or managed by the MDC.
Neonicotinoids are systemic, chemical insecticides widely used as pre-planting treatments on crop seeds to control insect agricultural pests. Neonicotinoids are a controversial class of insecticides given their ability to be acutely toxic to nontarget insects as well as insect pests.
Across the midwestern United States, thousands of hectares of public land are cultivated annually for production of agricultural crops, food plots, and cover for wildlife. Many of these public lands have historically used neonicotinoid seed treatments on crops such as corn, soybean, and sunflowers. Because of their relatively long half-lives in soil, high water solubility, and the potential for exposure to nontarget insects, a priority information need of the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) was determining if these chemicals persisted in concentrations detrimental to insect communities on public conservation areas.
During 2016–2020, the Missouri Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, in collaboration with the MDC, quantified neonicotinoid concentrations in soils (fields and margins), vegetation (field crop and margin flowers), and wetlands on public lands to evaluate the effects of annual neonicotinoid seed-treatment use on native bees and aquatic macroinvertebrate communities.
Anson Main (postdoctoral research associate at the Missouri Unit) and advisors Lisa Webb (Missouri Unit) and Keith Goyne (professor, University of Missouri) found widespread and persistent presence of neonicotinoids in soils of agricultural fields and field margins on public lands, with some measured concentrations exceeding those known to have sublethal effects on ground-nesting bees. The experimental study provides evidence over two seasons that annual use of neonicotinoid seed treatments can result in reduced abundance and richness of ground-nesting bees living in or near agricultural fields.
In a concurrent project, Kyle Kuechle (M.S. student) found widespread and persistent presence of neonicotinoids in water and sediments of public wetlands across Missouri. Mean aquatic neonicotinoid concentrations met or exceeded the chronic exposure threshold for aquatic life established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for 75 percent of sampling events."
Joel Porath, Wildlife Section Chief, Missouri Department of Conservation
Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
“The Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit has served as a catalyst for growth in our School of Natural Resources in the last two decades. Beyond their impactful research and graduate training, the Unit scientists have a tradition of collaboration and engagement that directly benefits their colleagues within the School.” —Larkin Powell, Director of the School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Fisheries Management in Lake Ontario by Chris Legard, Lake Ontario Unit Leader, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
New York Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at Cornell University
This stock assessment is generating information for joint United States–Canada management of this hallmark Great Lakes fishery.
Chinook salmon is the most popular recreational fishery in Lake Ontario and contributes to the $2 billion recreational fishing industry in New York; however, the continued success of this fishery is dependent on the availability of a key prey fish population, alewife. Great Lakes fisheries generate substantial revenues and livelihoods and contribute to the cultural identity of lake communities. However, the long-term sustainability of these fisheries requires that managers regularly evaluate stocking and harvest strategies in response to shifting ecological, environmental, and social factors.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) and the New York Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit are collaborating to develop cutting-edge quantitative tools to help inform fisheries management in Lake Ontario.
In collaboration with NYSDEC and other United States and Canadian regional partners, Kimberly Fitzpatrick (Ph.D. student) and Dr. Suresh Sethi (Assistant Unit Leader) designed a multispecies stock assessment model to jointly estimate the population dynamics of Chinook salmon and alewife in Lake Ontario. By including both predator and prey dynamics, this novel modeling framework provides an assessment of both the status of the fishery and the risk of future population instability.
Tennessee Cooperative Fishery Research Unit
“The Tennessee Cooperative Fishery Research Unit continues to be the research branch for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.” —Mark Thurman, Chief of Fisheries, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency
Identifying Optimal Harvest Regulations for Fall Wild Turkey Hunting Seasons by Bryan Burhans, Executive Director, Pennsylvania Game Commission
Pennsylvania Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
Wild turkey populations are a valuable natural resource and the second most popular game species in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Game Commission’s (PGC) main tool for managing wild turkey population levels is through fall hunting season regulations, specifically through the regulated harvest of hen turkeys, as shown through previous applied research with USGS. PGC’s current framework for fall season regulations lacks a standardized decision matrix to predict the effect of different season lengths on future turkey populations. The current research project utilizes results from 3 previous studies with USGS to develop a new wild turkey population dynamics model that predicts the response of turkey populations to changes in fall turkey harvest regulations. Through this cooperative project, also with North Carolina State University, we are integrating the model into a decision-making framework that will allow PGC to identify fall harvest regulations that optimize hunting opportunity and wild turkey populations. Model development has been challenging. USGS has identified several modifications to data variable collection methodology and analyses to improve the model for more accurately predicting population response to seasons. This research will be incorporated directly into the PGC’s wild turkey management program and may serve as a template for other state wildlife agencies. The Pennsylvania Unit has been integral to wild turkey research and management in Pennsylvania for over two decades. The Unit brings expertise in designing research projects that we integrate directly into our management program. The Unit developed a new method for estimating survival and harvest rates that resulted in significant cost savings for studies of both hen and gobbler survival and harvest rates. Dr. Diefenbach also assisted with the design of a research project that quantified the effect of fall hunting seasons on turkey harvests. The research projects are now being integrated into a decision model that will help the agency set fall hunting season regulations with the best objective data available. The Pennsylvania Unit has helped greatly in the effort to develop a decision model by bringing in collaborators from the Alabama Unit and NC State University.
Effects of Catch-and-Release Fishing on Survival of Native Trout and Steelhead by Jeff Dillon, Fishery Research Manager, Idaho Department of Fish and Game
Idaho Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
Over the last several years, fish and wildlife agencies have been hearing increasing concern by angling and conservation groups over potential mortality associated with anglers removing fish from water prior to releasing them. In cooperation with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) the Idaho Unit recently completed a series of research projects to better understand the effects of catch-and-release angling on survival and reproductive success of native trout and steelhead. The cornerstone of this work was completed by Michael Quist and graduate student Curtis Roth at the University of Idaho Unit. They evaluated the relative survival of pre-spawn wild Yellowstone cutthroat trout caught and exposed to air for various durations. Additionally, genetic parentage assignment was used to compare progeny production from air-exposed and control fish. Finally, covert observation of anglers was used to assess actual duration of air exposure in a catch-and-release wild trout fishery. Results indicated that air exposure of up to one minute had no effect on adult trout survival or reproductive success. Furthermore, angler observation studies demonstrated that wild trout anglers rarely hold fish out of the water for a duration that would affect survival. The IDFG conducted similar studies of angler-caught hatchery steelhead, measuring air exposure duration and the effects on eye-up rates in their eggs. Again, there was no measurable effect from air exposure durations that typically occur in catch-and-release steelhead fisheries. Results of these projects and other similar work in Idaho have been shared widely in news articles, peer-reviewed literature, interagency and professional meetings, as well as with angling and conservation groups across the state. Collectively, these outreach efforts by the Idaho Unit and IDFG were recently recognized by the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies with the Ernest Thompson Seton Award for promoting public awareness and support for the science and practice of fish/wildlife management.
Wolf Harvest Management and Monitoring by Justin Gude, Chief of Research and Technical Services, Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks
Montana Fishery Cooperative Research Unit
One of the best collaborative efforts that we’ve had with the Montana Wildlife Unit is in relation to wolf harvest management and monitoring program development. The Montana Wildlife Unit has been intimately involved with this effort since the initial planning stages for the first ever regulated hunting season for wolves in the contiguous United States, beginning in 2007. This was hugely controversial because it was implemented immediately on the heels of wolf delisting under the Endangered Species Act, and the public across the country closely scrutinized what transpired as wolves were delisted in 2009, relisted, then delisted again in 2011.
Over the first few years of the program, the public interest within Montana was such that Commission meetings to set wolf seasons were moved to the Montana Supreme Court Chambers to accommodate the large public in attendance. Mike Mitchell and his student at the time (now a scientist at the Idaho Unit) helped develop the first simulation model used to predict the effects of various hunting season quota levels on wolf population sizes. Mike then worked closely with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) staff to facilitate a structured decision making process that has framed wolf season setting in Montana for every subsequent season. Mike has continued to work closely with FWP staff on population modeling and evaluating the effects of public harvest, including several back-and-forth exchanges in scientific journals with program critics. He helped to develop statistical methods to estimate wolf population parameters (breeding pairs) that FWP was required to monitor by State and Federal law, saving FWP tens of thousands of dollars annually over the intensive, field-based monitoring otherwise required.
Mike then supervised a master’s student and a post-doctoral scientist through development of novel wolf monitoring methods based on occupancy modeling of wolf sightings by hunters to replace the expensive, field-intensive method of collaring and following individual wolf packs to obtain minimum population counts, saving FWP hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. The new monitoring method has officially replaced the field-intensive minimum count method with the 2018 Montana wolf program report, which was just released with population estimates generated by the method Mike helped to develop and without minimum count statistics. Finally, Mike currently has 2 PhD students that are working on evaluating the effects of public wolf harvest on key assumptions that underpin the accuracy of the occupancy-monitoring approach, further developing models to predict the effects of harvest, and packaging the monitoring and modeling methods together with the decision frame he previously helped to create in an Adaptive Management framework. The key to all of this success is that Mike, his staff, and his students at the CRU have worked directly with FWP wildlife managers and researchers in a truly collaborative way, fostering trust and ownership by everyone involved.
Growth and Mortality of Eastern Oysters by Carolina Bourque, Oyster Program Manager, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Louisiana Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at Louisiana State University
Eastern oysters have been an important species, culturally and economically, in Louisiana for over a century, and local information on their growth and mortality in relationship to regarding temperature and salinity is needed to make long-term, sustainable management decisions. Through the Louisiana Unit, a combination of applied research looking at long-term data and graduate research was able to describe growth and mortality as a function of oyster size and local environmental temperature and salinity between two adjacent estuaries (Breton Sound-BR, Barataria Bay-BA) in Louisiana. The study indicated that growth and mortality differed at small spatial scales (immediately east and west of the Mississippi River) despite similar environmental conditions, although the “ proximal cause of the difference is unknown. The parameters studied were also able to refine and improve the Sustainable Oyster Shellstock (SOS) budget model. This model and oyster stock data collected annually by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries are used to have a sustainable harvest at no-net-shell-loss reference levels on Louisiana public oyster grounds. These data and models can be used to estimate the effects of coastal restoration projects, disasters, and harvest regimes to help insure successful management of this cultural and commercial species into the future. The Louisiana Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit has been instrumental in helping to develop these models, and train graduate students to assist the state.
Idaho Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
“The Idaho Department of Fish and Game has long relied on the Idaho Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit as an extension of research capacity to address key fisheries and wildlife management questions in Idaho.” —Lance Hebdon, Idaho Department of Fish and Game Fisheries Bureau Chief, and Shane Roberts, Idaho Department of Fish and Game Wildlife Bureau Chief