How does harvesting timber impact wildlife around the world?

In this episode of “Our Wild Lives,” Darren Miller, vice president of forestry programs and director of research programs for the National Council for Air and Stream Improvement (NCASI) Foundation, and Jessica Homyack, director of environmental research and operational support at Weyerhaeuser, explore how commercial timber forests can coexist with wildlife conservation.

As the forest industry undergoes organizational shifts and public expectations around sustainability grow, managed forest land has become increasingly important for global biodiversity.

“Our Wild Lives” is The Wildlife Society’s biweekly podcast, sharing stories from wildlife professionals doing critical work around the world. Your hosts, Katie Perkins and Ed Arnett, of The Wildlife Society, bring you thought-provoking conversations with leading experts and emerging voices.

Further reading:

About Jessica Homyack - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-homyack-phd-cwb-52877a16/

About Darren Miller - https://ncasi.org/about-ncasi/staff-directory/darren-a-miller_vp-forestry/

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Since their introduction to North America in the 16th century, uncontrolled populations of wild pigs have wreaked havoc across North America.They can disrupt native wildlife, decimate riparian ecosystems, cause billions of dollars in agricultural damage and more.

Reducing the population has proved complex, but the state of Missouri has successfully removed feral swine populations from nearly 10 million acres throughout the state since 2016.

In this episode of “Our Wild Lives,” Alan Leary, wildlife management coordinator for the Missouri Department of Conservation and Travis Guerrant, state director for both the Missouri and Iowa U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services programs, join us to explain how they approach eliminating this invasive species from the landscape.

Read more:

TWS Issue Statement: Feral Swine in North America: https://wildlife.org/tws-issue-statement-feral-swine-in-north-america/

Why has Missouri succeeded in wild pig control?: https://wildlife.org/why-has-missouri-succeeded-in-wild-pig-control/

Share your thoughts on the Our Wild Lives Podcast by sending us a text here!

Become a member of The Wildlife Society: https://wildlife.org/membership/

Support Wildlife, Invest in Wildlife Professionals: https://wildlife.org/donate/

Follow us on

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewildlifesociety/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thewildlifesociety

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-wildlife-society/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@The_Wildlife_Society

For Remington Bracher, working on the reintroduction of bison back to Canada is not only a win for his wildlife career, but also for his culture as a Nêhiyaw (Cree) member of Muskoday First Nation.

In this episode of “Our Wild Lives,” Bracher, an Indigenous Liaison with Parks Canada and graduate student at the University of British Columbia, shares how growing up hunting and fishing led him into wildlife conservation. His current research combines policy analysis with quantitative population modeling to see what a sustainable Indigenous bison (Bison bison) harvest could look like. He hopes it will further his dream of one day seeing Indigenous bison hunts in national parks.

Alongside his experiences working with bison, Bracher also discusses the importance of relationship-building, co-creation, youth involvement, and respectful integration of Indigenous knowledge in wildlife management.

“Our Wild Lives” is The Wildlife Society’s biweekly podcast, sharing compelling stories from wildlife professionals doing critical work around the world. Your hosts, Katie Perkins and Ed Arnett, of The Wildlife Society, bring you thought-provoking conversations with leading experts and emerging voices.

Further reading:

About Remington Bracher - https://wildlife.org/remington-bracher-earns-graduate-fellowship-in-wildlife-policy/

The Native Student Development Program - https://wildlife.org/working-groups/npwmwg/

Towards reconciliation: 10 Calls to Action to natural scientists working in Canada- https://www.facetsjournal.com/doi/10.1139/facets-2020-0005

Singing Back the Buffalo documentary trailer - https://youtu.be/xshtMcU6fZE?si=JfKEJ3r8s8FmyjU2

Photo Caption: A bison stands in a grassland. Image by WikiImages from Pixabay

Share your thoughts on the Our Wild Lives Podcast by sending us a text here!

Become a member of The Wildlife Society: https://wildlife.org/membership/

Support Wildlife, Invest in Wildlife Professionals: https://wildlife.org/donate/

Follow us on

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewildlifesociety/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thewildlifesociety

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-wildlife-society/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@The_Wildlife_Society