Assignment task:
Imagine that you are a Permit Director for a local coastal regulatory agency.
The last population of the endangered tiger-eye whale spends three months of every year in a bay to give birth and rear calves, otherwise it is nomadic in the deep ocean. Some tourists come for whale watching cruises but that generates little revenue. Rights to drill for oil in the bay were recently leased to an oil company. Employment from the drilling operation will help resuscitate the coastal town's economy, hit hard by the recession. Wildlife groups are concerned that an oil spill could seriously harm the whales. The oil company pledges to use state-of-the-art technology and commissions a scientific study concluding that any risk of a spill is tiny. Prior to drilling, the oil company requires a permit from the agency you direct.
For each of the three analytical frameworks. Explain whether you would grant the permit and how would you personally go about resolving this issue?
What is the role of a wildlife professional in policy-making? Discuss various ways in which training in wildlife science can have impact legislation and policy, and the skills professional needs to build to be an effective tool in policy-making. Use the internet to help find a specific example of wildlife policy and how your own training can make a difference.
Describe the basic differences between a policy and a law. How does each of these play a role in regulatory agencies for wildlife conservation? What is the role of a regulatory agency and how is their power determined? Look up 3 agencies and their predominant responsibilities. Explain the role they play wildlife management and what improvements you think can be made to the agencies to increase effectiveness.
"Wildlife conservation and management is a purely scientific endeavor."
How do you feel about the validity of this statement?
During the early 1900s, utilitarian conservation and biocentric preservation were competing views on how wildlife and natural resources should be managed. These grew into ideas of ecological interconnections and global citizenry. Including your thoughts on the above statement, how do you think they each played a role in the wildlife conservation laws and polices we see today? Discuss the main aims of wildlife regulation and how they support your argument for or against this statement.