Proceedings of the Vertebrate Pest Conference

The author provides a history of the development of vertebrate animals control as undertaken by the Bureau of Biological Survey, and its successor, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Early efforts to protect agricultural crops are cited, as are discoveries about the role that vertebrate animals play in public health concerns such as Rocky Mountain spotted fever, bubonic plague, and rabies. Efforts by the Forest Service within the U.S. Department of Agriculture are described, as authority was given to this agency to control rodents and predators on federally owned and controlled lands in the western U.S. California’s development of Departments of Agriculture at the state and county level are noted, as programs to control animal damage were developed and expanded, eventually also including control methods for crop-destroying pest birds. The author concludes by noting that conservation and pest control efforts can be complimentary, and people of good will working together can find reasonable solutions for pest problems. Sharing information, as can occur with this Conference, can point the way toward needed research into better solutions for vertebrate pest problems.