Proceedings of the Vertebrate Pest Conference

My vision that vertebrate pest control is applied ecology has come a long way since my first field baiting for rats in 1939. Three events are especially important. First, the Vertebrate Pest Conferences were established to provide published information and exchange of views about animal control. Second, on December 19, 1985, the Denver Wildlife Research Center, in the Department of Interior, was transferred to the Department of Agriculture and became the National Wildlife Research Center. Third was when the Wildlife Management Institute finally allowed The Wildlife Society to hold separate annual meetings. This led to the Society recognizing the ecological importance of animal damage control in human-modified environments where the outcome must be managed-not left to nature.