Wildlife Control Awards Goes to Hygnstrom, Vantassel

Award from the National Wildlife Control Operators Association
Award from the National Wildlife Control Operators Association

On February 18, 2012, the National Wildlife Control Operators Association (NWCOA) recognized Scott Hygnstrom and Stephen Vantassel as Educators of the Year for their effort in the development of the National Wildlife Control Training Program (NWCTP). As the wildlife control industry has continued to grow, agency officials and industry leaders have stepped up requests for a standardized curriculum that could be used throughout the country to train and regulate wildlife control personnel. The NWCTP is the first curriculum to meet NWCOA’s certification standards.

The NWCTP is 250 pages in length and contains 17 modules. Part 1 covers information that every wildlife control operator should know, such as the theory of wildlife damage management, safety, control methods, animal handling, euthanasia, ethics, and regulations. Part 2, species modules, explains how the concepts contained in Part 1 apply to the management of bats, raccoons, skunks, tree squirrels, and urban birds.

The NWCTP’s developers also received assistance from Paul Curtis, Raj Smith, and Gretchen Gary of Cornell University. The Cornell team received NWCOA’s Researcher of the Year Award. Team members are gratified by the positive response from industry and government officials. Presently, the team is receiving queries from state agencies seeking to implement this training in their respective states.

More details at: http://wildlifecontrol.info/training/Pages/default.aspx