Adrian Wydeven

Adrian Wydeven is a Mammalian Ecologist with the Department of Natural Resources of the state of Wisconsin, based in Madison, Wisconsin, USA. Since 1990 he has led conservation programs for rare and non-game mammals and served as Wolf Program leader. Adrian Wydeven is the chair of the Wisconsin Wolf Science Advisory Committee and serves on the Federal Eastern Gray Wolf Recovery Team. In general, he coordinates all state investigations on rare mammals such as wolf, lynx, cougar, and moose. He also authored various Endangered Resources Reports published by Wisconsin’s Department of Natural Resources.

Adrian Wydeven often works with academics such as for example authoritative sociologists (e.g., coauthors of this chapter). He has exceptional experience working on real-world conservation planning for issues related to wolves, their prey and their whole ecosystems. Adrian Wydeven is a leader in the field of effective wildlife management, which always implies public participation and/or input at local, regional and national levels. Wolf recovery in Wisconsin has been coordinated by him through: managing wolves in different management zones that include areas with high levels of protection and areas with liberal control of problem wolves, monitoring the wolf populations, cooperatively managing wolf habitat, promoting education about wolves, controlling nuisance wolves and reimbursing landowners that suffer losses from wolves, encouraging interagency cooperation and volunteer assistance, recommending research needs concerning wolves, regulating wolf-dog hybrids, encouraging a reasonable ecotourism of wolves and their habitats. The book chapter lead by Adrian Wydeven will walk the reader through many of these steps, with an approach that always accounts for input by all interest groups.

Although not being an academic, Adrian Wydeven has authored seminal papers on wolf ecology and ecosystem management. All papers authored by Adrian Wydeven are centred on predators, prey, habitat and people, who also influence these relationships. In 2006 he received the Outstanding Alumnus Award from the College of Natural Resources, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, and in 2007 he was a member of a team to receive a Cooperative Conservation Award from the U.S. Department of the Interior.