Cervid conservation in North America: managing across a mosaic of jurisdictions

Cervid conservation in North America arose out of the initial near-destruction of native populations. The conservation, protection, and eventual sustainable use of cervids was not driven by an a priori strategic plan developed and then implemented. Rather, it was a collection of somewhat unrelated laws, policies, and strategies described much later as the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation (NAM). In most of North America, wild animals are held in public trust and managed by various agencies for the benefit of all citizens who collectively own the wildlife. However, these wild animals live in habitat managed by private individuals, corporations, local jurisdictions, and public land management agencies. In addition, cervid population management is implemented by states, provinces, and Canadian territories that retained management authority over cervids and all wildlife. As these jurisdictions evolved independent systems of governance, the management of those wildlife populations also diverged, not in overall goals, but in how to achieve them. This diversity in agency jurisdictions and systems of governance may seem dauntingly confusing, but through purposeful coordination, agencies cooperate and learn from one another through collaborative forms of infrastructure, such as the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (AFWA) and their regional subdivisions. This coordination has spawned many regional and multi-species collaborative efforts to successfully manage cervids across a diverse mosaic of jurisdictions and ecoregions.