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Our program is a unique model of cooperative partnership among the USGS, other U.S. Department of the Interior and Federal agencies, universities, State fish and wildlife agencies, and the Wildlife Management Institute. These partnerships are maintained as one of the USGS’s strongest links to Federal and State land and natural resource management agencies.
Who we Are
Established in 1935 to meet the need for trained professionals in the growing field of wildlife management, the program currently consists of 43 Units located on university campuses in 40 States and supports over 100 USGS research scientist positions when fully funded.
Mission
(1) conduct research to deliver actionable science to cooperating agencies and organizations, (2) develop the natural resource conservation workforce of the future through graduate education, and (3) fulfill the training and technical assistance needs of cooperators.
Applied Research
One of the three pillars of our mission is to lead research that provides science solutions for the management needs of our State and Federal agency cooperators—research that informs decision making.
Landscape Level Research Portfolio
Our program with its Federal, State, and university partners are proactively working together to conduct science at transboundary landscape levels to meet the needs of all stakeholders while building constructive, effective, geographically broad conservation programs that wouldn’t be possible at the individual State level.
University Campuses
The geographic distribution of 43 Units on 41 University campuses and the collaborative structure within the program place the CRU program in a unique role of facilitating these broader syntheses, analyses, and conservation efforts that fit neatly into larger USGS strategic goals and objectives.
Research Abstracts
The breadth and scope of the CRU’s research portfolio and scientific capacity is best demonstrated through our research abstracts report which provides a summary of the objectives, findings, and applications of over 560 research projects.