6.3 Conservation Opportunities and Incentives
safety, target shooting, archery, canoeing, motorboat safety, outdoor cooking, tracking, and map-and-compass orienteering. A goal of public education and outreach in urban and suburban areas is to increase aware- ness of and appreciation for wildlife-related issues in the urban landscape and to inspire people to take action toward protecting their local environment. Some citizens want to learn more about the impacts their homes and yards have on wildlife and how to create backyard oases for species. Tese programs can increase awareness of and appreciation for local wildlife species and habitats and create a connection between urbanites and nature. Local connections can be emphasized by promoting to the audience an awareness of where they live in their watershed and how their actions afect the world around them. Pets are exotic predators in the environment and when allowed to roam freely they can sig- nifcantly reduce small animal populations, especially birds, amphibians, and reptiles, by disrupting nesting and reproduction behavior or by killing wildlife. Educating pet owners about the importance of keeping their domesticated animals on a leash or within a fenced yard, or in the case of house cats, keeping them inside to help minimize impacts to wildlife is an ongoing need. Dogs allowed to run of-leash impact disturbance-sensitive species such as ground-nesting birds and small mammals and are subject to conficts and injury from interaction with wild animals. Cats are exotic predators and efcient killers that prey on wild animals. Even well-fed cats will kill small mammals, insects, birds, amphibians, and reptiles—some of which may be species of conservation concern. Exposure to rabies and distemper is a health threat to both dogs and cats when vaccinations are not kept up to date and the animals are allowed to roam freely outside. Support of feral cat colonies should be discouraged, because the number of cats can signifcantly multiply and impact local wildlife populations. Improved public education is critical to reducing human-induced threats and impacts to sensitive species and habitats. Humans have great infuence and impact on sensitive envi- ronments such as coastal beaches, dunes, and estuarine habitats. Residential development in coastal areas can create impacts such as beach lighting and beach management prac- tices (e.g., fencing, dredging, beach renourishment) that afect beach-nesting sea turtles and birds. Commercial and recreational activities such as boating and fshing (which can cause collisions, ghost line impacts, by-catch concerns) disturb and threaten coastal wild- life such as Diamondback Terrapins, sea turtles, and marine mammals. Education about human impacts on other sensitive environments such as isolated wetlands, bogs, caves and mines, and rock outcrops will be critical for the continued protection of these sites. Prescribed burning is used as a forest management tool to reduce fuels and the risk of wildfre, and for ecosystem restoration, oak regeneration, understory control, and wildlife conservation. Te importance of continued use and reintroduction of prescribed fre as a
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2015 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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