University of Idaho

Conflict between Wolves and Humans in the Northern Rocky Mountains of the United States
Grant Proposal
Jessica Billman
ENGL 522
April 2015

Project Description for Wolf-Livestock Demonstration Project Grant Program (WLDPGP)

(Opportunity Number F14AS00136) (Wolf-Livestock 2014)
Applicant: Jessica Billman
Application: Conflict between Wolves and Humans in the Northern Rocky Mountains of the
United States Communication Campaign
Abstract
Jessica Billman is requesting Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service funds to
launch a five-year communication campaign to facilitate the development of peaceful solutions
to the wolf-human conflict in the Northern Rocky Mountains (NRM) of the United States. As
pro-wolf and anti-wolf groups compete to meet their perceived incompatible goals, wolves face
an uncertain future in the NRM. The proposed campaign would distribute information to NRM
farmers and ranchers about the role of wolves in maintaining healthy ecosystems and about
nonlethal wolf management techniques in two primary ways:

A website will be developed and published that will be dedicated to the aforementioned
topics featuring success stories of nonlethal management techniques.

Public speakers will be hired and sent to agricultural conventions around the country to
deliver presentations on these topics.

This grant will fund the costs of developing, publishing, and maintaining the website, and the
costs of hiring public speakers and sending them to selected conventions. Grant deliverables
include 1) an analysis of the number of farmers and ranchers who have adopted nonlethal wolf
management techniques, 2) an analysis of livestock reported lost due to wolves, and 3) an
analysis of the number of wolves reported killed because they were threatening livestock.

Narrative
Relation of Proposed Project to WLDPGP
The Conflict between Wolves and Humans in the Northern Rocky Mountains of the United
States Communication Campaign Project (CCP) would help distribute information about
nonlethal wolf management techniques and success stories of those techniques to Northern
Rocky Mountain (NRM) region farmers and ranchers. The CCP would also distribute
information about the key role wolves play in maintaining healthy ecosystems to further
motivate farmers and ranchers to adopt nonlethal management techniques.
The current conflict between wolves and humans in the Northern Rocky Mountains (NRM) of
the United States creates an unsustainable situation for all parties involved. Concerned with
protecting livestock from wolf depredation, many farmers and ranchers of the NRM are opposed
to wolf reintroduction efforts (Muhly & Musiani 2009) and wish to eliminate wolves from the
NRM. But mounting evidence strongly suggests that wolves, as a top predator in the NRM, are
crucial for maintaining healthy, biologically diverse ecosystems (Wolf Restoration 2015).
The livelihoods of farmers and ranchers in the NRM depend on the health of the ecosystem, and
the health of the ecosystem in the NRM region depends on the presence of a successful wolf
population. In this way, although they may believe wolves are the enemy, farmers and ranchers
in fact depend on the wolves. In short, peaceful solutions to the wolf-human conflict in the
NRM must be developed to ensure successful futures for both wolves and humans.
The CCP will be targeted at farmers and ranchers in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. These
farmers and ranchers are those most impacted by wolf depredation of livestock, and they also
have the greatest ability to impact the course of future wolf management policies. By making
information about the importance of a stable NRM wolf population and nonlethal wolf
managements techniques more accessible to these farmers and ranchers, the CCP aims to
decrease livestock depredation, decrease wolf kills, increase the use of nonlethal management

techniques, and reduce the amount of money spent compensating farmers and ranchers for lost
livestock.
Statement of Activities
Under this grant, the CCP will be executed over the course of five years and will distribute
information via the Internet and via live presentations delivered at targeted agricultural
conventions in the NRM. The Internet can be accessed at any time by all NRM farmers and
ranchers; and delivering live presentations at targeted agricultural conventions in the NRM will
serve as a way to distribute information to NRM farmers and ranchers regardless of whether or
not those farmers and ranchers are accessing the Internet.
A website will be developed and published that will be dedicated to providing information on
nonlethal wolf management techniques, successful implementation of those techniques, new and
developing technologies that may improve livestock and wolf management, and the role wolves
play in maintaining healthy ecosystems. The website will also include links to the websites,
Facebook pages, and Twitter feeds of established organizations that support wolf reintroduction.
The site will be maintained on a regular basis and updated as new information surfaces.
Additionally, to add a more human element to the campaign and to reach audience members who
may not be frequenting the website, live presentations will be delivered at agricultural
conventions across the country. To start with, four conventions in the NRM have been identified:
the Ag Expo in Spokane, WA; the Northern International Livestock Exposition in Billings, MT;
the Eastern Idaho Ago Expo in Pocatello, ID; and the Montana Agri-Trade Exposition in
Billings, MT. By hiring professional presenters and sending them to these conventions, this
campaign will have a live presence and be able to communicate more in-depth information than
may be available on the website. Although the website will be available to provide information
24 hours a day to anyone, live presentations have several advantages over a website. During a
live presentation, speakers will have opportunities to interact with audience members and to
gauge their reactions to the information; a presenter can also better emphasize key points and
assess whether or not messages are being accepted by the audience (Communication 2014). An

effective live presenter may also be able to attract the attention of target audience members who
may not have initially been interested in nonlethal wolf management techniques or in how it may
be in farmers and ranchers best interests to protect wolf populations. The list of targeted
conventions can be revised over the course of the campaign, depending on the judged
effectiveness of each successive presentation.
In sum, this campaign will take advantage of the Internet as a quickly growing, virtually
universally accessible information platform while still maintaining an avenue of human
interaction through live presentations. The CCP is designed to be a convenient source of
important information and to appeal to a variety of learning styles among NRM farmers and
ranchers.
The CCP will feature three main messages:
1. Wolf attacks are not a primary cause of livestock deaths each year.
2. Nonlethal wolf management techniques are available and effective.
3. Wolves are essential to maintaining healthy ecosystems.
The target audience of the CCP will be farmers and ranchers in the NRM who are under the age
of 50 years. Targeting farmers and ranchers under the age of 50 will provide information to the
age groups that will have the most influence over the future course of wolf management
techniques. Younger adults across all professions are more likely to use the Internet (Smith
2014), and younger generations of agricultural operators, specifically, are more likely to adopt
and implement new technology in agricultural operations (Wessler 2014). Not only does this
suggest that younger farmers and ranchers are more likely to be open to receiving information
from this communication campaign, but it also increases the potential that these farmers and
ranchers will integrate technology-based nonlethal wolf management techniques into their
operations in the future.
At the end of the five-year campaign, three primary analyses will be performed: 1) an analysis
of the number of farmers and ranchers who have adopted nonlethal wolf management

techniques, 2) an analysis of livestock reported lost due to wolves, and 3) an analysis of the
number of wolves reported killed because they were threatening livestock.
Progress will be evaluated at the ends of the second and third years; the overall success of the
campaign will be evaluated at the end of the fifth year. The success of the CCP will be measured
by 1) how many NRM farmers and ranchers have adopted nonlethal management techniques, 2)
how many fewer livestock are reported lost due to wolves, and 3) how many fewer wolves are
reported killed because they were threatening livestock.
The activities covered under this grant will be limited to the CCP and these follow-up analyses.
Attachments
Attachment 1 Estimated Budget
Attachment 2 Available Resources
Attachment 3 Resume/CV

References
Communication Skills Advantages and Disadvantages of Presentations (2014). Retrieved
March 28, 2015 from http://www.free-management-ebooks.com/faqcm/planning-03.htm
Costs (n.d.). Retrieved April 11, 2015 from https://www.google.com/adwords/costs/
How Much Does A Small Business Website Cost in 2014? (2014). Retrieved April 11, 2015
from http://www.executionists.com/blog/cost-to-build-websites-2014/
Hurt, Jeff (2010, October 5). Cheat Sheet For Hiring And Paying Professional Speakers.
Retrieved April 11, 2015 from http://velvetchainsaw.com/2010/10/25/cheat-sheet-for-hiringpaying-professional-speakers/
Infographic The Average Cost of Business Travel (n.d.). Retrieved April 12, 2015 from
https://www.certify.com/Infographic-TheAverageCostOfBusinessTravel.aspx
Muhly, T. B., & Musiani, M. (2009, May 4). Livestock depredation by wolves and the ranching
economy in the Northwestern U.S. [Electronic version]. Ecological Economics, 68 (2009),
2439-2450.
Smith, Aaron (2014, April 3). Older Adults and Technology Use. Retrieved April 12, 2015 from
http://www.pewinternet.org/2014/04/03/older-adults-and-technology-use/
Wessler, Brett (2014, January 30). Young farmers and ranchers embracing technology in the
field. Retrieved April 12, 2015 from http://www.cattlenetwork.com/cattle-news/Young-farmersand-ranchers-embracing-technology-in-the-field-242801161.html
Wolf Restoration Continued (2015, April 2). Retrieved April 12, 2015 from
http://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/nature/wolfrest.htm

Wolf-Livestock Demonstration Project Grant Program (WLDPGP) (2014, April 24). Retrieved
April 12, 2015 from http://www.grants.gov/custom/viewOppDetails.jsp?oppId=254255

Attachment 1 Estimated Budget

See Table 1 for an estimated budget. Cost estimates are based on information from the
corresponding sources listed below the table.
Table 1 Estimated Costs of Production, Maintenance, and Personnel
Item

Quantity/

Cost/

Total Cost/

Total Cost/

Year

Unit

Year

Campaign

Initial costs
Website Planning, design, and
development (including initial ad

N/A

$3,000

N/A

$3,000

$1,000

$4,000

$20,000

1
1
1
12

$10
$50
$500
$200

$10
$50
$500
$2,400

$50
$250
$2,500
$12,000

$950

$3,800
$10,760/

$19,000
$56,800

year

total

design)1
Personnel
Public speakers for presentations
(includes cost of hiring presenter and
preparing presentation)2
Website designer (included in initial
website cost above)
Maintenance
- Domain1
- Hosting1
- Maintenance (including ad updates)1
- Online advertising3
Incidentals
Travel (airfare, lodging, per diem, etc.)4
Total Costs
1

How Much 2014

Hurt 2010

Costs n.d.

Infographic n.d.

Attachment 2 Available Resources

Computers with Internet access and personnel for maintaining the proposed website are already
available for this campaign. Website maintenance can be performed from any computer with
Internet access, and will be completed on a volunteer basis. Jessica Billman has training in
HTML coding and will be able to make changes and updates to the website; additional volunteer
personnel may be recruited as needed. In the event that a private computer is not available for
website maintenance, public computers may be accessed at a library or other appropriate
location.

Attachment 3 Resume/CV (2 pages)

JESSICA BILLMAN
1141 Snyder Rd. B38, Lansdale, PA 19446
jessicambillman@gmail.com
(610) 462-3396
CAREER SUMMARY
Microbiologist in the pharmaceutical industry with more than seven years of experience in quality
systems. Skilled at optimizing quality monitoring systems, developing technical protocols, and validating
new equipment and test methods.
RELEVANT SKILLS

Data trending and metrics

Technical writing
Deviation investigations
Microsoft Excel
Data trend analysis
Equipment and method validation

EMPLOYMENT
Quality Control Microbiologist II, 07/2009-Present
Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc. (formerly Auxilium Pharmaceuticals), Horsham, PA
Evaluated and optimized environmental monitoring program based on trending data.
Developed validation program and test methods for analyzing cleaning validation TOC swabs and
qualifying personnel for swab sampling.
Create, revise, and execute SOPs, test methods, technical reports and validation protocols.
Represent the microbiology department during regulatory audits.
Generate monthly, quarterly, and annual trending reports of analytical data and related metrics to
detect and address adverse trends and for presentation to regulatory authorities.
Quality Control Chemistry Lab Technician/Validation Specialist, 08/2008-07/2009
Accupac Inc., Mainland, PA
Interpreted data from stability hold studies.
Compiled and trended analytical data.
Prepared and reviewed installation qualifications, operational qualifications, and performance
qualifications.
Performed as liaison to third party laboratories.

EDUCATION AND TRAINING

P.S.M. in Natural Resources and Environmental Science, expected graduation 2018
University of Idaho, Moscow, ID (online program)
B.S. in General Science, June 2006
Penn State University, State College, PA
Creating Web Pages, April 2015, Northampton Community College
Advanced Microsoft Excel 2007, March 2011, Northampton Community College
Intermediate Microsoft Excel 2007, December 2010, Northampton Community College
Introduction to Microsoft Excel 2007, October 2010, Northampton Community College
VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE
Peace Corps Volunteer, 09/2006-06/2007
Langasani Secondary School, Tanzania, East Africa
Co-founded and supervised/edited school newspaper. Taught biology to secondary school students.
Maintained computer lab.
Wildlife Rehabilitation Volunteer, 04/1999-03/2001
Pool Wildlife Sanctuary, Emmaus, PA
Fed, cleaned, and administered medical care to current patients. Accepted new patients and filed
corresponding paperwork. Assisted with general maintenance of property and buildings.
HONORS AND ORGANIZATIONS
Award in Customer Commitment, 09/30/2014
Prepared a comprehensive environmental monitoring report for a newly acquired manufacturing
facility in preparation for an FDA audit.
Award in Integrity and Compliance, 04/08/2014
Provided support and served as subject matter expert during EMA audit.
Award in Personal Leadership, 12/02/2013
Analyzed and presented Phase I environmental monitoring data for a newly acquired manufacturing
facility.
Award in Personal Leadership, 11/19/2013
Developed and executed validation protocol for qualifying personnel for cleaning validation swab
sampling.
Speech and Debate Team, Southern Lehigh High School (1999-2002)
Treasurer in 2001-2002; placed in several national tournaments in original oratory