The Wildlife Society (TWS) is an international

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

association involved in

wildlife Wildlife refers to domestication, undomesticated animals and uncultivated plant species which can exist in their natural habitat, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wilderness, wild in an area without being species, introdu ...

stewardship Stewardship is a practice committed to ethical value that embodies the responsible planning and management of resources. The concepts of stewardship can be applied to the environment and nature, economics, health, places, property, information ...

through science and education. The Wildlife Society works to improve

wildlife conservation Wildlife conservation refers to the practice of protecting wild species and their habitats in order to maintain healthy wildlife species or populations and to restore, protect or enhance natural ecosystems. Major threats to wildlife include habita ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

by advancing the science of wildlife management, promoting continuing education of wildlife professionals, and advocating for sound, science-based wildlife

policy Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an or ...

. The organization also encourages professional growth through certification,

peer-reviewed Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work ( peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...

publications, conferences, and

working groups A working group is a group of experts working together to achieve specified goals. Such groups are domain-specific and focus on discussion or activity around a specific subject area. The term can sometimes refer to an interdisciplinary collab ...

. Society members are dedicated to

sustainable Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

management of wildlife resources and their

habitats In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

Ecology Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...

is the primary scientific discipline of the wildlife profession; therefore, the interests of the Society embrace the interactions of all

organisms An organism is any living thing that functions as an individual. Such a definition raises more problems than it solves, not least because the concept of an individual is also difficult. Many criteria, few of them widely accepted, have been pr ...

with their

natural environment The natural environment or natural world encompasses all life, biotic and abiotic component, abiotic things occurring nature, naturally, meaning in this case not artificiality, artificial. The term is most often applied to Earth or some parts ...

s. The Society supports the belief that wildlife, in its myriad forms, is basic to the maintenance of a human culture that provides quality living.

Overview

The Wildlife Society, initially known as The Society of Wildlife Specialists, was launched at the North American Wildlife Conference in Washington, D.C., in 1936. A year later, in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

, the Specialists became The Wildlife Society. A constitution and bylaws were adopted in 1937, and the Society was incorporated on March 25, 1948.Swanson, G.A. 1987. Creation and early history. ''Wildlife Society Bulletin'', 15(1):9–14. Over time, The Wildlife Society has broadened its programs beyond its original focus on scientific publications to include education and certification of wildlife biologists and advocacy.

Publications

The society publishes three scientific journals: ''

Journal of Wildlife Management The ''Journal of Wildlife Management'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal devoted to the ecology of non-domesticated animal species. It is published by John Wiley & Sons John Wiley & Sons, Inc., commonly known as Wiley (), is an American M ...

'', '' Wildlife Society Bulletin'', and '' Wildlife Monographs''. In addition to these scholarly journals, the Society publishes ''The Wildlife Professional'', a popular magazine for members. Other important publications include technical reviews featuring analyses of current issues in wildlife conservation that are written by expert panels.

Awards

In 1950 the Society created the annual Aldo Leopold Award.

References

External links

The Wildlife Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wildlife Society Environmental organizations based in Maryland Organizations established in 1937