Large terrestrial wildlife negatively impacts agricultural livelihoods on all continents except Antarctica. There is growing recognition of the need to reconcile these impacts to achieve socially and ecologically sustainable wildlife conservation agendas. Elk populations in northern California are estimated to have doubled in the past 35 years, marking a conservation success, but also increasing forage loss and damage to infrastructure on private land. Wildlife managers are pursuing the goal of increasing elk numbers on public lands, but elk are preferentially utilizing private pasture and rangeland, driving conflict with beef and dairy producers. We conducted 17 semistructured interviews with private landowners, primarily beef and dairy producers, in northern California to understand their experiences and reactions to elk conflict and state wildlife management. Landowners report that elk density on private rangeland has steadily increased in recent years and poses a threat to their businesses due to loss of forage, damage to fences, and the corresponding liability risk posed by breached fences and errant cattle. The absence of crop and forage loss compensation, difficulty obtaining depredation permits, and low harvest quotas for recreational hunting limit landowner mitigation options and foster resentment toward the state wildlife agency. Most landowners believe that current elk management policies, including restricted hunting opportunities, do not adequately address elk conflict, creating novel challenges for wildlife officials tasked with reconciling elk restoration goals with a variety of stakeholders experiencing economic losses and threats to rural livelihoods. We discuss these issues in the context of common wildlife management challenges, such as building social capital, defining tolerable impacts, and building institutional capacity for alternative solutions within rigid regulatory frameworks. We draw upon environmental economics and common-pool resource theory to suggest that a rethinking of elk management based on local conditions, facilitating damage compensation mechanisms while reducing transaction costs, and increasing participation of local stakeholders in decision making might improve outcomes.

中文翻译：

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麋鹿与牛肉和奶制品生产商的冲突给北加州的野生动植物管理带来挑战

大型陆地野生生物对除南极洲以外的所有大陆的农业生计都产生了负面影响。人们越来越认识到有必要调和这些影响，以实现社会和生态上可持续的野生动植物保护议程。据估计，在过去的35年中，北加州的麋鹿数量增加了一倍，这标志着一项保护工作取得了成功，但同时也增加了草料损失和私人土地上基础设施的破坏。野生动物管理者追求的目标是增加公共土地上的麋鹿数量，但麋鹿优先利用私人牧场和牧场，从而与牛肉和奶制品生产商发生冲突。我们对私有土地所有者（主要是牛肉和奶制品生产商）进行了17次半结构化访谈，在北加州了解他们对麋鹿冲突和州野生动植物管理的经验和反应。地主报告说，近年来，私人牧场的麋鹿密度稳步上升，并由于草料损失，围栏损坏以及围栏被破坏和牛群失误造成相应的责任风险而对其业务构成威胁。没有农作物和草料损失的补偿，难以获得折旧许可证，以及用于休闲狩猎的收成配额较低，限制了土地所有者的缓解选择，并加剧了对该州野生动植物管理局的怨恨。大多数土地所有者认为，当前的麋鹿管理政策（包括有限的狩猎机会）不能充分解决麋鹿冲突，给野生动植物官员带来新的挑战，他们负责协调麋鹿的恢复目标，使各种利益相关者遭受经济损失和对农村生计的威胁。我们在野生动植物常见管理挑战的背景下讨论这些问题，例如建立社会资本，确定可容忍的影响以及在严格的监管框架内建立替代解决方案的机构能力。我们借鉴环境经济学和公共资源理论，提出对基于当地条件的麋鹿管理进行重新思考，在减少交易成本的同时促进损害赔偿机制，以及增加当地利益相关者对决策的参与可能会改善结果。我们将在野生动植物常见管理挑战的背景下讨论这些问题，例如建立社会资本，确定可容忍的影响以及在严格的监管框架内建立替代解决方案的机构能力。我们利用环境经济学和公共资源理论来提出建议，重新思考基于当地条件的麋鹿管理，促进损害赔偿机制，同时降低交易成本，以及增加当地利益相关者对决策的参与，可能会改善结果。我们在野生动植物常见管理挑战的背景下讨论这些问题，例如建立社会资本，确定可容忍的影响以及在严格的监管框架内建立替代解决方案的机构能力。我们利用环境经济学和公共资源理论来提出建议，重新思考基于当地条件的麋鹿管理，促进损害赔偿机制，同时降低交易成本，以及增加当地利益相关者对决策的参与，可能会改善结果。