Wildlife managers are becoming more concerned about the exposure of birds, in addition to waterfowl, to spent lead shot. Knowledge of hunter attitudes and their acceptance of nontoxic‐shot regulations will be important in establishing new regulations. Our objective was to assess the attitudes of small game hunters in Missouri, USA, toward a nontoxic‐shot regulation for small game hunting, specifically for mourning doves (Zenaida macroura). Most hunters (71.7–84.8%) opposed additional nontoxic‐shot regulations. Hunters from rural areas, hunters with a rural background, hunters who hunt doves, hunters who currently hunt waterfowl, hunters who primarily use private lands, and current upland game hunters were more likely to oppose new regulations. For mourning dove hunting, most small game hunters (81.1%) opposed further restrictions; however, many non‐dove hunters (57.1%) expressed no opinion. Because our results demonstrate that most small game hunters and dove hunters in Missouri are decidedly against further nontoxic‐shot regulations, any informational and educational programs developed to accompany future policy changes must address their concerns.

Invasive crayfishes adversely affect fisheries throughout the United States and Canada. Recommended management strategies, such as regulation and education, limit primary introduction pathways (e.g., aquaculture, bait shops, pet trade, educational classrooms). We present a case study of our state agency's approach to collecting data to support regulation development and accompanying educational efforts in Missouri. We studied other agencies’ approaches, industry pathways, and stakeholder groups to develop and support regulations. We found that bait, pet, and aquaculture industries’ crayfish sales only constituted a small portion of their incomes. High school and college educators used crayfishes in lessons, with most being obtained from the wild or biological supply companies; some educators released live crayfishes to the water afterward. The biological supply companies providing specimens to educators often provided species that differed from ones advertised, including invasive species. Biological and survey data‐supported regulations were implemented in 2012, and stakeholder input was used to revise them. A suite of pre‐ and postregulation education was aimed at the general public and targeted stakeholders to describe the problem and process. We believe that we used a science‐informed process to partially close some important introduction pathways.

No abstract

No abstract