Bureau of Biological Survey Field Reports and Maps ---

The roots of the Bureau of Biological Survey (BBS) were first planted in 1885 when Congress appropriated funding for a Section of Economic Ornithology under the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The Section was established as the nation was expanding westward following the U.S. Civil War and an influx of European immigration. The Section was initially charged with studying the economic relation of birds to agriculture. In 1886, its mission grew to include research on mammals. Subsequent name changes followed and in 1905, it became known as the Bureau of Biological Survey. The general function of the BBS was to provide information about agricultural pests to farming and ranching communities. To obtain this information, the BBS conducted surveys of bird and mammal distributions and plotted their geographic locations on maps. They also conducted studies to determine which species were beneficial and which were injurious to farming and ranching interests. Several series of publications were established to communicate this information to the public.

Before 1900, the division primarily conducted surveys and research. After 1900, Congress began to pressure the division to demonstrate the practical benefits of their research and surveys. Thus, the division began to focus less on surveys and more on wildlife management research and controlling the damage caused by rodents and predators. Although survey work slowed, the knowledge gained from earlier surveys contributed greatly to the work carried out by the BBS in later years.

During the early decades of the twentieth century, the BBS cooperated with western states to conduct widespread rodent control campaigns to manage prairie dogs and other ground squirrels that destroyed crops, competed with cattle for grass, and interfered with irrigation systems. Work was carried out on Indian reservations, national forests, and other federally owned public lands to control prairie dogs, ground squirrels, pocket gophers, and rabbits destructive to forests, orchards, farms, and livestock ranges. In addition, the BBS cooperated with the U.S. Forest Service to conduct campaigns against predators such as wolves, coyotes, and mountain lions that were injurious to livestock and poultry. The BBS also cooperated with counties, university extension services, stockman associations, and farming communities to organize and carry out local drives against agricultural pests. The BBS prepared poison baits, furnished western settlers with poison formulas, and demonstrated mixing and how to best distribute the baits.

In 1920, the BBS established a laboratory for experimentation with new methods of control in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In 1921, the lab moved to Denver, Colorado. Studies at the Eradication Methods Laboratory in Denver aimed to standardize poison mixtures for a variety of species of rodents and to develop baits that were effective, economical, and of practical use to farmers and stock growers. Most of the baits used by the BBS and cooperators throughout the country were processed and prepared at the laboratory in Denver.

Although field and lab investigations into the use of poisons increased their effectiveness and lowered the costs of operations, by the mid-1920s, many scientists began to argue that the BBS’s use of poison was having the unintended effect of harming non-target species. Concerns arose when predators of economic value, especially those with valuable pelts or those valued for their ability to kill rodents, were inadvertently harmed. Due to public concern, the BBS began to adjust its predator control work in the late 1920s. In 1929, the name of the Eradication Methods Laboratory in Denver was changed to the Control Methods Research Laboratory.

In 1931, Congress passed the Animal Damage Control Act, which provided the predator and rodent control program with federal authority and funding to manage wildlife for the protection of agricultural resources, forestry products, and public health and safety. Around this time, the BBS established a bait mixing station in McCammon, Idaho. In 1933, the facility moved to Pocatello, Idaho, where it became a supply depot for bait mixing and distributing baits, traps, and other supplies throughout the United States. Several field stations were also established in the 1930s and 1940s to aid farmers and ranchers struggling with local issues.

In 1940, the BBS and the predator and rodent control program were transferred from the Department of Agriculture to the Department of the Interior where it was combined with the Bureau of Fisheries, formerly of the Department of Commerce, to form a new agency called the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). The predator and rodent control program became known as Animal Damage Control (ADC) under the FWS.

The program established under the USDA in the late 1800s to aid farmers and livestock growers with the control of rodents, predators, and other pests gradually evolved over the decades to become the wildlife research and management program we know today as Wildlife Services. Most importantly, the establishment of the BBS under the USDA laid the foundations for the development of a major research arm of the federal government dedicated to the scientific study and management of the nation’s wildlife.