Utah Field Station Records---

The Utah Field Station was established in 1972 when offices moved from Denver Wildlife Research Center’s (predecessor to NWRC) San Antonio, Texas, Field Station to Utah State University (USU) in Logan. In 1973, USU leased 120 acres of land in Millville, Utah, for development of a research facility to study captive coyotes. In 1991, the USU Foundation purchased the Millville facility and adjacent land and permanently leased the site to USDA/APHIS for use as a wildlife research and educational facility. Over the years, the site grew to eventually encompass 165 acres.

Fred Knowlton, the first leader of the Utah Field Station, began his career with the Center in 1964 at the San Antonio Field Station as leader of predator studies, where he primarily studied coyotes. He moved to Utah in 1972 to help establish predator studies at the new site. In 1973, the DWRC Section of Predator Management Research was established with the goal to better understand coyotes to help reduce their predation on sheep. In addition to the Utah station, the section included operations in Colorado, Idaho, Texas, and Oregon. Early research at the Utah Field Station focused on coyote population mechanics, coyote behavioral patterns, and predator-prey interactions. The site also served as a preliminary testing facility for developing and improving depredation control techniques and procedures. Over the years, research included work on the Livestock Protection Collar, tranquilizer tabs for traps, and nonlethal studies such as taste aversion conditioning and reproductive inhibitors. Fladry and many other scare tactics have also been studied at the site.

During its history, the Utah Field Station has received a great deal of media attention thanks to its reputation as being one of the only predator research facilities in the world with captive coyotes. Several media outlets such as NBC, BBC, Turner Broadcast/National Wildlife Federation, and Canadian Discovery Channel have produced news stories or documentaries about the coyote research conducted at the field station. Unfortunately, during the 1990s, in addition to media, the field station also became the focus of radical animal rights groups.

In the early morning hours of October 24, 1992, the Millville office building as well as field station leader Fred Knowlton’s Utah State University office were firebombed by members of the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), a radical animal rights group. Perpetrators also stole research records from the USU office and cut fencing at the Millville facility, releasing about sixteen coyotes. Most of the coyotes were returned, however, damages to facilities at the Millville site were significant, resulting in the construction of a new office building. ALF member Rodney Coronado admitted his involvement in the arson as part of a plea agreement related to other vandalism charges associated with ALF’s “Operation Bite Back,” which targeted several wildlife research laboratories in the early 1990s. In 1995, Coronado was convicted and sentenced to 57 months in prison. A similar vandalism incident occurred at the Millville site on August 1, 1999 when fencing was cut, and coyotes were again released. During the attack, vandals also attempted to set a fire near the office building but failed to do significant damage. All released coyotes were recovered following the 1999 event.

The Utah Field Station has had only a handful of leaders over its fifty-year long existence. Following Fred Knowlton’s leadership from 1972 to 1994, Russ Mason, a research psychologist from the Center’s field station at Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, acted as station leader from 1995 to 2001. Mason was followed by John Shivik, who served as station leader from 2002 to 2009. In 2010, Julie Young became the fourth leader of the Utah Field Station. In addition to her role as field station leader, Young also holds a position as an Assistant Professor at Utah State University. In fact, throughout its entire history, the Utah Field Station has worked closely with the College of Natural Resources at USU by holding adjunct faculty appointments, collaborating on numerous research projects with USU faculty and students, and supporting thesis research for graduate students.