CONTACT:
Patrick Tate, (603) 868-1095
Danielle Beard, (603) 271-2461
January 11, 2019
CONCORD, NH — The New Hampshire Wildlife Control Operator (WCO) training class, offered once a year, will take place on April 17, 2019, at New Hampshire Fish and Game Department Headquarters, 11 Hazen Drive, Concord, NH, from 8:15 am to 3:00 pm. This seminar, traditionally held in January, has been moved to the spring to better accommodate attendees.
The training will be presented by the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, the New Hampshire Trappers Association, and U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services.
A Wildlife Control Operator license is required for anyone planning to provide commercial nuisance wildlife control in New Hampshire, except for licensed trappers, during the regulated trapping seasons. As part of the WCO licensing requirement, you must complete the day-long WCO class administered once a year in Concord, along with successfully completing a New Hampshire Fish and Game Department Trapper Education certification course.
The WCO training class will include presentations on wildlife exclusions, capture and handling of wildlife, humane and ethical concerns, relevant New Hampshire state laws and rules, federal rules covering certain species, wildlife diseases, best management practices, and proper trapping techniques. The Wildlife Control Operator program was created in recognition of special circumstances where wildlife removal or exclusion must happen outside of the regulated seasons, and in response to an increasing public request for for-hire wildlife nuisance services, which often include trapping.
There will be no charge for the one-day class, but on line pre-registration will be required in February. Notification will be posted once registration is officially open.
New Hampshire Fish and Game works to conserve, manage, and protect populations of all furbearing wildlife and the habitats they need for survival today and into the future. Data reported by Wildlife Control Operators are used by the Department to monitor furbearer populations. For more information, visit www.wildnh.com/wildlife/wco.html.
