Animal Damage Management on TVA-Owned Land

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and Wildlife Services (WS) manages damage and threats of damage by animals in the TVA service area and beyond.  The WS program is the lead Federal agency responsible for managing conflicts between people and wildlife.

Wildlife damage management is the alleviation of damage or other problems caused by or related to the behavior of wildlife and can be an integral component of wildlife management under the WS Decision Model. The Decision Model assesses the problem, evaluates management methods available, and then formulates a management strategy and continues to monitor that strategy in accordance with directives and standard operating procedures as well as relevant laws and regulations.

WS, in coordination with TVA, develops an environmental assessment (EA) to analyze the need for action to manage damage associated with species. Each EA evaluates the potential environmental consequences in implementing damage management under three alternatives: Alternative 1, the Proposed/No Action would continue current implementation by utilizing non-lethal and lethal techniques, when requested, as deemed appropriate using the WS Decision Model, to reduce damage and threats. Alternative 2 would limit WS’s involvement to providing recommendations on methods that people could use to manage damage without any direct involvement by WS. Under Alternative 3, the WS program would not provide any assistance with managing damage.

Once the EA is finalized, TVA has the option to adopt the document based on an independent review of the final EA to ensure it adequately addresses TVAs need for managing damage and threats of damage. Based on TVAs review of the WS EAs, TVA is issuing a finding of no significant impact on nine WS EAs.  Accordingly an environmental impact statement is not required. By adopting the WS’ EA, TVA can request the assistance of WS to resolve or prevent damage to agricultural resources, natural resources, and property, including threats to human safety associated with various species on TVA-owned properties.

Final EAs prepared by WS and adopted by TVA can be found on the USDA APHIS webpage.