ABSTRACT
Wildlife management and conservation have long been considered the domain of upper-middle-class white privilege in the United States. The chapter explores how racism and colonialism after two centuries continue to play a role in modern wildlife management in the United States. It focuses on the extent to which the historical American conservation movement has used racism and colonialism as weapons to manage wild animals as resources for the primary enjoyment of upper-middle-class whites while simultaneously marginalizing people and excludes these groups from full participation in wildlife management. The chapter examines a brief extent how conventional wildlife management practices deny animal agency and how population management as a paradigm affects the ways in which people of color and wildlife are 'managed' in the United States. It considers the opportunities and pitfalls of using an environmental justice framework as an alternative to conservation for wildlife advocacy and community empowerment. Interspecies collaboration is a very new way of thinking about wildlife management.
