Cliff Bampton’s career in wildlife management traces the origin of the profession. From graduate school dropout to chief of the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission's Division of Game, Bampton helped define modern wildlife management.

In this episode of “Our Wild Lives,” host Katie Perkins sits down with long-time TWS member, Cliff Bampton. The conversation spans from his early adulthood experiences trapping black bears (Ursus americanus) in the Adirondack Mountains to his decades of experience at the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission and Ducks Unlimited.

Despite the challenges he faced, such as trouble in school, color blindness, office politics, and more, Bampton leaves a legacy rooted in hard work, compromise, and cooperation.

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The National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have proposed four rule changes to the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

This episode of “Our Wild Lives” unpacks the four-rule proposal that could narrow ESA consultations, limit critical habitat, remove automatic protections for threatened species, and elevate economic considerations.

TWS staff members , Cameron Kovach, Kaylyn Zipp and Kelly O’Connor explain why these changes are happening, how they affect wildlife professionals and communities , and how to submit substantive public comments, which can be submitted until December 22, 2025.

Learn more:

Proposed Rules: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/11/21/2025-20549/endangered-and-threatened-wildlife-and-plants-listing-endangered-and-threatened-species-and

TWS ESA News Article: https://wildlife.org/endangered-species-rules-rollback-to-2019/

TWS Position Statement on the ESA: chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://wildlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/TWS_IssueStatement_USEndangeredSpeciesAct_FINAL_2023.11.pdf

Submit comments about the proposed rules: https://www.regulations.gov/document/FWS-HQ-ES-2025-0039-0001

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A century ago, black bears in North Carolina were on the brink. Today, they’re thriving in mountains, coastal swamps, and even neighborhoods.

In this episode, we sit down with Colleen Olfenbuttel, TWS member, longtime bear biologist and the NCWRC game mammals and survey unit supervisor, to unpack how science-based management helped the once-rare species rebound. They also talk about how wildlife managers are tackling coexistence in a quickly urbanizing state.

Colleen takes us inside the state’s pivotal moves in the 1970s—mandatory harvest reporting, protections for females and cubs, and the creation of bear management areas that seeded recovery across the landscape. We dig into human-bear conflict, why unsecured attractants and intentional feeding sit at the root, and how BearWise communities, feeding bans, and bear-resistant trash cans cut problems at the source.

Colleen shares practical safety advice for black bear encounters, explains why relocating “problem bears” fails, and demystifies dens and hibernation.

Learn more:

About Colleen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/colleen-olfenbuttel/

North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission: https://www.ncwildlife.gov/

BearWise: https://bearwise.org/

Bear cub rehabilitation program: https://www.ncwildlife.gov/wildlife-habitat/species/black-bear/what-happens-orphaned-black-bear-cubs-north-carolina

Become a Certified Wildlife Biologist - https://wildlife.org/certification-programs/

Share your thoughts on the Our Wild Lives Podcast by sending us a text here!

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Become a member of The Wildlife Society: https://wildlife.org/join/

Support Wildlife, Invest in Wildlife Professionals: https://wildlife.org/donate/

Follow us on

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