Attitudes of The Wildlife Society members toward uses of wildlife

Abstract Large‐scale sociological, geographic, and demographic changes affect the way people interact with and value wildlife. Beliefs and attitudes of stakeholders towards wildlife and uses of wildlife are also shifting along with these geographical and demographic changes. Changes in societal or professional attitudes toward uses of wildlife has potential to create alignment issues between wildlife professionals and society. To inform deliberations within The Wildlife Society (TWS) and the larger population of conservation professionals, we assessed and compared the change over time between 1998 and 2020 in value orientations, beliefs, and attitudes toward uses of wildlife and wildlife management practices of members of TWS as a proxy for practicing wildlife professionals. We administered a Qualtrics web‐based survey ( n  = 3,247), January–March 2020. Respondents closely approximated TWS membership demographically, who identified as male (59.7%) and female (37.7%), and geographically within 50 U.S. states at the time of the survey. Results indicated wildlife conservation professionals express as broad of a spectrum of beliefs, albeit shifting, about consumptive uses of wildlife in hunting and trapping much as they did 2 decades ago. Change in attitudes and beliefs was modest but mutualistic or protectionist beliefs and attitudes increased, especially among younger professionals, toward the ethical acceptability of harvested animals involving fair chase and sportsmanship (72% in 1998; 93.2% in 2020), and in expressed acceptance of regulated hunting and trapping. Our work provides insights into potential focus areas of training and education, such as Conservation Leaders for Tomorrow and Trapping Matters.