Office History and Mission
The Office of Environmental Quiet & Wildlife Monitoring was established following a formal internal review of wildlife control operations within the Village of Hobart. The review concluded that conventional suppression methods had produced no measurable reduction in raccoon or opossum populations over a sustained period. Continuation of those methods was determined to be neither effective nor justified.
The Village formally shifted its posture from control to management. The Office was created as a standalone municipal department to monitor wildlife activity, maintain feeding infrastructure, and produce regular public assessments of population behavior.
The Village does not consider the current raccoon population a problem requiring resolution.
The Office maintains two public indices: the Raccoon Activity Index (RAI), which tracks raccoon behavior patterns and any signs of coordinated activity, and the Possum Observance Index (POI), which monitors opossum population density across monitored zones. Both indices are published through the Hobart Herald and Village social media.
Additionally, the Office oversees a network of possum feeding stations distributed throughout the Village. Station placement is informed by POI data and adjusted periodically to reflect observed population movement.
Director
Deirdre Harker, Director
Deirdre Harker has served as Director of the Office of Environmental Quiet & Wildlife Monitoring since the department's establishment. She manages all index assessments, coordinates feeder station operations, and serves as the Office's liaison to the Village Council.
Director Harker approaches the wildlife management mission with steady conviction. She considers the health and stability of the Village's opossum population a matter of genuine public interest and manages the Office accordingly. Her reports to the Council are thorough, prompt, and delivered without editorial commentary.