How did your business start?

Glenwood Springs native Joe Herrman is a lifelong outdoorsman and a self-taught student of wildlife behaviors and habits. What started as a father-and-son avocation in childhood — with hunting, fishing and meanderings around Glenwood and the surrounding White River National Forest — resulted in a highly specialized vocation and business. Paramount Wildlife Management began in 2008, as Joe identified a need to remediate the ever-present issues presented by human and wildlife conflict in the mountain corridor, and to do so in a humane way. He applied his skills, knowledge and experience to make a positive difference for humans and animals with his niche business.

What do you sell?

Paramount Wildlife Management provides a solution for wildlife and human conflict, and peace of mind and safety to home and property owners. With the understanding of animals’ natural instincts, Paramount Wildlife Management crafts individual solutions to encourage animals to move or relocate back into their natural environments. Paramount Wildlife Management has multiple solutions for nonlethal management of wildlife. Homeowners and property managers call on him for non-lethal removal of problem beavers, coyotes, muskrats, skunks, raccoons, marmots, squirrels, bats, all species of birds and ground squirrels. Joe’s experience extends to small predators too, including bobcat, fox, coyotes and badgers. Large predators, like bear and mountain lion, remain in the realm of the Colorado Division of Wildlife — however, Paramount Wildlife Management can provide comprehensive consulting on bear-proofing a property in order to prevent problems from ever taking place.

What positive lessons did you learn during the recession?

Paramount Wildlife Management began in the midst of the recession. The business has grown every year since then, and Joe held a fundamental belief that there is always opportunity for a unique business niche with a necessary service. In addition to effective and professional work, Joe has made himself available for calls seven days a week, and in urgent situations he can come night or day.

What is your strategy for growth in the next year?

Joe’s goal is to help home and property owners become more proactive with exclusion work, for prevention of human-animal conflict. “Most people call me because they don’t know how to handle a wildlife problem. It’s my hope to help people avoid these situations from ever occurring with techniques and tools I can teach them.”

Ongoing continuing education is a large part of Joe’s success: He attends an annual conference that is administered by the National Wildlife Control Operators Association. Here, he learns tools and techniques for removing nuisance animals, encouraging them to move on, and studies what is known as “exclusion work”, which prevents animals from moving back into domestic environments in the future, after initial removal.