The National Fish and Wildlife Forensics Laboratory is located in Ashland

Ashland, Oregon

Ashland is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States, near Interstate 5 and the California border, and located in the south end of the Rogue Valley. It was named after Ashland County, Ohio, point of origin of Abel Helman and other founders, and secondarily for Ashland, Kentucky, where other...

, Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Founded in 1988 and run by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service

United States Fish and Wildlife Service

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service is a federal government agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats...

, the forensics laboratory is the only such laboratory in the world devoted to wildlife

Wildlife

Wildlife includes all non-domesticated plants, animals and other organisms. Domesticating wild plant and animal species for human benefit has occurred many times all over the planet, and has a major impact on the environment, both positive and negative....

 law enforcement

Law enforcement agency

In North American English, a law enforcement agency is a government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws.Outside North America, such organizations are called police services. In North America, some of these services are called police while others have other names In North American...

. By treaty, the forensics laboratory is also the official crime lab for CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) and the Wildlife Group of Interpol

Interpol

Interpol, whose full name is the International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL, is an organization facilitating international police cooperation...

. Ken Goddard serves as the current Lab Director.

Mission

The primary mission of the laboratory is to identify the species or subspecies of pieces, parts or products of an animal to determine cause-of-death of an animal, to help wildlife officers determine if a violation of law has occurred and to identify and compare physical evidence in an attempt to link suspect, victim and crime scene.

Divisions

The forensics laboratory staff is divided into four major categories:

1. Crime Scene Investigation
2. Cause of Death
   Cause of Death
   Cause of Death is a 1990 album by American death metal band Obituary. Cause of Death is considered a classic album in the history of death metal. The artwork was done by artist Michael Whelan...
   
   Determination
3. Class Character Analysis
4. Individualization Analysis

External links

• National Fish and Wildlife Forensics Laboratory (official website)