Magazine Articles

Conservation is not a trade-off between economic development and conservation of the natural world. We must find a way to co-exist with natural resources. Our lives and progress of civilization are all depending on it. However, conservation faces three major challenges:

1. Far too few people care about conservation.

2. Those who do care are divided in how they approach conservation.

3. The economic model supporting conservation is faltering.

President Roosevelt made conservation a national and international priority. Seldom had the potential of democracy to befit all citizens been so concretely defined. Like all aspects of democracy, however, the common good is attained by the individual effort, and in his individual striving for wildlife conservation, Roosevelt set an example for us all, hunter and non-hunter alike.

Nearly 450 were in attendance for the National Fish and Wildlife Conservation Congress. They came from every province and territory in Canada, from 17 U.S. states, and from as far away as Australia. They came to talk about regional issues and to voice common concerns. They came to share successes and research and see how others approach the complex issues of conservation.

Almost all hunters collect mementos from their hunts, it simply does not distinguish one form of hunting from another. But what of these elements of trophy hunting so many believe are distinguishing? Are they accurate? Are they true? Can they be used to separate "trophy" from other forms of hunting? Not really, and certainly not significantly.

Wildlife does not exist by accident. It thrives today in North America because of a wondrous network of policies, laws and financial support structures largely put in place and maintained by the small percentage of us who hunt and fish. Perhaps in some distant future society at large will pay for what we have carried for a century or more; but even if this were true would not the history of our achievement be worth telling? The reality is that no feasible alternative model for wildlife conservation is yet within our reach, and may never be.

Over long and now misted millennia the rhythm of our human existence was the same. Pursuing our sacred and relentless desire to survive, we hunted and gathered the living things that miraculously suited our physical needs for food and warmth. Across endless wild environments we perfected the one great arc of our existence, the first great act of globalization. We marched slowly out of Africa and encircled our world, driven by need and curiosity and fuelled by the death of wild others. Perfecting weapons within, we fashioned stone, honed bone and wood, and hunted our way to modernity.

The most recent surveys of public attitudes towards regulated hunting in the United States indicate that over 75% of those responding support this activity. Yet we know very well that not all is well, that participation in hunting is declining, that state agency conservation programs are running out of money, that privatization of wildlife and a host of other controversies are highly divisive in our own ranks, and getting more so, and that our hunting community is aging rapidly.

As a society we are in desperate need of a more fundamental debate and dialogue on the issues of why we hunt and its relevance in modern times. It may be fashionable or convenient to reduce arguments in favour of hunting to simplistic categories or half-truths, but in the end these arguments will fail us where it matters most; in the fight for the hearts of the public majority who still support us, for the support of those who may be opposed but are truly open minded, and for our own life long commitments to our greatest engagement with nature.

Unfortunately the wild abundance of America today is often taken for granted. Citizens of Canada and the United States have come to expect wildlife diversity as part of their cultural experience and remain largely uninformed of the heroic efforts that led to this priceless wild legacy and the complex infrastructure that ensures its continued presence in our lives. Addressing this lack of awareness by North American society is beyond question one of the great social responsibilities for the conservation movement in this 21st century.

Wolves have figured prominantly in the lives and the imaginations of men seemingly forever. In both the Great Lakes region and the Northern Rocky Mountains, wolves have been increasing in numbers and expanding their range. Maintaining the big carnivores has been one of the great achievements of North America's hunter-led conservation movement. There will need to be a balancing act to maintain some equilibrium between wolf numbers and the prey that both wolves and men seek. Hunters must be the champion of the wolf, the champion of the elk and the champion of sustainable use for them all.