It was hunters who pushed for this legislation in 1918. If not for George Bird Grinnell using the huge platform of Forest & Stream and the Boone & Crockett Club pushing for such, the bill probably would not have passed and we would not have enjoyed the resurrection of migratory bird numbers we see today. And now, one has to ask why the policy that got us here to the point of abundance and recovery that could not have been anticipated in 1918, "What about this model is broken?"
In my lifetime, all 55 years, every year the air got cleaner, as did the water. Every year, wildlife gained more importance to our population. Yet, I wonder if we take all this clean air/water and abundant wildlife for granted.
I have yet to see any of the recent efforts to "reform" clean air or clean water laws that benefits humans or wild things. The same applies to this change.
Maybe we need to see the Cuyahoga River start on fire again. Maybe we need to see "Don't eat the fish" signs at most popular boat ramps as was the case in my favorite childhood walleye holes of the Rainy River. Maybe we need to have large scale fish die offs in Lake Erie, as happened in my younger days. Will it take closing of pronghorn hunts to get hunters to advocate as much for smarter energy practices? The list of things I could mention that show my lifetime has been "The Good Old Days" of conservation and improvement would exceed the character limit for a Hunt Talk post.
Yet, somewhere along the recent path, we seem to have lost the priority for these efforts that make us the beneficiaries of hard work and political courage of those who held these issues as high priorities.
These changes I have seen in my lifetime is a societal shift that is hard to explain. What is the tipping point where the larger society of people care enough to stand up and be the path of greater resistance rather than the path of least resistance that we currently are? Given the disruption of our society and the new means of tribalism that social media provides, there is a land rush by those holding the levers of power to change all of these things before society again realizes what has happened.
Thanks for sharing these topics here on Hunt Talk. Thanks to our friends at Meateater for using their platforms to raise this awareness. As painful as it is to read about, the more people are aware, the sooner the tides will turn back to the favor of cleaner air, cleaner water, and wild things.
When comment period is open, it will appear here -
https://www.regulations.gov/
I will try to post a direct link once the comment period has its own link.
www.themeateater.com
