When was the last time a moutain bike group published an ugulate count? Any ungulate, pick one. Or how about ATV clubs auditing wildlife habitat security? What about the extreme mountain climbers surveying Mountain Goat numbers? I can point to numerous hunting/angling organizations and independents that regularly participate in fish & wildlife conservation efforts. Why? Because they are invested in the resources, not just the geographical terrain as a playground or park.
In 1882 George Bird Grinnell wrote – “No woods, no game; no woods, no water; and no water, no fish.” I would add, “No hunting/angling public access, no conservation oversight.”
There is an adage that those who fail to learn the lessons from history are doomed to repeat it. In America, our wildlife and habitat conservation movement is inextricably linked with hunting and angling.
John Reiger, author of American Sportsmen and the Origins of Conservation, expressed, those who hunted and fished for pleasure, rather than commerce, were the spearhead of a conservation movement originating in the 1870's. Yet, it would do little good to conserve wildlife if it's habitat continued to shrink – eventually both would become extinct.
With the conservation movement came the vision of preserving large swaths of habitat for the preservation of fish and wildlife for “generations yet unborn”, not some small amount of animals in a zoo, but real habitat!
Forest and Stream magazine was founded in 1873, soon after purchased by George Bird Grinnell, to be a vehicle to educate and inspire the public. Their motto, “A weekly journal of field and aquatic sports, practical natural history, fish culture, protection of game, preservation of forests, and the inculcation of men and women of a healthy interest in out-door recreation and study.” They became one of the earliest wildlife conservation voices in the United States, influencing it's hunting, angling and camping readers.
George Bird Grinnell, a scientist, naturalist, hunter & angler, organizer of the first Audubon Society, considered one of the early fathers of America's conservation, desired to focus on habitat conservation and game laws. He became an editor of Forest and Stream in 1876, rising to senior editor, then publisher, purchased Forest and Stream in 1880, remaining until 1911. “Grinnell would use his unique position to wage one editorial crusade after another in behalf of 'conservation', a term that he was one of the first to use in regard to natural resources.”
Reiger wrote of Grinnell, “What tied together all of his editorial campaigns, and his extensive private efforts, was his earnest belief that Americans must take responsibility for the natural world upon which they depended, not only in a practical, economic sense, but in a spiritual one as well...Through his insightful editorials, Grinnell influenced, for the better, the thinking of countless hunters and fishermen, among them Theodore Roosevelt.”
In an 1882 Forest and Stream editorial, Grinnell wrote to his readers a recruiting call to arms of protecting forests, the understanding of how land, forests, wildlife, and water were intimately interconnected - “Here is a field for missionary work...” Closing the editorial, he stated, “No woods, no game; no woods, no water; and no water, no fish.” Yet, for the majority of hunters, anglers, hikers and campers, this missionary call might as well be pointless if there is not public access to our public lands and waters. As the “public”, your investment in these public natural resources is not just an ideology, it is your public boots on the ground; your eyes and ears on the landscape; your ensuring our public resources are available to the “generations yet unborn”.
While privatizers are stepping up their efforts to rob the public of their public lands and their outdoor opportunities, it is the hunter & angler that has the most at stake. The habitat is not just a sterile park you take your dog for a walk on; it is not just a trail to race your mountain bike or atv on to post on social media; nor is it just an extreme adventure adrenaline junkies destination. It is the wild and with that wildness comes fish & wildlife – fish & wildlife dependent on habitat, healthy habitat!
For the public hunting and angling North American Model to continue we need the wildness tripartate: habitat, resources and access. With access you can continue to enjoy your “healthy interest in out-door recreation and study” while answering Grinnell's 132 year old conservation call.
