America's Big Conservation Issue
Sept 15, 2021 17:29:13 GMT -5
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Post by smedz on Sept 15, 2021 17:29:13 GMT -5
America's Big Conservation Issue
Gabriel Smedley
The United States is a beautiful country. With it’s high mountains, large canyons, and thick woodlands, one can’t help but feel they’re in one of the most beautiful places on earth. With so many landscapes, it comes as no surprise that we have lots of wildlife. Species that were once on the brink of extinction have rebounded from the overexploitation in the times of the pioneers. Elk, White-tailed Deer, Wild Turkey, and Pronghorn Antelope have recovered from those turbulent times. Yet, behind all of this success, there is a dark side, one that involves those with very important roles in the ecosystem: the predators. While prey species such as deer get lots of good treatment, predators are treated negatively. I could make a list of the horrendous things we do to predators in this country, but here I will focus my attention on the two premier top predators, the cougar or puma or mountain lion and the gray wolf.
There are many differences between the two, but one thing they do have in common is that the states have been very hostile to them. In Idaho, the Idaho Fish and Game department has lifted their quota for many of their hunting districts on cougars for the next hunting season. Meanwhile in Utah, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources has lifted hunting restrictions on cougars in 33 of 53 of their hunting districts. In Colorado, Colorado, Wildlife, and Parks department wants to kill more cougars to try boosting the mule deer population. In the state of Texas, there are no hunting restrictions on cougars whatsoever and both South Dakota and Nebraska have small cougar populations, the population in Nebraska that’s hunted is only around 34 adults and the other too populations are too small to get a proper estimate. As of late, the state of Florida hasn’t been that much better as the US Fish and Wildlife Service has been sanctioning off Florida Panther habitat to development, including a newly approved town in Collier County and at the same time, they want to allow thousands of more people into the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge.
Wolves have received far worse treatment. Mexican Wolves, although their numbers have grown, the Arizona Game and Fish Department doesn’t allow them to go above a certain interstate. In the state of Wyoming, in 85% of the state, wolves aren’t protected by any laws and a person can kill as many as they want without a license. In Montana, several anti-wol bills were signed into law with the goal of killing 85% of the wolf population and in Idaho, a bill was signed, allowing 90% of the wolf population to be killed. In February in Wisconsin, hunters killed 216 wolves in just three days, causing the hunting season to be closed early, and this hunt was rushed due to a lawsuit from a group called Hunter Nation, they won the lawsuit and that forced the hunt to happen so early.
As one can see, the conservation of these animals is rather poor, but like with everything, this has a cause. The cause is that the wildlife management machine doesn’t want these animals to do better. The operators of the machine are hunters, anglers, the staff who work at the game agencies (most of them), the big groups that represent management-minded biologists and what they want, and their political connections to gun groups like the NRA and big hunting groups such as Safari Club International. The thing these people want are game populations just below their carrying capacities, but high enough to create a harvestable surplus of animals. In other words they want to keep America what it is: a gigantic game farm. But there are things they see as threats to that goal, large predator populations and people who want a voice in wildlife management. Every animal killed by a wolf pack or a cougar, in their minds, means one less animal for them personally to kill (no, not “harvest” don’t give me that crap), therefore, a fully recovered wolf population and an expanding cougar population in their view doesn’t help them, so they don’t want that. The growing number of people who love wild animals for their intrinsic value are another thing they see as a threat because they want a voice in how wildlife is managed. They don’t want any other groups of people to have power in wildlife management because that means they won’t always get what they want, and they’ve come up with three ways to keep their power.
The political alliances mentioned earlier block and undermine efforts to get sources of income to the game agencies from the non-hunting public and to increase inclusivity in wildlife management decision making because the minute let’s say, birdwatchers start funding game agencies, the staff will have to listen to them, and by blocking money coming from other groups of people who enjoy nature, they ensure they have their power.
Hunters and hunting groups always point to the NAM or North American Model of Wildlife Conservation to show people how hunters are conservationists. When one looks at the model itself, it’s clearly a hunting model. This isn’t a conservation model. Rather it’s a tool used by hunting groups to brainwash people into thinking hunting is conservation, that hunters know what’s best for wildlife, and that wildlife must be hunted to be saved. This works for the most part, but there are exceptions, and that’s where the third strategy comes in.
The third strategy is the public comment periods they have and the public meetings that are set up. Non-hunters go to these and try making their voice heard or they type their thoughts to the agencies themselves. These however are fake, they’re put in place to give people the idea or feeling that they have a say in wildlife management. They don’t. Only hunters and their allies have a voice in wildlife management because they're the ones paying the game agencies to manage game species for them to kill. Why am I bothering writing about other people not having a say in wildlife management? That’s because animal enthusiasts love predators and will be supportive of their conservation, and the wildlife management machine operators know it. This will not get better unless something is done to diversify funding for the agencies and we all have a seat at the table for the conservation of our wildlife, especially for our predators.
Gabriel Smedley
The United States is a beautiful country. With it’s high mountains, large canyons, and thick woodlands, one can’t help but feel they’re in one of the most beautiful places on earth. With so many landscapes, it comes as no surprise that we have lots of wildlife. Species that were once on the brink of extinction have rebounded from the overexploitation in the times of the pioneers. Elk, White-tailed Deer, Wild Turkey, and Pronghorn Antelope have recovered from those turbulent times. Yet, behind all of this success, there is a dark side, one that involves those with very important roles in the ecosystem: the predators. While prey species such as deer get lots of good treatment, predators are treated negatively. I could make a list of the horrendous things we do to predators in this country, but here I will focus my attention on the two premier top predators, the cougar or puma or mountain lion and the gray wolf.
There are many differences between the two, but one thing they do have in common is that the states have been very hostile to them. In Idaho, the Idaho Fish and Game department has lifted their quota for many of their hunting districts on cougars for the next hunting season. Meanwhile in Utah, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources has lifted hunting restrictions on cougars in 33 of 53 of their hunting districts. In Colorado, Colorado, Wildlife, and Parks department wants to kill more cougars to try boosting the mule deer population. In the state of Texas, there are no hunting restrictions on cougars whatsoever and both South Dakota and Nebraska have small cougar populations, the population in Nebraska that’s hunted is only around 34 adults and the other too populations are too small to get a proper estimate. As of late, the state of Florida hasn’t been that much better as the US Fish and Wildlife Service has been sanctioning off Florida Panther habitat to development, including a newly approved town in Collier County and at the same time, they want to allow thousands of more people into the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge.
Wolves have received far worse treatment. Mexican Wolves, although their numbers have grown, the Arizona Game and Fish Department doesn’t allow them to go above a certain interstate. In the state of Wyoming, in 85% of the state, wolves aren’t protected by any laws and a person can kill as many as they want without a license. In Montana, several anti-wol bills were signed into law with the goal of killing 85% of the wolf population and in Idaho, a bill was signed, allowing 90% of the wolf population to be killed. In February in Wisconsin, hunters killed 216 wolves in just three days, causing the hunting season to be closed early, and this hunt was rushed due to a lawsuit from a group called Hunter Nation, they won the lawsuit and that forced the hunt to happen so early.
As one can see, the conservation of these animals is rather poor, but like with everything, this has a cause. The cause is that the wildlife management machine doesn’t want these animals to do better. The operators of the machine are hunters, anglers, the staff who work at the game agencies (most of them), the big groups that represent management-minded biologists and what they want, and their political connections to gun groups like the NRA and big hunting groups such as Safari Club International. The thing these people want are game populations just below their carrying capacities, but high enough to create a harvestable surplus of animals. In other words they want to keep America what it is: a gigantic game farm. But there are things they see as threats to that goal, large predator populations and people who want a voice in wildlife management. Every animal killed by a wolf pack or a cougar, in their minds, means one less animal for them personally to kill (no, not “harvest” don’t give me that crap), therefore, a fully recovered wolf population and an expanding cougar population in their view doesn’t help them, so they don’t want that. The growing number of people who love wild animals for their intrinsic value are another thing they see as a threat because they want a voice in how wildlife is managed. They don’t want any other groups of people to have power in wildlife management because that means they won’t always get what they want, and they’ve come up with three ways to keep their power.
The political alliances mentioned earlier block and undermine efforts to get sources of income to the game agencies from the non-hunting public and to increase inclusivity in wildlife management decision making because the minute let’s say, birdwatchers start funding game agencies, the staff will have to listen to them, and by blocking money coming from other groups of people who enjoy nature, they ensure they have their power.
Hunters and hunting groups always point to the NAM or North American Model of Wildlife Conservation to show people how hunters are conservationists. When one looks at the model itself, it’s clearly a hunting model. This isn’t a conservation model. Rather it’s a tool used by hunting groups to brainwash people into thinking hunting is conservation, that hunters know what’s best for wildlife, and that wildlife must be hunted to be saved. This works for the most part, but there are exceptions, and that’s where the third strategy comes in.
The third strategy is the public comment periods they have and the public meetings that are set up. Non-hunters go to these and try making their voice heard or they type their thoughts to the agencies themselves. These however are fake, they’re put in place to give people the idea or feeling that they have a say in wildlife management. They don’t. Only hunters and their allies have a voice in wildlife management because they're the ones paying the game agencies to manage game species for them to kill. Why am I bothering writing about other people not having a say in wildlife management? That’s because animal enthusiasts love predators and will be supportive of their conservation, and the wildlife management machine operators know it. This will not get better unless something is done to diversify funding for the agencies and we all have a seat at the table for the conservation of our wildlife, especially for our predators.
