European wildlife is largely privatized. A much smaller number of hunters are conditioned to pay more dearly for their passion than we in North America. Our forefathers set things up differently. After the excesses of the pioneering era, American wildlife was in tattered remnants. It was a long road back, and we were fortunate to have Theodore Roosevelt leading the charge. Roosevelt believed, and stated, that hunters and anglers should bear the brunt of funding for wildlife management and conservation and this is how our system, the “North American Model” of wildlife conservation and management, was set up and has evolved. We believe that wildlife is a public trust resource, held in stewardship by all. We also believe in democracy of hunting and fishing, that all citizens in good standing, subject to licensing and sensible harvest goals, should have access to the resource. It is these two principles that have created this largest hunting public on Earth, with relatively free access to tens of millions of acres of public land.
In return, as Roosevelt envisioned, we sportsmen and women foot the brunt of the bill for wildlife management. Our hunting and fishing licenses provide the basic funding for state agencies, but it was recognized many years ago that this wasn’t enough. The Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act, known as the Pittman-Robertson Act, passed into law in 1937, places a hefty 11 percent federal excise tax on firearms and ammunition. It was amended in 1975 to include bows, arrows and archery tackle. In 1950, a similar tax was added to fishing tackle. Passed on to state wildlife and fishery departments by the federal government, these taxes have raised billions of dollars for wildlife management. This, too, has never been enough, but American hunters also donate around a billion dollars annually to private conservation groups. Those groups obviously include our own Safari Club International and Foundation, but the list of pro-hunting conservation groups is long and varied.
On this continent we, the hunting and fishing public, provide the bulk of the funding so that wildlife can be enjoyed by all — hikers, bikers, boaters, photographers, anti-hunters, everyone. If not us, then who? Our system, funded by us, has developed over the past century, and in that time has restored our wildlife from rags to riches: Pronghorns from 5,000 with extinction predicted to more than a million; wild turkeys from 100,000 to seven million; whitetail deer from a half-million to 32 million; elk from 41,000 to more than a million. Our system has worked and is working…and there is no alternative funding.
In return, as Roosevelt envisioned, we sportsmen and women foot the brunt of the bill for wildlife management. Our hunting and fishing licenses provide the basic funding for state agencies, but it was recognized many years ago that this wasn’t enough. The Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act, known as the Pittman-Robertson Act, passed into law in 1937, places a hefty 11 percent federal excise tax on firearms and ammunition. It was amended in 1975 to include bows, arrows and archery tackle. In 1950, a similar tax was added to fishing tackle. Passed on to state wildlife and fishery departments by the federal government, these taxes have raised billions of dollars for wildlife management. This, too, has never been enough, but American hunters also donate around a billion dollars annually to private conservation groups. Those groups obviously include our own Safari Club International and Foundation, but the list of pro-hunting conservation groups is long and varied.
On this continent we, the hunting and fishing public, provide the bulk of the funding so that wildlife can be enjoyed by all — hikers, bikers, boaters, photographers, anti-hunters, everyone. If not us, then who? Our system, funded by us, has developed over the past century, and in that time has restored our wildlife from rags to riches: Pronghorns from 5,000 with extinction predicted to more than a million; wild turkeys from 100,000 to seven million; whitetail deer from a half-million to 32 million; elk from 41,000 to more than a million. Our system has worked and is working…and there is no alternative funding.
I understand agricultural practices and customs but it appears they were sideways with BLM for decades.
BLM has issues which we all agree, but it seems the family was determined to do it their way. Kongrats on the pardon!
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