TheNorth American Model of Wildlife Conservation: Relic or Relevant?

1. TheNorth American Model of Wildlife Conservation:Relic or Relevant? John F. Organ John E. McDonald U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service University of Massachusetts, Amherst

2. North American Wildlife Conservation Precepts • Wildlife is a public resource: governments conserve for future generations • Wildlife has value when alive • Uncontrolled use leading to decline & extinction unacceptable • Wildlife can be used sustainably

3. Principles of Use • Use serves a practical purpose • Species or Population is not threatened or endangered • Method of take is considered acceptable

4. Pre-1901 • Charles Hallock • Founded Forest & Stream magazine • George Bird Grinnell • Bought out Hallock and continued his theme • Concept of the Code of the Sportsman • Boone & Crockett Club 1887 • First organization to deal with national scale conservation issues

5. Roosevelt Era • After McKinley assassinated September 1901 Theodore Roosevelt becomes President • Begins to implement, at a national scale, the conservation ideas developed in concert with Grinnell • 1908 Governor’s Conference on Conservation • “Conservation as a National Duty”

6. 1930 AMERICAN GAME POLICY • Land acquisition • Partnerships:Landowners/ Hunters/Public • Experiment state-by-state ways partnership yields management • Research (find facts) • Joint conservation program with hunters and protectionists together with scientists and landowners • Establish wildlife management profession • Adequate, equitable, secure $

7. 1930’s Conservation Milestones • Duck Stamp Act • Cooperative Wildlife Research Units • Beginning of North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference and The Wildlife Society • Wildlife Restoration Act (Pittman - Robertson) • Established secure funding stream based on user-pay idea • Protected state license funds • Promoted development of wildlife science

8. North American Model:Origin of a Concept

9. NA Model:Origin of a Concept • As Wildlife Conservation emerged in North America a distinct form developed • 7 Components essentially define the Concept • The 7 Components or Principles are not all unique to North America, but their collective association is • The NA Model is flexible and adaptable, yet true to underlying principles

10. North American Model of Wildlife Conservation • Wildlife as Public Trust Resources • Elimination of Markets for Game • Allocation of Wildlife by Law • Wildlife can only be killed for a Legitimate Purpose • Wildlife is considered an International Resource • Science is the proper tool for discharge of Wildlife Policy • Democracy of Hunting

11. North American Model of Wildlife Conservation • Geist, V., and I. McTaggart-Cowan. 1995. Wildlife Conservation Policy Detselig Press, Calgary, AB • Geist, V., S.P. Mahoney, and J.F. Organ. 2001. Why Hunting Has Defined the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation Trans. North Amer. Wildl. Natur. Res. Conf. 66:175-185. • Geist, V., and J.F. Organ. 2004. The Public Trust Foundation of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation Northeast Wildlife, 58:49-56. • Prukop, J., and R.J. Regan. 2005. The Value of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation – an IAFWA Position Wildl. Soc. Bull. 33:374-377.

12. http://issuu.com/the-wildlife-professional/docs/twpfall2010

13. 1. Wildlife as Public Trust Resources

14. The Public Trust Doctrine • U.S. Supreme Court Ruling in 1842 • Magna Carta 1215 • Roman Law 2nd Century A.D. • Ancient Greek Natural Law

15. Solidifying the Public Trust • Concept of a Public Legal Right • Enforceable against the Government • Consistent with Contemporary Concerns

16. Public Trust as Law(where the rubber meets the road) • Public Trust is Common Law (Judge-made Law) • Public Trust is State Law • Public Trust is Property Law

17. Solidifying the Public Trust • Government’s general obligation to act in public interest vs. greater obligation as a trustee • Does PTD equate to a judicially enforceable right? • Should it be illegal to reduce a free-ranging live amphibian or reptile to private ownership?

18. 2. Elimination of Markets for Game • “Commons” Theory • Rapid declines when value placed on dead wildlife

19. Elimination of Markets for Game • Traditional Game Animals vs. Amphibians and Reptiles?

20. Elimination of Markets for Game • American Alligator Conservation and the Market • Overabundant species? Deer, geese, nutria?

21. 3. Allocation of Wildlife by Law • Wildlife are not allocated by market, birth right, land ownership, or special privilege • Public input into allocation provides opportunity for all citizens to be involved in wildlife management • Secures the Trust for future generations

22. Allocation of Wildlife by Law

23. 4. Wildlife can only be killed for a Legitimate Purpose • Food, Fur, Self-Defense, Property Protection • Laws define acceptable purpose for take • Code of sportsman mandates use without waste

24. Wildlife can only be killed for a Legitimate Purpose We don’t afford all species and taxa equal standing….

25. 5. Wildlife is an International Resource • Recognition that wildlife transcend boundaries • One Nation’s management can affect the other’s resources • C. Gordon Hewitt • CITES

26. Wildlife Considered an International Resource • Do we really consider wildlife an international resource, or are we really just trying to make sure our neighbors don’t shoot our ducks before we get a chance? • Species that are relatively abundant overall in North America are listed under US ESA

27. 6. Science is the Proper Tool for Discharge of Wildlife Policy

28. Roosevelt Doctrine • Recognized “Outdoor Resources” as one integral whole • “Conservation through wise use” a public responsibility, and private ownership a public trust • Recognized science as a tool for discharging that responsibility, repeated later by Leopold

29. Science as an Effective Tool • Adaptive Management approaches • Adaptive Resource Management • Adaptive Harvest Management • Adaptive Impact Management • Learning Through Management!

30. Science is proper tool for discharging Wildlife Policy? • Politics will almost always supercede science • Science must be effective in influencing the political landscape

31. 7. Democracy of Hunting • Regardless of Land Ownership, Birthright, or Special Privilege • Abide by Societal Rules (Laws, Regulations) • North America: broad interest in maintaining wildlife (all are stakeholders)

32. Democracy of Hunting • Reduced access to land • Increased fee-based hunting • Shrinking societal support • Wildlife as pests rather rather than resources

33. Do All Wildlife Fall Within the NA Model? • YES, but…….. • Social, Institutional, and Cultural barriers inhibit full embrace • Closing the Gap requires: • Broad-based non-user-pay funding – State and Federal • Greater public awareness and appreciation • Furthering the partnerships (e.g., PARC) • Trusteeship in governance