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Conservation at a crossroads

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To me, conservation has always meant the wise use of natural resources.

This philosophy started a movement to conserve North America's wildlife and wild places more than a century ago, at a time when millions of wild animals and billions of wild fowl were being slaughtered and sold.

Witnessing this horrific waste -- and recoiling from it -- were forward-looking conservationists like U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, a hunter, and John Muir, also a naturalist. Roosevelt founded the Boone and Crockett Club in 1887 whose roots are in the conservation movement. Muir founded the Sierra Club in 1892, advocating preserving wild lands.

Roosevelt and Muir set the stage for a national parks system that spilled over into Canada. Also from this era came the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, arguably the most successful system that the world has seen.

Sadly, it came too late for the passenger pigeon. It is extinct. And buffalo no longer cover the prairies. But there have been great strides. In Ontario alone, white-tailed deer are at a high, wild turkeys and giant Canada geese are again thriving, and elk have gained a foothold back on their northern lands.

But are we at a crossroads in conservation? Many anglers and hunters think so and a renewed movement to edify conservation was evident last week at the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters annual wildlife conference in Mississauga.

Long-time conservationist Ed Hanna of DSS Management Consultants Inc. said hunters and anglers need to continue to educate society and politicians that natural areas and wildlife across North America are our precious, irreplaceable national capitol. They should continue to be conserved and used wisely, on a sustainable basis.

To Shane Mahoney, a reknowned biologist, hunting and angling are part of humanity. "It goes back to our ancient history and explains who and what we are," he said.

Mahoney makes no bones about who has led the conservation movement. "The history is clear, factual, and correct for anyone who wishes to examine it," he said. "Hunters and anglers have led conservation forever, not alone, but they have been the primary force."

Mahoney pleads for a renewed coalition for conservation: "It must be done in tolerance, tolerance of all views," he said. "I am glad there are people who oppose hunting because it reminds me every time a moose falls that I cannot for a second lose sight of the powerful significance of the fact I took its life."

Mahoney pointed out that poll after poll revealed up to 80% of North Americans supports the legal, fair pursuit and harvest of wildlife. 10% is opposed and 10% is passionately in favour. "The amazing statistic is not that 10% are opposed," he said. "10% oppose everything! The amazing statistic is that 80% hold common ground."

It is these people conservationists must reach with their message.

"Not just to share the magic of the natural world with those who believe in our philosophy," he said, "but to lead a coalition for conservation which will make it simply a matter of course that all governments, all societies, all nations place the conservation of nature alongside of justice, alongside of civil rights, alongside the right of every child to be educated, to be healthy, to be free, to be loved."

Indeed, a powerful statement. With visionaries like Mahoney continuing to champion the case for conservation, the future looks bright.