1. Wildlife Science Chapter 5 Our Wildlife Resources

2. A History of Wildlife Management in the United States

3. To think straight on recreational quality, a historical perspective is essential - Aldo Leopold, 1942

4. Neither luck nor accident Hard, purposeful work The Abundance We Enjoy…

5. All of us have some level of wildlife experiences and appreciation for wild things But there was a time - when the 19th century was drawing to a close - when we almost lost it all…

6. America’s wildlife law has as its foundation English common law English common law was based on principles found in early Roman law Wild animals, by their very nature, do not have an owner

7. “Modern” English government was a succession of kings I think I’ll keep the good stuff for myself! 1215 - The Magna Carta Uh, oh 

8. For Centuries, the class struggle continued…  The wolf Poaching was rampant… Six species of British Isles wildlife slipped into extinction…  The beaver  The auroch  The wild boar  The reindeer  The brown bear

9. As Europeans settled the shores of North America, hunting and fishing became routine chores, with little discussion over whether such activities were rights or necessities However, the clear impression was that wildlife ownership still did not rest with the people 1492

10. A man digging oysters along the Raritan River (New Jersey) brought the issue to a head 1842 U.S. Supreme Court… became immediately and rightfully vested in the state

11. Thus was established the concept of There are some things so valuable to all of us that they cannot be owned by any individual In the United States, these things are:  Air  Water  Fish  Wildlife Public Trust

12. The concept was liberally applied and market “hunters” took advantage Wildlife was considered a limitless “crop” to be harvested We turned our wildlife over to commerce to make decisions regarding its future Wildlife was owned by no one and available to everyone

13. Continent-wide, it was wildlife’s darkest hour…

14. Subsistence hunting and commercial killing (that is, for sale) was a plague upon this new land Probably no other species represents this sad page in America’s wildlife management history like the bison

15. Prior to the arrival of European man, there were an estimated 100 million bison roaming the high plains of North America, from sub-arctic Canada to Mexico

16. 1801 - Colonel John Kelly kills the last Pennsylvania bison, three years before Lewis and Clark began their historic journey west 1871 – Montana law closed bison hunt 1872 – YNP established 200,000 bison die

17. 1876 – buffalo hide shipments from Fort Benton (Montana Territory) peak at 80,000 1884 – buffalo hide shipments drop to zero

18. With bison difficult to find, commercial killers turned their sights on other game animals In 1881: 5,000 elk hides 20,000 deer hides 53,000 pronghorn hides

19. As the 20 th Century approached, John Phillips tracked a deer “I am done ” “I think I have killed the last deer in Pennsylvania”

20. Some species never emerged from the darkness… 1904 – Carolina Parakeet Audubon’s Sheep – 18??

21. 1850 Passenger Pigeons numbered in the billons… 64 years later – there were none…

22. As the 19 th Century drew to a close …  Trumpeter Swan  Snowy Egret  Pronghorn  White-tailed Deer  Wild Turkey  Beaver  Wood Duck

23. Even as these tragedies unfolded across the North American Continent, an extraordinary American was taking up residence in North Dakota… Theodore Roosevelt  Hunter  Conservationist

24. 1888 – Bison hunting in Montana “I gazed on these bison, themselves part of the last remnant of a doomed and nearly vanished race. Few, indeed, are the men who now have, or ever more shall have, the chance of seeing the mightiest of American beasts, in all his wild vigor, surrounded by the tremendous desolation of his far-off mountain home”

25. Hunting experiences shaped Roosevelt’s conservation ethic… “above all else, we should realize that the effort toward this end is essentially a democratic movement. It is…in our power… to preserve large tracts of wilderness… and to preserve game…for…all lovers of nature, and to give reasonable opportunities for the exercise of the skill of the hunter, whether he is or is not a man of means”

26. Others felt the same way “Not In America” They had seen the European “model” of wildlife management and found it lacking They concluded:

27. 1901 – Hunting in the Adirondacks Gifford Pinchot Father of Conservation Together, they coined the term “Conservation” “There can be no greater issue than that of conservation in this country”

28. U.S. Forest Service 1910 – Forest Reserves  150 National Forests  172 million acres 1905 – Forest Reserves  60 Units  56 million acres

29. Game laws and law enforcement were the focus in those early years “Dirty Thirties” and the Depression

30. Jay “Ding” Darling From this period emerged a new generation of conservation leaders Aldo Leopold First Director USFWS First President NWF Father of Wildlife Management

31. Wildlife Restoration Act 1937 90 days - drafting to signing Last Piece Wildlife Conservation Puzzle September 2, 1937

32. Broaden Wildlife Conservation Focus: Legislation produced millions of dollars for state wildlife agencies  Wildlife Research  Hunter Education  Habitat Acquisition  Wildlife Management

33. And Wildlife Has Responded… In 1940, the entire deer harvest in Oklahoma was 318 deer Today, deer management in Oklahoma sustains an annual harvest of 50,000 animals

34. In Pennsylvania where the last deer was killed around 1899 The state now sustains annual harvest of nearly 400,000 animals 1n 1920, fewer than 25,000 pronghorn in the U.S. 750,000+ pronghorn today

35. Some Species Needed More Help… Citizen Organizations stepped in 1997 – 604,000 members 7.5 million acres of wetlands created 15,000 miles of waterfowl shoreline

36. If you are under 40 years of age, you were witness to the largest flight of waterfowl in North America (1997) than during any other year in your lifetime

37. Wood Duck… Once on the brink of extinction, it is now the most common breeding species in the eastern U.S.

38. When Roosevelt was in the White House… 41,000 elk left in North America <100,000 wild turkeys Today – 4 million Today – 800,000 <500,000 white-tailed deer Today – 18 million (124,000 in Idaho)

39. The United States is the Global Leader in the Area of Wildlife Conservation and Management Additional work remains to be done…

40. Habitat is the Key Lessons Learned… Wherever the environment is not overrun by civilization, hunters, landowners and wildlife managers are sustaining a precious value: wildness and the wildlife it can sustain, all across North America

41. Sustaining wildlife in the face of continued human growth and habitat loss The Challenge Ahead…

42. Since the 1820s, some 35 species of birds and mammals have become extinct in the United States as a result of human activities… What will the tally be tomorrow?