Outdoor News Bulletin
The Foundation of Conservation is Cracked – Now What?
A special session from the 90th North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference sets the stage for evaluating the foundational elements of our conservation institutions
A special session at the 2025 North American Conference critically examined the foundations of our modern institutions of wildlife conservation. The inclusion of a Fair Chase ethic in the Boone and Crockett Club’s founding constitution (1888), Theodore Roosevelt’s Conservation as a National Duty speech (1908), Leopold’s American Game Policy (1930), and Allen’s North American Wildlife Policy (1973) provide key insights into the wildlife conservation establishment we currently enjoy.
In many cases, these “conservation statements of intent” emerged from periods of broader social, political, economic, and ecological disruption. They reflect a critical examination of what was important and necessary for the conservation community to continue its work. These statements give us insight toward a clear understanding of the relative authority of federal agencies, state agencies, and the private sector at the time of disruption. Then, using established collaborative processes, the conservation community worked out how best to achieve the recommended actions. These statements are products of their era, and their reflections of these eras are sometimes subtle, sometimes striking. Today’s wildlife professionals often define their work in part by what pieces they still use today, and which they see as vestiges more relevant to historical study than to wildlife conservation in our era.
Today, we already have adequate laws that can allow conservation work to continue. We, as a community, have developed much broader and deeper collaborative processes for input than have ever existed in history. Rather than start from nothing, we are positioned to evaluate the work we do, determine our central priorities, and decide who can do what. Then we can deliberate on allocating existing resources, plan for scenarios offering fewer resources, and consider new ways to succeed in framing the dire need for added resources in the future. Our collective ability to rise to this occasion will define our institutions of wildlife conservation for the decades to come.
Forging a new Framework
Special Session 1, titled “The Foundation of Conservation is Cracked – Now What?” served as a starting point for future discussions that the Wildlife Management Institute intends to lead in evaluating these foundational elements. Starting next month, we will be including the transcripts from the presenters of this special session in the Outdoor News Bulletin to share the context of our conservation history. This understanding of historical context will set the stage for discussions to evaluate our current framework for wildlife conservation policy. WMI, working with many partners, will build this framework on the foundational elements that have historically guided conservation efforts but update and expand the foundational elements to incorporate contemporary realities and future challenges.
Stay tuned, as over the course of the next several editions of the ONB we undertake a multi-part review, chronologically exploring these foundational elements of North American Conservation. We hope that you enjoy reading these transcripts and will engage in these discussions.
