September 2024

Conservation, as a science, has come a long way since the founding of the Boone and Crockett Club in 1887. We have witnessed the development of wildlife management specific curriculum in our colleges and universities, the creation of the USGS fish and wildlife cooperative research units, successful funding models in Pittman-Robertson and Dingell-Johnson, and policies, programs, and technologies that were unimaginable 100 years ago. The incredible evolution of the science and management of wildlife conservation and the successes we achieved are too numerous to adequately recount here. Yet challenges remain. Science, more broadly, has increasingly been under attack and questions and challenges to both science and scientists are currently at unprecedented levels. Covid and the ensuing pandemic it created demonstrated an apparent mistrust in science and scientists. Even more indicative of the science-denying vitriol is the necessary creation of a legal defense fund to aid in the defense of climate scientists from litigation challenging their objective and peer-reviewed findings related to climate change.

Imagine a person in the woods at dawn, with a bow or a gun, not just there to hunt, but to take care of nature. This person is a hunter in America, and they do a lot more than you might think. They help keep the number of animals just right so that the forests don't get too crowded or too empty, ensuring a balanced ecosystem where wildlife can thrive.