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Hunters:
Hunters as environmental
stewards
The
ruffed grouse flew to safety. Disappointment —
measured by two hunters in a discussion of angles,
speed, distance and reflexes — lingered in the air
for about three minutes. Late-afternoon sun
continued to warm this soggy patch of Addison along
Dead Creek one Saturday earlier this month. One
bird’s helicopter-like take-off and two shotgun
blasts proved to be the day’s only dramatic
interruption to a quiet rhythm of listening,
watching and catching scents. The outing was
declared a success. "Hunting," said Patrick Berry of
East Middlebury, “is not the same as shooting.” It’s
a maxim that resonates more frequently than rifle
fire during the 16-day deer season that ends today.
And it begs the question: What do hunters bring back
from woods and swamps — beside a sense of well-being
— even when they return empty handed? Criticism,
both from within and without the environmental
community, frames the question differently: Why does
our society indulge a hobby that celebrates the
taking of another creature’s life?
Wildlife
specialists respond in a nearly unanimous voice to
both questions: Hunters are among Vermont’s most
effective conservationists by virtue of what they
tell us about otherwise-overlooked land; by what
they spend to protect it; and yes — by what they
kill.
Read the article
Practical conservationists,
doing good works
Successful conservation in North
America has always been married to the Sportsmen. In Australia, it
works differently. We have a different hunting tradition to that of
the United States, but there are numerous examples of hunters
providing the money and wherewithal for practical conservation.
In South Australia, hunters have provided money and voluntary labour
for wetlands conservation. South Australian hunters have also
provided large sums of money and countless hours of voluntary labour
to set up and run
The Bunkers Conservation Park
in the State's far north for the endangered Yellow Footed Rock
Wallaby, an enterprise for which they have received recognition from the
Federal Government.
South Australian hunters, in association with the SA National Parks
Service, have also been at the forefront of efforts to control the
depredations of feral animals in national parks. These are all
examples of practical conservation at work unlike the noisy, but
ultimately useless efforts of many of the so-called
"conservationists" who, though well meaning, achieve little of
practical value.
The American system has much to commend it, and we can learn from
it, not least because of the fact that hunting is seen as a valuable
conservation tool in the United States. With the successful feral
animal control programs running in South Australia's National Parks,
that fact has also been realised by some state government agencies
in this country.
Efforts by members of the Sporting Shooters' Association of
Australia (South Australian Branch) Inc., have saved the State
Government millions of dollars. All work is voluntary and costs the
State nothing. Shooters pay their own way, happy to fulfil a
community service. They are playing a vital role in the
rehabilitation of vast areas of the outback affected by the
depredations of animals released by pioneers in the early years of
settlement.
Hunters are the
key to practical conservation
There is no one simple
answer to controlling introduced species on private
properties, public forests and parks across
Australia. The Sporting Shooters’ Association of
Australia (SSAA National) agrees that we must use
all control methods available to address our
introduced and native wildlife management issues.
Such methods include fencing, baiting, trapping and
selective shooting.
More than 80 per cent
of the SSAA’s 130,000 members across the country
voluntarily put their own time, money and resources
into hunting. Members target key introduced species
such as rabbits, foxes, feral cats, goats, dogs and
pigs, which cause a variety of environmental and
economic impacts in Australia.
Despite what some critics of
hunting may say, the vast majority of hunters are
not just after trophy hunting opportunities. None of
the aforementioned species are seen as trophy
species, but are the intended target of most hunters
across the country. Introduced species control is
not about trophy hunting; it’s about reducing the
population to an acceptable and manageable level.
This reduction is best achieved by a multifaceted
approach including shooting, trapping and other
control methods.
Press Release
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