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04-28-2008, 01:28 PM
The North American Model of Wildlife Conservation as Means of Creating Wealth, Protecting Public Health while Generating Biodiversity.
Valerius Geist, Professor Emeritus of Environmental Science, The University of Calgary, Calgary Alberta, e-mail: kendulf@shaw.ca.
http://www.garrybreitkreuz.com/publications/2008/886.doc
Geist, V. 2006.
The North American Model of Wildlife Conservation: A means of creating wealth and protecting public health while generating biodiversity. pp. 285-293. In D.M. Lavigne (ed.). Gaining Ground: In Pursuit of Ecological Sustainability. International Fund for Animal Welfare, Guelph, Canada, and University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland, pp 285-293." (correct citation)
ABSTRACT. The North American Model of Wildlife Conservation arose as a continental conservation model in close cooperation between the United States and Canada in the first two decades of the 20th Century. Organized sportsmen were behind this new system of conserving wildlife. It grew and developed subsequently in populist fashion across many jurisdictions via a mixture of grassroots democracy and elite guidance. It quickly laid the groundwork for wildlife recovery so that wildlife populations reached great abundance, occasionally overabundance. It is based on a number of root-policies such as the public ownership of wildlife, the allocation of surplus wildlife by law, the prohibition of markets in dead wildlife, the killing of wildlife for cause only, the guidance of management via science, the management of wildlife between sovereign states by treaties. It was held together by a brotherhood of blue-collar hunters and anglers. Among its achievements are the restoration of wildlife continentally, the creation of a new profession: the wildlife biologist. It spawned a large number of sportsmen organizations that actively pursue the welfare of wildlife such as the venerable Boone & Crockett Club, The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Ducks Unlimited, The Foundation for North American Wild Sheep, The Mule Deer Foundation, The Wild Turkey Foundation and many others. It has generated a rich economy based on hunting, fishing and wildlife viewing in excess of $100 billion dollars annually. It has created a flourishing technology surrounding all hunting, fishing, viewing, hiking, camping, filming as well as rich markets in wildlife art. The general prohibition on keeping wildlife privately has protected public and live stock health by preventing a bridging for pathogens and parasites between humans, livestock and wildlife. Moreover, this prevented the mixing of a plethora of pathogens under domestic conditions as each species brought into captivity comes with its "zoo of pathogens". The SARS outbreak originating in farmed civet cats is a prime example. Unfortunately this splendid prohibition has been breached by game ranching with just the expected results. Wildlife is very meaningful to North Americans and provides the basis for effective wildlife conservation, the backbone of restoring North America's biodiversity.
Valerius Geist, Professor Emeritus of Environmental Science, The University of Calgary, Calgary Alberta, e-mail: kendulf@shaw.ca.
http://www.garrybreitkreuz.com/publications/2008/886.doc
Geist, V. 2006.
The North American Model of Wildlife Conservation: A means of creating wealth and protecting public health while generating biodiversity. pp. 285-293. In D.M. Lavigne (ed.). Gaining Ground: In Pursuit of Ecological Sustainability. International Fund for Animal Welfare, Guelph, Canada, and University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland, pp 285-293." (correct citation)
ABSTRACT. The North American Model of Wildlife Conservation arose as a continental conservation model in close cooperation between the United States and Canada in the first two decades of the 20th Century. Organized sportsmen were behind this new system of conserving wildlife. It grew and developed subsequently in populist fashion across many jurisdictions via a mixture of grassroots democracy and elite guidance. It quickly laid the groundwork for wildlife recovery so that wildlife populations reached great abundance, occasionally overabundance. It is based on a number of root-policies such as the public ownership of wildlife, the allocation of surplus wildlife by law, the prohibition of markets in dead wildlife, the killing of wildlife for cause only, the guidance of management via science, the management of wildlife between sovereign states by treaties. It was held together by a brotherhood of blue-collar hunters and anglers. Among its achievements are the restoration of wildlife continentally, the creation of a new profession: the wildlife biologist. It spawned a large number of sportsmen organizations that actively pursue the welfare of wildlife such as the venerable Boone & Crockett Club, The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Ducks Unlimited, The Foundation for North American Wild Sheep, The Mule Deer Foundation, The Wild Turkey Foundation and many others. It has generated a rich economy based on hunting, fishing and wildlife viewing in excess of $100 billion dollars annually. It has created a flourishing technology surrounding all hunting, fishing, viewing, hiking, camping, filming as well as rich markets in wildlife art. The general prohibition on keeping wildlife privately has protected public and live stock health by preventing a bridging for pathogens and parasites between humans, livestock and wildlife. Moreover, this prevented the mixing of a plethora of pathogens under domestic conditions as each species brought into captivity comes with its "zoo of pathogens". The SARS outbreak originating in farmed civet cats is a prime example. Unfortunately this splendid prohibition has been breached by game ranching with just the expected results. Wildlife is very meaningful to North Americans and provides the basis for effective wildlife conservation, the backbone of restoring North America's biodiversity.