Distinctly Montana Magazine

W W W. D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA NA . C O M 67 INTERVIEW WITH JIM POSEWITZ CONSERVATIONIST entire country under severe stress. In the middle of that dismal decade hunters and firearm/ammunition manufacturers stepped up and agreed to impose a significant excise tax on themselves for wildlife restoration. For hunters, for the associated industry, and for wildlife, it was our finest hour. e legislation was the Pittman- Robertson Act and its impact took Montana from being the 'bone- yard' of a continent to the 'Last Best Place' for wildlife. HOW MIGHT TECHNOLOGY CHANGE THE WAY HUNTING IS DONE IN THE FUTURE? It is a certainty that entities seeking to capitalize on and com- mercialize the relationship between hunters and the hunted will continue to shorten and ease the path between the hunter and hunted. Only the hunter can determine the point and purpose of it all. Very few of the technological entrepreneurs stalking the perimeter of the hunt are developing technologies to keep the hunted more secure. At this point we must pause to recognize and appreciate the fact that during wildlife's darkest hour gun and ammo manufacturers stepped up and agreed to a severance tax on their products dedicated to wildlife restoration. at step worked miracles in field and forest. Extending that concept to other wildlife-related businesses now hits a stone wall of corporate resistance. Unless that barrier can be crossed it is hard to see evolv- ing technologies as doing anything but demeaning hunting as they strip the limited security currently provided for the hunted. DESCRIBE HOW CONSERVATION AND GOOD STEWARDSHIP MIGHT PRESERVE HUNTING IN 2048. We have had good ideas on how we might preserve hunting into the future but to date have not utilized them. e best of them came from a process called the Governor's Symposium on the North American Hunting Heritage. It was a seven-symposia series started in the early 1990s by Governor Stan Stevens of Montana. It came as a result of a nation-wide outrage over the fact the Mon- tana law demanded that every bison stepping into Montana from Yellowstone National Park be killed. Park rangers and state game wardens were leading the shooters to each 'guilty' bison. Public outcry escalated with each shooting and when the carcass count exceeded 500 it became a roar. e critics included anti-hunting groups and individuals fueled by what had rightfully become a national scandal. e symposium series focused on two points: the conservation history of wildlife restoration across North America; and, the role played in that restoration by recreational hunters. In the process the symposia also led to an articulation of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation and resolutions pledging to teach these truths to hunters and non-hunters in North America. e degree to which the continuing education was done remains to be measured. JIM POSEWITZ was born in 1935. After introducing himself to the joys of hunting, fishing and trapping he moved to Montana in 1953 pursuing fish and wildlife management studies. After graduation from Montana State University he spent 32 years with the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, leading the agency's ecological program for 15 years. In 1993, Jim founded Orion The Hunter's Institute, a nonprofit conservation organization dedicated to the preservation of ethical hunting and wild resources essential to that purpose. In associa- tion with that work Jim has published five books: Beyond Fair Chase; Inherit The Hunt; Rifle in Hand—How Wild America was Saved, Taking a Bullet for Conservation—The Bull Moose Party, a Centennial Reflection 1912-2012, and his latest, an autobiography, My Best Shot. In addition to Orion, Jim served as executive direc- tor of the Cinnabar Foundation since its inception in 1983 until May of 2010. Cinnabar awards environmental protection and wild- life conservation grants in Montana and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. At the first of these symposia what hunters need to do was well articulated by Jay Hair, at the time head of the National Wildlife Federation. He said: "e choice is clear, we either lead or become irrelevant." at was true when spoken, it is true today almost 30 years later, and it will be true in 2048. As more and more people are attracted to the outdoors and our remnant wild places the risk of our irrelevance grows. When wildlife conservation and restoration was new it was the hunter who made it happen. When a public estate was needed it was the hunter who set aside forests and wild lands. When waterfowl need ponds and international management the hunters led the way. When America hit the "Dirty irties" it was the hunter who led wildlife conservation out of the mire. To this day new hunter-based conservation groups like Back- country Hunters and Anglers form to lead campaigns for wild land and ethical pursuit. If nothing else these people demonstrate that the fire is still in the hunter's soul and they have a way of finding the leadership needed to give us hope. Now it is your turn. Find a group of hunters going your way, join them, and then as one—Take your Best Shot!

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