Distinctly Montana Magazine

D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A • FA L L 2 0 1 8 66 M O N TA N A i n HUNTING SO. THE YEAR IS 2048. DO YOU THINK HUNTING AS A SPORT WILL INCREASE OR DECLINE IN POPULARITY? (WHY?) If there is one thing our hunting predecessors have taught us it is that the future of hunting will be what we dedicate ourselves to making it. We must address three fundamental issues if we want hunting to survive and prosper. e first of them is dedicat- ing ourselves to ethical fair chase principles—and mean it! e second is preserving the democracy of the wild as articulated in the North American Model of Wildlife Restoration—that means wildlife is a public resource and every citizen has the right and opportunity to hunt. e third is to preserve and restore the wild lands the animals need to be secure and prosper. If we can move these three items in a positive direction hunting and the animals we pursue will be sustained, maybe even prosper. WHAT ARE THE GREATEST THREATS TO THE SPORT OVER THE NEXT 30 YEARS? e greatest threats to the North American hunting legacy remain what they were throughout Euro- pean settlement of our continent. Leading the list of threats was and remains the commercialization of our relationship with the wild. A close second greatest threat remains persistent efforts to privatize the activity. Both of these activities weaken the social and cultural fabric responsible for one the greatest environ- mental achievements in human his- tory—the restoration of North America's wildlife as a public trust. America was only 66-years-old when our Supreme Court ruled, that because the Declaration of Independence declared the people to be the sovereign, the rights and privileges of royalty passed to the people (Martin v. Wadell). In other words the king's deer became, and remain, the people's game. As that relationship is eroded, compromised or lost, the hunt as we have known it will be doomed. WILL CHANGES IN HUNTING IMPACT HOW BOW HUNTERS OR GUN HUNTERS APPROACH THE SPORT? Hunting was and will always be a primal relation- ship between the hunter and the hunted. at will never change. Some people are born with it and some people are not. What has and will continue to change is the environment or habitat that produces and protects the wild amenities and experiences hunters seek, and maybe even need. e degree of alteration or degra- dation of the habitat security wildlife requires, toler- ated by hunters of today, will determine how hunters 30 years from now will approach and experience the wild—or its remnant. WHAT IS THE IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC LANDS PRESERVA- TION TO THE FUTURE OF HUNTING? Public lands were and will remain essential to the future of hunt- ing. When wildlife populations of entire continent were in peril in the 19th century hunters stepped forward and took two huge steps toward wildlife conservation and restoration. Step one was to introduce the sporting code as an alternative to the unrestrained commercial killing. Step two was to authorize U. S. Presidents to set aside portions of the public estate for forest protection and wildlife restoration. Had hunt- ers not led the way at the close of the 19th century few if any of us would have hunted and we would not be having this conversation today. ese lands were and remain our best shot at preserv- ing public hunting and nurturing the democracy of the wild. ere simply has to be public access to outdoor amenities for everyone if fish, wildlife, and the environment they need to survive will be maintained and enhanced within a democracy. HOW CAN WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT CONTRIBUTE TO THE SURVIVAL OF HUNTING AS A SPORT? Wildlife management took a giant step forward during one of our nation's darkest economic and en- vironmental periods. e "Great Economic Depression" and the "Drought/Dust Bowl" of a decade we labeled the "Dirty irties" put our PUBLIC LANDS WERE AND WILL REMAIN ESSENTIAL TO THE FUTURE OF HUNTING. yea rs 3

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