Updated: Mar 4
Sportsmen and women belong to the largest group of true conservationists in the world, the American outdoor sportsman. Since 1938, we sportsmen and women have contributed over $10 billion to conservation projects. Whitetail deer populations were brought back from less than 500,000 to over 32,000,000 today. In 1901, few ducks remained. Today, there are more than 46,000,000 in the US and Canada. Majestic Rocky Mountain Elk populations were down to about 41,000 in the early 1900s. Now, elk populations across 23 states total approximately 1,000,000. Wild Turkey populations have rebounded from 100,000 birds to 7,000,000 birds. The Pronghorn Antelope population was down to 12,000. Today, the numbers have rebounded to more than 1,100,000 animals.
We have done this work very quietly over time, rarely tooting our horn for a job well done. We have stood silent while being falsely labeled as “non-conservationists”. Instead, we just bulled our necks and did more conservation work. We are a very loose knit group of conservationists doing work that benefits even those who would label us. We also believe in the wise use of the resource we are stewards over. Thus, if we must have a label, then let us be labeled “Wise-use Conservationists” (borrowed from Theodore Roosevelt’s time).
As a sportsman and a “Wise-use Conservationist" I believe good stewardship also includes the wise use of our resources. As a sportsman I firmly believe in personal property rights. As a sportsman I also believe in public access to public lands. As a fellow sportsman sharing similar views, I ask that you vote for me in November.