Wildlife populations are thriving today, but that is a far cry from when America’s wildlife was in crisis back in the mid-1800s.
Populations were on the brink due to commercialized or market hunting so hunters like Theodore Roosevelt, Aldo Leopold and others took bold action to stop the decline.
They created a set of guidelines that later became known as the North American Wildlife Conservation Model which maintains wildlife belong to everyone and need to be managed to forever strengthen and support populations.
Of the model’s seven basic principles, the seventh focuses on scientific management.
Plain and simple, sound science is essential to managing and sustaining North America’s wildlife and its habitats.
Researchers carry out scientific studies to track population size and migration, prey versus predator relationships, effects of disease, forage needs and other research to manage for ideal herd sizes to match habitat carrying capacities. .
Science allows wildlife managers to use the gathered data in conjunction with precise hunting regulations to manage for thriving and healthy herds as well as healthy habitats.
This continuing conservation framework known as the North American Model, established and still financially supported by hunters, promotes wildlife diversity and abundance, and stands as a witness that Hunting is Conservation.