There’s one main reason why North America boasts the greatest wildlife management system on the globe…and that’s because of the principles spelled out and maintained by the North American Wildlife Conservation Model.
Originated by our hunting forefathers who sought to manage, protect and permanently sustain wildlife populations, the model consists of seven basic tenets.
The fifth addresses non-frivolous use.
In North America, individuals may legally kill certain wild animals under strict guidelines for food and fur, self-defense and the protection of property.
However, laws are in place that strictly prohibit the casual killing of wildlife merely for antlers, horns or feathers.
Such past behavior pushed many species to the brink of extinction.
In the early 1900s, only 41,000 elk, 500,000 thousand whitetail deer and few ducks remained in North America.
Regulations created and maintained by wildlife managers that guide responsible, legal hunting –bolstered by vital funding generated by hunters– helped restore wildlife populations.
Today, there are more than one million elk, 32 million whitetail and 44 million ducks.
The conservation framework within the North American Model promotes wildlife diversity and abundance, and stands tall as a testimony that Hunting is Conservation.