I am a Texan. I hunt. I fish. I am a member of Ducks Unlimited and the Coastal Conservation Association. My room is adorned with my trophies taken from places ranging from the Piney Woods to the Great Plains. I eat what I harvest from the land. I own weapons: shotguns, rifles, and bows, all the tools of my passion. I respect the land I tread through, yet, some consider me a threat to the environment. They classify me as a force of destruction within an ecosystem. Too many Liberals inhabiting the large cities of the east and west coast, having appropriated the label of environmentalism, seek to impede the tradition of hunting and taking game from our nation’s natural habitats. While I shun the liberal stance supporting gun control, I am critical of liberals claiming to be environmentalists.
The prevalent notion of environmentalism stems from some liberal activism in recent years, trending towards conservation of the earth and working towards a cleaner environment. This movement has coined the term going green, producing an over abundance of young people toting blue plastic bags picking up litter. This idea is noble, yes, but it has led to an arrogant claim on the environment. The movement has anointed itself the protectors of our nation’s natural beauties. The public, witnessing the spearheading of the cleaning of parks, lakes, and recreation areas by these activists, concludes that these environmentalists’ right to be protectorates of the land supersedes all others. The reality, however, is different. Hunting and fishing conservation agencies also serve as protectors of the land. In fact, their donations to conservation efforts far exceed the so-called environmentalists’. Trust the people who know the land, who love the land.
Modernist, liberal environmentalists stick to several highly visual places to protest, such as the red wood forests, coral reefs, and Appalachian mountain trails. Their conservation efforts focus on keeping people from using the land. However, hunters, fishermen, and campers, conserve the land for use. Their conservation efforts can be seen in a myriad of places. From the migratory waterfowl habitat water systems of eastern Nebraska to the Elk populations roaming the Rocky mountain range in Colorado to the lolling Hill Country of central Texas where Whitetail deer grow fat, hunter conservation flourishes. The truth is, hunters have an incentive to protect their land from the destructive hand of man, realizing that without proper conservation the entire ecosystem could be destroyed, forever losing a tradition engrained in the hearts and minds of America’s rednecks. Organizations like Ducks Unlimited (refurbishing 500,000 acres of wetlands in 2010), Texas Trophy Hunters Association, the National Rifle Association, and the Coastal Conservation Association (giving $2 million in scholarships annually) collectively funnel billions of dollars donated by hunters and fishers to aid in the reconstruction and maintenance of natural habitats. Even the government has recognized the legitimacy of these organizations and their purposes. The North American Wetlands Conservation Act of 1989 underscores how much the government trusts these organizations, allocating matching government grants at no less than a 1:1 ratio. In 2010, these matching grants are expected to exceed $42 million. The recent oil spill crisis accentuates this commitment to the environment: thousands of dollars and volunteers poured in instantly as people realized the importance of the gulf coast ecosystems to wildlife such as ducks, geese, and fish. Ducks Unlimited alone has received a $2.5 million grant to work on 250,000+ acres of land in the gulf coastal region.
Personally, I take conservation very seriously. I participate annually in Harvest Information Program, a program implemented to estimate the number of migratory birds taken in a year to aid hunting environmentalists in counting the next year’s populations. I also am a member of The Coastal Conservation association, participating in fishing tournaments, respecting size limits and weight requirements of my catch. I love hunting and fishing; thus, my invested interest in continuing my passions means I am an environmentalist too. I believe hunters and liberal environmentalists can get along given that they understand each has the same motive: to protect the environment.
Sources
1. http://www.fws.gov/birdhabitat/Grants/NAWCA/index.shtm
2. http://www.ccatexas.org/category/news/
