Wildlife Conservation

The concept of wildlife conservation has been around since ancient times. Restrictions on taking game are mentioned in the Bible, and the first official hunting season may have been established in the 13th century by Kublai Khan.

Today, wildlife conservation has evolved into a science, but its goal remains essentially the same: to ensure the wise use and management of renewable resources; this is an example of the North American Model. Given the right circumstances, the living organisms that we call renewable resources can replenish themselves indefinitely.

conservation: Wise use of natural resources, without wasting them

The North American Model

The North American Model of conservation was developed by Theodore Roosevelt during the 1920s to conserve wildlife and control hunting. The North American Model remains the best effort to conserve and manage wildlife in the world. Some of the main tenants of the model are:

• Wildlife is held in public trust
• Eliminating commerce in dead wildlife
• Allocating wildlife use through law
• Hunting opportunity for all
• Wildlife may be killed only for legitimate reasons
• Wildlife is an international resource
• Science is the basis for wildlife policy

“The nation behaves well if it treats the national resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation increased, and not impaired, in value.”
–Theodore Roosevelt