Hunters and fishers were first
By Chuck Doud
The Madera Tribune
When Earth Day, which is observed today, was begun in 1970, it was meant to promote the preservation of what nature has provided, and that has been successful. In our waterways and in much of our air, pollution is less than it would have been had not the environmental movement shown light on problems.
But the environmental movement did not begin on April 22, 1970. It began with people like Teddy Roosevelt, who knew the treasures we had in nature and made huge contributions by setting aside land for national parks.
His reasons were selfish. Roosevelt, like most men of his generation, was a hunter and fisherman, and he took pleasure in shooting game as much as he did in preserving nature, which to him was a place to hunt and fish.
Roosevelt was a conservationist, probably the most prominent of those who knew if they didn’t take steps to preserve what they hunted or caught, nothing would be left to shoot or catch. The generations that followed Roosevelt worked to keep deer, elk and moose in the woods, and ducks and geese in the air.
Even today, although their numbers are gradually dwindling fishers and hunters, through their license fees, do more to preserve “nature” than almost anybody.
Hunting and fishing isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, and many environmentalists oppose hunting and fishing. Yet, hunters and fishers for the most part know more about the outdoors than many self-described lovers of nature who see the outdoors only through
their car window as they pass by.
Modern environmentalists owe more to hunters and fishers than they will ever admit. Hunting and fishing conservationists already had made environmentalism intelligible when a new generation took it up, and they still know more than most about nature.
