Wilderness Legacy:

1

• Wilderness Legacy
• How Americas Hunters and Anglers Helped Save the
  (Natural) World

2

• Early Americans, awed by the natural abundance
  of North America, could imagine no end to its
  natural wealth. When it comes to Nature, early
  American history is essentially a story of
  overkill. American bison killed by the millions
  are just one well-known example. Fish and
  wildlife from passenger pigeon to beaver to
  whitetail deer to Atlantic cod were slaughtered
  to extinction or near-extinction between 1776 and
  1876. Yet out of this carnage came a remarkable
  revolution An ethic to conserve wilderness
  championed by hunters themselves.

3

• The first American hunters to fight for the
  wilderness were Native Americans. Facing the
  destruction of their ancient way of life, people
  like Lakota chief Sitting Bull fought bravely,
  then negotiated for what they could save of their
  sacred land. As Sitting Bull said When the
  buffalo are gone, we will eat mice, for we are
  hunters and must have our freedom.

4

• John J. Audubon, 1785-1851, was Americas first
  internationally famous artist. His two passions
  were hunting and painting. His favorite subject
  was birds like the pair of gyrfalcons featured
  here. Audubons legacy goes beyond the fine arts.
  He helped build Americas pride in its unique
  natural history. As an eye-witness to the
  destruction of entire species such as the
  passenger pigeon and the habitat that supported
  them, Audubon was an early voice for stopping the
  wholesale destruction of Nature.

5

• By the 1850s, a seed of a conservation ethic
  germinated in the minds of a few, far-sighted
  Americans like Henry David Thoreau. For Thoreau,
  wild nature wasnt just resources to be subdued,
  but had value in its own right. That implied a
  responsibility toward conservation. On a moose
  hunt in Maine, Thoreau implored his camp-mates
  not to waste any meat of a moose they had killed.
  He wrote I trust that I shall have a better
  excuse for killing a moose than to hang my hat
  from its horns.

6

• Ironically, one of the early champions of
  preserving the wilderness and native hunting
  cultures rode with Custer into Sitting Bulls
  sacred Black Hills. Decades later, George B.
  Grinnell fought for the rights and dignity of
  native tribes. He also promoted protecting
  wilderness as editor of the magazine Forest and
  Stream. Grinnell helped found the Boone and
  Crockett Club, which lobbied for the protection
  of Yellowstone National Park wildlife and the
  creation of Glacier National Park.

7

• American conservation received a seismic jolt in
  1901, when Theodore Roosevelt was propelled into
  the presidency of the United States by the
  assassination of William McKinley. Roosevelt was
  greatly influenced by his early years roaming the
  American wilderness, rifle in hand. During his
  two terms in office, Roosevelt protected more
  than 230 million acres of land for generations of
  Americans. He urged America to preserve large
  tracts of wilderness and game for all lovers of
  nature and for the exercise of skill of the
  hunter, whether he is or is not a man of means.

8

• Aldo Leopold is called the father of wildlife
  management. His 1949 classic A Sand County
  Almanac is perhaps the most eloquent statement of
  conservation. Like Roosevelt, Leopold saw
  wildlife as the birthright of all Americans. As
  his wildlife management principles became
  established, wildlife like deer, elk, beaver and
  turkey began to rebound. He convinced the Forest
  Service to create the first wilderness area, the
  Gila, in New Mexico in 1924. Throughout his life,
  Leopold saw the land through the eyes of a
  hunter Trigger-itch, wanderlust and buck-fever
  are simply the genetic raw material out of which
  perception is built.

9

• Idaho native Ted Trueblood grew up hunting and
  fishing in his home state, then became editor of
  what is now called Field and Stream magazine
  (following a line of succession from Grinnell.)
  For 40 years, Trueblood edited the magazine,
  helping millions enjoy the outdoors, but also
  promoting conservation of wildlife, habitat and
  wilderness. He is most often credited with
  helping conserve the mighty River of No Return
  Wilderness in the Salmon River country in 1980.
  Over his career, Trueblood saw populations of
  elk, deer and other game species reach modern
  highs.

10

• Biologist Jim Posewitz spent most of his career
  at the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and
  Parks. Upon his retirement, Pozewitz launched
  Orion, the Hunters Institute, dedicated to
  promoting ethical hunting. Poz is also known
  for his passionate defense of wild country and
  free-flowing rivers, which support wildlife, fish
  and Americas outdoor heritage. Now that American
  wildlife is once again thriving, Posewitz makes
  certain that legacy is not forgotten.

11

• Mountaineer, backcountry skier and avid bird
  hunter from Portland, Oregon, Michelle Halle is a
  member of a new generation of hunter/conservationi
  st. As a board member of Backcountry Hunters and
  Anglers, she continues the tradition of seeing
  the land through the eyes of a hunter. Now, more
  than ever, Americans treasure their rushing
  waters and big, wild habitat. Now, more than
  ever, Americans want quiet places where they can
  experience solitude and the sounds of Nature. Now
  more than ever, hunters need to get involved.

12

• Backcountry Hunters and Anglers is proud to
  carry on the American tradition of sportsmen and
  -women supporting wilderness. We work to protect
  the big, natural areas and natural processes that
  support our hunting and fishing heritage and to
  stop the abuse of public land. We depend on our
  members. If you share our values, we urge you to
  join us today.
• www.backcountryhunters.org