Wildlife Management Institute Outdoor News Bulletin June 2025
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
Public Lands: Acres, Dollars, and Identities
Since the creation of the current model of western conservation, there has existed a struggle for broader societal relevance. The expression "societal relevance" is really just a way of expressing society's level of awareness and regard for an issue. Most people in the conservation arena aspire for conservation as a practice to be more widely valued with more people caring about the effective conservation of wild animals, wild places, or some combination thereof, often including other natural resources like soil and water.
Tony reflects on the current state of public lands
Foundations of Conservation: 1930 American Game Policy
Is the foundation of conservation cracked? Presently, it's certainly under duress. There are some significant fissures beginning to show but before we can answer that question, we need to identify what we mean by the term foundation. What really constitutes conservation's foundation? What are the elements that shape our conservation views and drive our conservation priorities? Where did they come from? Everything that we build rests on these foundations, and every now and then there comes a time that when enough change happens, it warrants a pause, a purposeful reflection, and a reassessment of where we are, how we got here, and for us to ask ourselves if there is a need for adaptation or an evolution of our approaches.
