This Washington Monthly article illustrates a golden opportunity for conservationists and environmentalists to work together -- and for progressive politicians to provide tangible benefits to the public. If progressives seize on the opportunity to protect hunting, fishing and other forms of recreation, they can begin building a majority again.
In a reversal of the tragedy of the commons, the American conservation movement has been far more successful, both in garnering popular support and in saving species from extinction, than efforts in countries where a different mentality exists toward ownership of wildlife. Whereas America brought back the elk, antelope, and white-tailed deer, in Britain boars, beavers, and bears no longer roam. Today, however, this heritage faces a new challenge, unfathomable in the days of Penn or Roosevelt. As Todd Bogenschutz of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources told me, "Our forefathers made wildlife public, but they screwed another thing up. They should have made access to wildlife public."
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2006/0601.larson.html
Posted by Dave at January 23, 2006 06:28 AM