Hunters and
Wildlife Watchers
(This 794th Buffalo Sunday News column was first published on June 18, 2006.)
It seems unfortunate to me that a gulf is too often
identified between participants in the outdoor sports - hunting and fishing -
and those who take part in nature-related activities, the wildlife watchers -
birders, botanists, hikers, conservationists, nature photographers, Audubon
members and the like.
Although this column and many of my recreational activities
identify me as a wildlife watcher, I have many good friends who hunt and fish.
Of course we kid each other: to them I'm a "tree hugger", "lily
collector" or "dickeybirder" and I remind them that they are
"bloody carnivores" or "scatter-shots." However, we find
few issues on which we disagree.
We each want to conserve our natural areas. We each are
concerned about those who misrepresent us: those trespassers, litterers and
poachers who give us all a bad name and as a result force landowners to post
their property. We are each concerned about those animals and plants that are
increasing out of control: Canada geese, swallowwort, starlings and house
sparrows, purple loosestrife, zebra mussels, common reed, tent caterpillars,
white-tailed deer and Japanese knotweed. We're equally concerned about the
decline or loss of other species: grouse, wild orchids, red-headed woodpeckers,
American elms and chestnuts and black ducks and blue-winged teal.
Yes, hunters do shoot turkeys, pheasants, ducks, rabbits,
squirrels and deer; birds and animals that I enjoy watching. But I recognize
that their hunting is monitored and controlled by Federal and State
conservation regulations so that wildlife populations are not threatened. And I
also recognize that we need some of the controls that hunting exacts.
Consider, for example, deer. While I appreciate the beauty
of deer, I also appreciate the beauty of wildflowers. Deer and wildflowers are
today completely out of balance. In many of our woodlands you will find very
few wildflowers. In fact you will find little undergrowth from the ground up to
about five feet. That is a direct result of deer overbrowsing.
It is easy to demonstrate this effect. Exclosures, areas
enclosed by high fences, have been built to do so. Within months there is a
profusion of growth inside the fence in marked contrast to that outside.
In any case we nature lovers don't have to support hunting
and fishing to cooperate with those who do so on the ventures on which we
agree.
Here's an example of what we can achieve together: I serve
with outdoor sportsmen on the board of the Friends of Iroquois National
Wildlife Refuge, the group that led the replacement of the Swallow Hollow
Trail, a three-fourths million dollar project. It is important to note that the
trail provides no access whatsoever to hunting yet the hunters pitched in to
support the project with no hesitation.
Even more important to all of us concerned about wildlife,
over the years outdoor sportsmen and women have contributed to the purchase or
lease of wetland habitat over $700 million through purchase of duck stamps.
That has meant the protection of over 8,000 square miles, an area about equal
to that of New York State west of the Genesee River.
Remember, those lands are open to hunting for only a few
weeks each year. Meanwhile, all year long they provide much needed habitat to
all kinds of wildlife.
I think that we wildlife watchers should be working with the
outdoor sports folks but I also think that we should first start paying our
dues. We too should buy duck stamps or what they are now called, Migratory Bird
Hunting and Conservation Stamps. You can purchase one for $15 at any post
office.
As it happens, this year's stamp pictures a Ross's Goose, a
bird favorite of mine for several reasons. First, it is handsome, unlike the
snow goose with its ugly grin. Second, it is rare here: I have seen only one in
a lifetime of birding. And finally, I like the fact that Ross's is a rare
example of a word with three same letters in a row. (The spelling on the stamp
avoids this standard usage.)
Today we wildlife watchers outnumber all hunters and anglers
together. We could make a huge contribution to the kind of land acquisition and
protection that we need today.-- Gerry Rising