PrintThis fall, the outdoors community has a once-in-a-century opportunity to craft a blueprint for the future of hunting and wildlife management to perpetuate our traditions into the lifetimes of our grandchildren yet to be born. After a century of rock-solid success, America's hunting heritage and its model of wildlife conservation will take center stage in Washington, DC. This opportunity, in the form of the North American Wildlife Policy Conference called for by President Bush, hearkens back to the era of Theodore Roosevelt when the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation was conceived.
In mid-June, the Sporting Conservation Council (SCC) met to finalize several policy objectives for the Conference, scheduled to be held in September. The Conference was called for in the ‘Hunting Heritage and Wildlife Conservation' Executive Order that President Bush issued last summer and will allow the SCC to present recommendations and advice to government agencies to fulfill the President's Order.
The President's Executive Order 13443: Facilitation of Hunting Heritage and Wildlife Conservation signed by President George W. Bush on August 16, 2007, instructs Federal agencies to "facilitate the expansion and enhancement of hunting opportunities and the management of game species and their habitat." The Order calls on the SCC to lay the foundation for achieving the goals of the Executive Order.
Planning has been ongoing by the Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation (CSF), the Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus (CSC) and key conservation leaders as members of the Sporting Conservation Council (SCC) partnership. The SCC, in conjunction with sportsmen's groups from the American Wildlife Conservation Partners (AWCP), a diverse partnership of hunting and conservation organizations, developed the five topics that will be the core of the conference.
In late 2007, in a letter from SCC Chairman Robert Model, five agenda topics were proposed to the Secretaries of Interior and Agriculture and the Chairman of the White House Council of Environmental Quality. The Secretaries adopted the proposed topics as recommended. The topics are:
- Discussions on the North American Conservation Model
- State/Federal/Tribal Wildlife Management
- Habitat Conservation and Management
- Funding for Wildlife Conservation
- Perpetuating Hunter Traditions
The SCC's mission is to provide advice and guidance to the Federal Government through the Department of the Interior (DOI) and the Department of Agriculture (DOA) on how to increase public awareness of (1) The importance of wildlife resources, (2) The social and economic benefits of recreational hunting and (3) Wildlife conservation efforts that benefit recreational hunting and wildlife resources. The 12-member Council is comprised of conservation and hunting leaders named in 2006 by the Secretary of the Interior.
Robert Model, Chairman of the Boone & Crockett Club is the Chairman of the SCC. Jeff Crane, President of CSF, is the Vice-Chairman.
Council Members
- Robert Model, Chairman, Boone and Crockett Club of America
- Steve Mealey, former forest supervisor and member, Boone and Crockett Club of America
- Rob Keck, former Chief Executive Officer, National Wild Turkey Federation,
- John Baughman, former Executive Director, International Association of Fish and wildlife Agencies
- Jeff Crane, president, Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation
- Steve Williams, President, Wildlife Management Institute
- Merle Shepard, President, Safari Club International
- Susan Recce, Director, Conservation, Wildlife and Natural Resources, National Rifle Association
- Christine Thomas, Dean and Professor of Resources Management, University of Wisconsin-Stevens point College of Natural Resources
- John Tomke, former Chairman of the Board of Ducks, Unlimited, Inc.
Read the President's Executive Order
Read more about the North American Wildlife Policy Conference
