Habitat, habitat, habitat; repeat over and
over, and if the hunting and fishing gods are with us, it will
become the mantra of every hunting and angling group in America.
Every group, from Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife to the
Vegetarians for Huntable Wildlife (OK, I made that one up), knows
in its heart of hearts that habitat is the bottom line for fish and
wildlife. While we may not agree about what to do with the habitat
once we have it secured, we are all too aware of what will happen
without it. Without wildlife habitat all of us will be forced to
give up the pleasures of hunting elk on open public land, or
fishing a wild stream for wild cutthroat, or simply experiencing
nature at its best.
With that in mind I would ask all
hunting and angling groups to consider putting aside their
differences, getting off their soapboxes and working together to
protect and enhance our wildlife habitat on our public lands.
Whether they hunt and fish on the national forests or on the lands
managed by the Bureau of Land Management, they need to support our
public lands and especially the National Forest Roadless Rule and
the current legislation designed to protect the special lands
managed by the BLM under the National Landscape Conservation
System. The window of opportunity still exists to help protect
these special habitats but that window is rapidly closing, and we
may never have another chance to open it.
Rod
Mondt
Tucson, Arizona
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline It’s the habitat, stupid.
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