Labrador duck wasn’t abundant though, so they were much easier to wipe out than passenger pigeons.
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And the ivory-billed woodpecker has been observed in peer-reviewed studies as late as 2008. It is, to my knowledge, still an extant species.
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https://training.fws.gov/history/USFWS-history.html
The Fish and Wildlife Service was created in 1940 from the existing Fisheries Service and Biological Survey Service( I may have those names slightly wrong.) The point is that the fact that Fish is first in the name does not mean it is more important, but that it came from a combination of two separate agencies. Plus it sounds better than “Wildlife and Fish” Service.
The individual states have their own agencies that have a variety of different names(In Pennsylvania we have the Game Commission and the Fish and Boat Commission, for example)
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If you read Kenn Kaufman’s book “A Season on the Wind” you can see briefly how the past duck clubs in Northwest Ohio near Lake Erie allowed for the formation of a number of places (parks and refuges) where we can now go see birds. And, hunters still enjoy going there, as well. (Some areas are totally shut down to everyone. Some are only open for hunting parts of the year. Some are only open to birders part of the year.)
In short: if those hunting clubs hadn’t set aside the land in the past, there wouldn’t be place for the birds to nest and/or stop during migration. The book is worth reading for anyone interested in birds.
In the present: I have seen reports on TV that the Ohio Department of Natural Resources is very worried because the number of families who are taking their children hunting is dropping. The ODNR works with hunters and provides education for safe hunting and resource management. Most hunters understand that land conservation and management is necessary for long-term sustainability of animals. Children need to go out in what wild area are left to appreciate them with their families. If that is through hunting, then so be it.
As a hiker and birder, I understand that public land is used by people in different ways. I understand that, if land is set aside and managed for wildlife, there will be enough for me to see and enough for others to hunt.
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If anyone wants a really good book on the Labrador duck:
“The Curse Of The Labrador Duck” by ornithologist Glen Chilton
The author traveled the world to try to find existing specimens in museums. He also gives a lot of history about what little we know about this duck. For example: Its breeding grounds were never even established with certainty.
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I agree with many of your points. As more people move into cities, they become more isolated from wild areas, cut off for the most part from the immediate connection to the land in rural areas. Not that you can’t see nature or wildlife in cities, but it’s harder to find, less visible.
What hunting does for many people who live in suburban and urban areas is it brings them back to the wild and gives them an appreciation for the beauty of nature. Not only that, but it also can teach patience and an appreciation for silence, which is hard to come by in fast-paced loud urban areas. To hunt you have to know how the wild animal behaves, what its habits are, where it lives. It is a much more hands-on and natural way of learning about wildlife than lectures and a classroom.
The history of my home state(Pennsylvania)'s game commission also shows the connection between conservation and hunting. Thanks to the efforts of the game commission in the past decades funded by hunters and fishers, our populations of white-tailed deer, bears, and turkeys (and many more species) all rebounded from quite low levels in the 20th century. The game commission is also responsible for the reintroduction of previously extirpated species like Elk and Fishers, as well as protecting vulnerable species and handling problem encounters between wild animals and people(such as relocating nuisance bears). None of that would effectively be possible without hunters.
If anyone wants more information on the relationship between hunting and conservation, I suggest the PA game news magazine, which often has articles about the subject. http://www.penngamenews.com/
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where do the boats fit in??
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I think this might be due to the separate, but not totally distinct habitats used by waterfowl and waterbirds, along with other factors that may negatively impact waterbirds.
I noticed they also showed a lot of raptor recovery, which could be a big part of this! Perhaps along with other activities I’ve read about (like poisoning or spraying water on starling colonies to freeze them overnight!).
Not sure about South America, but I’m sure there is research! Sadly, I think you are correct, there is a lot of conversion of forest and grassland to farms (as in a lot of the world), which probably is impacting species that aren’t able to adapt to this.
I couldn’t find much, but this older report states that waterfowl were declining in Venezuela despite the presence of wetland preserves and hunting regulations in the face of pollution, habitat loss, and conflicts with agriculture.
It’s likely that South America is and will continue to repeat the mistakes of development with regard to preserving habitat and associated species in pursuit of economic development, though there is nascent and well-developed environmentalism and ecotourism in some South American countries, political will seems to be what’s going to determine the future.
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I’m all about killing invasives, but freezing birds to death sounds like a very inhumane idea.
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Yes, I totally agree! Though poisoning by organ failure sounds a bit worse. Part of my point there was to sneak in that there’s a lot of harmful activity taking place that the general public and even environmentalists may not be aware of.
Ideally we could live in harmony with animals, but being humans, it seems that we as a species ‘choose’ to kill or maim as we see fit, whether actively or passively (through consumption).
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Ah well my state just lumps regulating boats in with fish, I guess because both have to do with water and many people fish from boats? I don’t really know. Like I said, different states do it differently. Other states lump fishing in with hunting, while boating is seperate.
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To add to this, in many states the local Departments of Fish and Wildlife (DFWs) were formerly called Department of Fish and Game (e.g. CDFG in CA changed names in 2013).
Another interesting example of how ‘take’ evolves over time from primarily hunting to primarily conservation and enforcement through managed harvest/hunt.
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“Need” can be hard to define. People hunting bush meat in Africa now need the protein (if they eat it) and the money (if they sell it). Some species are becoming rare as a result. Native Americans in the Midwest of North America did market hunting of deer, sending the venison by boat to the markets in the large towns or cities downriver. Their ability to damage the populations was limited by their weapons plus traditions that promoted conservation.
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The benefits to game species and, incidentally to other species that live in the same habitats are real. I doubt the animals would care about humans’ motivations, if they could know about them.
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I think if it’s what you need to eat to survive, then ok. Otherwise, it’s unnecessary and wrong. Give ducks and animals guns…then it’s fair!
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In local county parks (I am not supposed to know this), rangers control the Canada goose population by addling the eggs. They are not really an invasive species here, so that does make me rather sad.
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I am not a hunter, and I don’t have strong feelings about hunting save one. For those who are against hunting have you bought your Federal Duck Stamp this year?
It is easy to forget that anyone hunting ducks in the US has to buy a license from the state AND pay 25 dollars to the federal government which goes directly to land acquisition for waterfowl habitat. Management, administration, restoration, etc are covered elsewhere, every year every duck hunter puts 25 dollars down for conserving wetlands. It is a hugely successful program and one of the best way to support purchasing new conservation land in the US.
Some of my favorite birding spots are on land acquired through the Duck Stamp program, and if you like to bird on Fish and Wildlife service lands yours probably are too. The fact of the matter is that as hunters are declining birders and non-consumptive users are not putting up the money for habitat conservation to make up the difference. It’s a real problem especially as land prices are soaring. Support land trusts, support organizations acquiring conservation land, support the Duck Stamp. It is critical if we want habitat left to preserve.
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I had never heard of the Duck Stamp program. Where does one get them? …at the Post Office or from Fish and Game?
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Canada Goose overpopulation does occur in some areas, not sure what their status in your area is, though.
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