Chatfield, MN – The Pope and Young Club adamantly opposes wildlife management decisions resulting from ballot initiatives that undermine the tenets of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation. Since the 1842 Supreme Court Martin v. Waddell ruling, which established the legal precedent that it was the government’s responsibility to hold wildlife in trust for all citizens, the North American Model has evolved into the epitome of how to manage wildlife resources.
The North American Model is internationally recognized as the basis for informed, science-based wildlife management and decision-making processes facilitated by trained wildlife professionals utilizing the best information available and a public process. All states have in place legislative, regulatory, and administrative mechanisms for wildlife management based on empirical scientific data. Emotional rhetoric has no foundation in deciding wildlife management issues.
To ensure that an abundant wildlife population continues for future generations to enjoy, the Pope & Young Club supports the North American Model as the best method to manage our nation’s wildlife resources.
“The attempt to adequately manage our wildlife and their habitats, through ballot initiatives is dangerous and irresponsible,” states Neil Thagard, Conservation Chair for the Pope and Young Club. “Ballot box biology is neither productive nor successful. The Pope & Young Club supports management of these resources to be performed through the use of best available science.” Read more
