Title: Address Given by the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service
Abstract:Thank you, Rollie. It is an incredible honor and opportunity to address old friends and to offer my views from a national fish and wildlife management perspective. First, I want to thank the Wildlife ...Thank you, Rollie. It is an incredible honor and opportunity to address old friends and to offer my views from a national fish and wildlife management perspective. First, I want to thank the Wildlife Management Institute for having made the North American the venue for professionals to discuss the issues facing our profession. I also would like to express my gratitude to both President George W. Bush and Interior Secretary Gale Norton for selecting me to serve as the 14th Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service). For the last 22 years, both as a graduate student and state wildlife director, I have looked forward to attending the North American Conference. Having the opportunity to address this session as the Service Director never -really entered my mind. This is truly an honor. I have been on the job now for just two months, and I realize I still have much to learn. What I have seen so far has reinforced my previous ideas about what the Service and the wildlife management profession must do to prepare for the future. We must restore balance to our fish and wildlife conservation mission. As the theme of this conference implies, it often pays to look back, before moving forward. Theodore Roosevelt was a legendary, national, conservation leader. Throughout his life, he embodied the spirit of the original conservationist. An avid outdoorsman, he enjoyed hunting and fishing. He recognized the detrimental impact of market hunting and the reckless attitudes that led to the disappearance of the great buffalo herds and to the extinction of the passenger pigeon. In fact, it was the market hunting of water birds for plumage that led Roosevelt to one of his greatest tasks. Having learned about the slaughter of birds on Pelican Island, Roosevelt asked if there was any law to prevent him from declaring the place a Federal Bird Reservation. Being told there was not, he said, Very well, then I so declare it. Before Roosevelt left office, he hadRead More
Publication Year: 2002
Publication Date: 2002-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
Access and Citation
AI Researcher Chatbot
Get quick answers to your questions about the article from our AI researcher chatbot