Wildlife Organizations: Positions on Hunting

[Guest guest]

The following info was submitted by Anthony Marr

anthony-marr on Animal_Net.

I FEEL THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IS VERY VERY IMPORTANT TO EVERY

INDIVIDUAL INVOLVED IN WILDLIFE CONSERVATION BOTH IN THE WESTERN WORLD

AND IN ASIA.

 

Azam Siddiqui

---

 

 

Wildlife Organizations: Positions on Hunting Source: " What They Say

About Hunting - Position Statements on Hunting of Major Conservation

or Preservation Organizations " Printed by the National Shooting Sports

Foundation

*Anti, Pro, Neutral (No Position or " Neither for Nor Against " )

Organization Position*

on Hunting Additional Comments from Statements

The American Forestry Association

1516 P Street NW

Washington DC 20005

(202) 667-3300

 

P

" …under proper regulations, hunting should be considered a tool of

management by owners of forest and range holders… "

 

The Wilderness Society

1400 Eye Street NW 10th Fl

Washington DC 20005

(202) 842-3400

P " ...recognizes hunting as a legitimate use in wilderness

areas…subject to appropraite regulation for species protection. "

The Izaak Walton League of America

1401 Wilson Blvd, Level B

Arlington, VA 22209

(703) 528-1818

P " ...believes hunting should be considered a valuable management

tool, where it is compatible with other resource uses and purposes… "

The National Rifle Association of America

1600 Rhode Island Ave NW

Washington DC 20036

(202) 828-6000

P " Well-regulated hunting is a beneficial use of renewable wildlife

resources which, when left to nature, are finally lost to predators,

disease, often starvation and old age… "

The Humane Society of the United States

2100 L. Street NW

Washington DC 20037

(202) 452-1100

A " The HSUS is strongly opposed to the hunting of any living creature

for fun, trophy, or for sport…The HSUS recognizes that the welfare and

responsible management of animals may, on occasion, necessitate the

killing of wildlife…also recognizes that the legitimate needs for

human subsistence may necessitate the killing of wildlife... "

The American Humane Association

P.O. Box 1266

Denver, CO 80201-1266

(303) 695-0811

A " …opposed to the hunting of any living creature for fun, a trophy,

or for simple sport…believes that sport hunting is a form of

exploitation of animals for the entertainment of the hunter... when

all other avenues have been exhausted and there remains a demonstrable

necessity to kill some wildlife, it should be performed by responsible

officials and methods utilized must result in instantaneous and humane

death...considers sport hunting a violation of the inherent integrity

of animals...and calls for positive action to prevent such cruelties. "

The North American Wildlife Foundation

102 Wilmot Road, Suite 410

Deerfield, IL 60015

(312) 940-7776

P " Beneficial non-game wildlife populations and those that are

threatened and endangered are given the full protection of the law.

Surpluses of game populations can be cropped each year on a sustained

basis under strict licensing and regulations… "

The National Audubon Society

950 Third Avenue

New York, NY 10022

(212) 546-9100

N " …has never been opposed to the hunting of game species if that

hunting is done ethically and in accordance with laws and regulations

design to prevent depletion of the wildlife resource…we will advocate

restrictions on hunting, include the complete closure of a hunting

season, whenever we are convinced that the welfare of the species

involved requires it…we do not advocate hunting. This is no

contradiction, though some people seem to think it is. Our objective

is wildlife and environmental conservation, not the promotion of

hunting. We think lots of the justifications for hunting are weak

ones, and too often exaggerated for commercial reasons, and we do not

hesitate to say so when the ocassion calls for it. But this does not

make us anti-hunting… "

Outdoor Writers Association of America

2017 Cato Avenue, Suite 101

State College, PA 16801

(814) 234-1011

P " …Without a regular controlled harvest, many animal populations and

the ranges they occupy would be impoverished…Further, the hunter and

the angler under established seasons and bag limits, take only a

portion of the annual surplus which is going to be lost to other

mortality causes anyway… "

Friends of Animals, Inc.

P.O. Box 1244

Norwalk, CT 06856

(203) 866-5223

A " The premeditated killing of wildlife is abhorrent to most people,

particularly when hunting is condoned under false pretenses, under the

guise of 'wildlife management, overpopulation control,' or 'protection

of crops and public safety.'…We believe that wildlife, which by law

belongs to all of us, has rights and deserves protection, and that the

non-hunting majority needs a voice, an active advocate… "

The Wildlife Legislative Fund of America

50 West Broad Street

Columbus, OH 43215

(614) 221-2684

P " The Wildlife Legislative Fund of America believes that hunting,

fishing and trapping are Rights not privileges. They are honorable

pursuits that can be defended by our Constitution. These oldest of

heritages are treasures that can and should be defended as we defend

other legacies that weld us to our roots and remind us from where we

came. These Rights can be taken away only by breaking the laws and

regulations designed to protect wildlife. The Wildlife Legislative

Fund of America is the nation's principal sportsmen's rights

organization and through its associated organization represents over

one million sportsmen. It is a firm believer in scientific wildlife

management and supports regulated hunting, fishing and trapping.

Founded to combat the animal rights movement, the WLFA is proud to

have served sportsmen for over a decade. The staff is comprised of

professionals with backgrounds in the fields of public relations,

legislative lobbying, natural resource

management and law. The WLFA is an association of organizations

ranging from national groups like Ducks Unlimited, the Foundation for

North American Wild Sheep, National Wild Turkey Foundation and others

to hundreds of state and local sportsmen clubs. It provides money and

manpower to sportsmen under attack anywhere in America. The WLFA

operates in all 50 states and Washington, DC. Sportsmen are America's

greatest conservationists. Because of their concern for wildlife and

their support of the nation's dedicated wildlife managers, America's

wildlife is thriving. No species of wildlife in the United States has

been endangered by modern sportsmen. On the contrary, the sportsman's

concern for wildlife, backed up by $950 million annually through

license fees and self-imposed taxes, is the reason wildlife is

thriving. Sportsmen provide a service by harvesting surplus animals.

This can be crucial for many wildlife species' populations. Scientific

data collected by biologists

from the sportsman's game bag provides invaluable information that

wildlife managers use to formulate wildlife management plans to ensure

wildlife's health and abundance. To combat a growing

anti-hunting/animal rights movement, the WLFA recently launched a

nationwide public education program called " Protect What's Right " . It

is designed to carry the sportsmen's message to the non-hunting

public. It is currently operational in hundreds of communities in 48

states. "

 

Ducks Unlimited, Inc.

National Headquarters

One Waterfowl Way

Long Grove, IL 60047

(312) 438-4300

P " …supports the concept of regulated sport hunting as an integral

part of sound wildlife management, and as a wise and prudent use of

renewable natural resources…Because DU was chartered as a conservation

organization, it is not a 'hunting' organization per se. But as a part

of its singleness of purpose, DU attempts to educate the public about

wildlife habitat and management. "

The National Wildlife Federation

1400 Sixteenth Street NW

Washington DC 20036-2266

(202) 797-6800

P " We support hunting because, under professional regulation, wildlife

populations are renewable natural resource that can safely sustain

taking…the real and fundamental problem facing wildlife is not hunting

but, instead is habitat degradation and destruction… "

Defenders of Wildlife

1244 Nineteenth Street NW

Washington DC 20036

(202) 659-9510

N " …neither an anti-hunting nor a pro-hunting organization, but most

of its 80,000 members are non-hunters and their concern is with the

restoration and protection of all species of wildlife and their habitats… "

Wildlife Management Institute

1101 Fourteenth Street NW

Washington DC 20005

(202) 371-1808

P " …supports and encourages recreational hunting and harvests within

(1) prescribed scientific guidelines, (2) essential standards and

traditions of fair chase and (3) laws and regulations established and

enforced by state, provincial and federal wildlife management

agencies…Hunting designated wildlife populations legally and

responsibly is a legitimate, healthful and otherwise worthwhile

recreational activity… "

The Wildlife Society

5410 Grosvenor Lane, Suite 200

Bethesda, MD 20814

(301) 897-9770

P " …Today hunting is principally useful for recreational purposes, for

utilization of the harvestable surplus to benefit man, and for

controlling populations… "

The Fund for Animals

200 West 57 th Street

New York, NY 10019

(212) 246-2096

A " …unalterably opposed to the recreational killing of wildlife… "

The Sierra Club

730 Polk Street

San Francisco, CA 94109

(415) 776-2211

N " …is not opposed to sports hunting outside of appropriate

sanctuaries such as national parks, provided it is regulated…Wildlife

animals should not be valued principally in terms of whether they can

serve as targets…we should respect the moral right of all creatures to

exist, to maintain basic and successful breeding stock, to have

essential habitat protected, to be free of unnecessary predation,

persecution, and cruel and unduly confining captivity…regulated sports

hunting may have a place for those who choose to pursue it, but there

are more pressing concerns… "

World Wildlife Fund

1250 24 t h Street NW

Washington DC 20037

(202) 293-4800

N " …the organization itself takes no position either pro or con, on

hunting…WWF recognizes that responsibly conducted hunting can be an

appropriate wildlife management tool, particularly for abundant game

that is maintained on a sustainable basis…WWF opposes hunting which

might adversely affect the survival of threatened or endangered species… "

National Shooting Sports Foundation

555 Danbury Road

Wilton, CT 06897

(203) 762-1320

P " …Since the NSSF was created 'to foster in the American public a

better understanding of and more active participation in the shooting

sports,' its position on hunting as properly defined is one of strong

support…believes that sport hunting is a desirable part of modern

recreational patterns. NSSF feels that Americans have a right to hunt

but to do so on private land is a privilege extended by the landowner.

Hunting with proper controls is an effective and needed tool of that

game management which has become the responsibility of modern man

everywhere. It is the function of the hunting-interested to transfer

their knowledge and their understanding of the hunting ethic to the

younger people just as it has always been their function…No game

species has been moved toward serious threat of extinction by sport

hunting alone. On the contrary, numerous species have been returned to

healthy numbers through hunter-sponsored, hunter-financed habitat

management… "