Hunting and WildLife Conservation Go Hand in Hand

When people think of hunters, they think of the stereotype, a guy in blaze orange shooting at anything that moves. The notion of wildlife conservation is nowhere involved with that stereotype and people laugh when it is mention. Most people don’t think hunting and wildlife conservation go hand in hand.

Hunters are a big part of conservation. You might be wondering how these two are related. Well in Iowa, according to the Department of Natural Resources website, half of their 4 million dollar budget comes from hunting licenses. Hunters have to buy these licenses to hunt almost everything in Iowa. There are also laws and regulations to how many animals can be shot and how many animals hunters can have in possession.

The profits made from hunting licenses also help reintroduce wildlife back into their old habitats. The Iowa DNR have released wild turkeys and Canadian geese back into the State, and now there populations are rising. This just shows that hunters are helping the environment out.

For you non-hunters out there, you are probably wondering how hunters have helped you. Have you camped at a state park? Gone on a bike trail through the country side? Hiked a trail? If you have, most of them were created and are managed by funds from hunting licenses.

Hunters are a very important part of wildlife conservation. They provide a lot for the wildlife and those not involved with hunting. Someday I hope the stereotype of hunters changes to a much better images, one of person helping out the environment. Without hunters we would not have the beautiful wilderness that we have today.

Work Cited
“How Hunters Support Conservation.” Iowa DNR Wildlife Mar. 16 2009.< http://www.iowadnr.gov/wildlife/files/huntcons.html>.