Analyzing Wildlife Conservation

Analyzing Wildlife Conservation

Introduction

The book “A Sand County Almanac” by Aldo Leopold is a well-written book that enlightens one on ecology and widens the critical thinking skills of a reader. It uniquely combines art through scenery painting, philosophy, and history. Leopold had a history of contributing a number of articles to Oxford University Press on hunting and environmental conservation. Leopold’s articles depict his concern about wildlife conservation. He passes his message uniquely by using irony to explain the dangers of using recreation to cover what is termed as conservation in the present day. He also believes that conservation should involve harmony between men and the natural environment.

Brief Overview of ‘A Sand County Almanac’

Aldo Leopold arranges his book in sections and uses literally devices throughout his book. From the title, his unique style of communicating his message is portrayed right from the title where he uses the term sandy county to refer to sections of the state with sandy soils to imply that they have not been conserved (Zhang et al, 927). He further uses rhetorical analysis in the second section of his book where he thematically talks about the farms in Mexico and Canada (Callicott, 31). He further uses autobiography to explain his childhood experiences of hunting and his experience of witnessing the death of a she-wolf. It is in his second part of his book that he explains the implication of eliminating a species in an ecosystem. (Brooks et al, 298)

The last section is a series of essays grouped under the title “The Upshot”.  It is at this point that Leopold focuses on measures that are productive and harmful to the conservation of wildlife (Zhang et al, 928).  He expounds on the necessity of political support and the dangers accompanying recreational use of wildlife. He concludes by mentioning that there is a need for policy making in conservation, economic reason for conservation, the need for conservation education and the drive of mutual respect among humans for conservation to thrive (Fronczak. 464).

Tennessee Wildlife Conservation

According to Callicott (34), the Tennessee wildlife conservation system closely relates to the message that Leopold passed in his book about the need for conservation education. It has a magazine which is a publication of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and it provides information concerning the state wildlife (Islam, 2569). The magazine focuses to be not only interesting but also relevant in conservation. People such as hikers, nature enthusiasts, campers, hunters and fishermen form a large percentage of those who read this magazine. Outdoor and nature appreciation themes are incorporated in the magazine. Additionally, photographs to make the articles eye-catching and contributions from other people are welcomed in the magazine (Zhang et al, 929). This provides a good platform for people to give their opinions and share their ideas besides gaining knowledge.

Upon observation and inquiry of Tennessee’s involvement of conservation, I discovered that they have a federation called the Tennessee Wildlife Federation. It was formed in 1946 to utilize the outdoor resources of Tennessee, especially wildlife while conserving and managing them well (Brooks et al, 299). Apart from this, the federation had other objectives such as maintaining a preserved natural landscape for the residents of Tennessee. This was after the realization of changing climate and the need to proactively protect open spaces for the generations to come (Islam, 2570). This relates to Leopold’s implication of the ‘sandy counties’ which have a need to be preserved.

The federation was also formed after the realization that natural resources available were decreasing. It, therefore, encompassed the objective of maintaining the quality of living standards and life of Tennessee’s residents (Fronczak. 466). The economic flux was realized to pose a potential challenge to the future residents thus the federal intervened. This clearly depicted the relevance of ‘The Upshot’ about the need for conservation for the reason of safeguarding economic resources (Brooks et al, 300). For those managing recreational activities at the expense of wildlife such as hunting, their economic significance from wildlife is questionable. They are increasing the economic status of the state but at the same time, endangering the habitat and safety of wildlife which is already endangered in the state (Zhang et al, 930).

Leopold’s emphasis on the relevance of policymakers in conservation is also reflected in Tennessee’s crisis of losing wildlife habitat over agriculture and urban development (Callicott, 36). According to the federation, the loss of wildlife habitats reflected the poor legislative decisions of policymakers. This is true since a simple decision of implementing wildlife habitat conservation policy could have made a big difference and prevent the present crisis. This crisis currently revolves around sportsmen and women who have inherent rights of fishing and hunting (Fronczak. 468). Their activities seem recreational but pose a big danger to the wildlife habitat. A question arises whether the sportsmen and women can enjoy as well as conserve wildlife. The probability of conservation is deemed to be low or rather impossible to an inordinate extent (Islam, 2571).

The Land Ethic which is one of the concluding essays for Leopold has great relevance in conservation. Creative methods of conservation must be employed so that conservation also gains an economic value that can help the state or country (Brooks et al, 302). For instance, North American conservation generates funds and also pushes forward the conservation of species despite its numerous recreational activities of fishing and hunting. This is because of the creative channeling of funds gotten from sportsmen and sportswomen towards enhancing habitats for wildlife (Fronczak. 470). Moreover, the legal system allows wildlife to be owned by citizens rather than the government and in this way more people are involved in wildlife conservation including the sportsmen and women and wildlife enthusiasts.

Callicott (37) says that the role of Tennessee federation in conservation is very conspicuous in Tennessee. Their efforts and creative methods to conserve wildlife habitats are numerous and have proven effective. Their programs to conserve wildlife habitats have gone as far as expanding Walker Branch State Natural Area (Islam, 2572). This was done because the area had fragile ecosystem species which needed to be protected for example damselflies, birds, butterflies, and dragonflies (Zhang et al, 933) Among these, rare species were discovered among them and they had the need to be protected and conserved for example the lark sparrow. This was focused on non-game wildlife but still proved effective (Zhang et al, 934).

Protection of the health state of wildlife is one of the ways of conservation. This is vivid since chronic diseases that affect wildlife increases the risk of loss of their habitat if prevention and cure of such diseases are not taken into consideration (Fronczak. 469). The Tennessee Federation hosted a summit in 2017 concerning a chronic wasting disease among deer. They were able to come up with solutions to prevent the spread of the disease which was from Mississippi by banning the importation of carcass (Callicott, 40).

Other steps have been taken by the federation such as establishing a hunting season for sandhill cranes. This was done after an observation that the high hunts of cranes threatened the population of the species (Islam, 2575). They set a hunting ban during a particular season when the cranes were reproducing and allowed a hunting season after the cranes had stabilized in number. This at first attracted the critic of sportsmen but eventually, they comprehended and cooperated with the step made by the federation (Zhang et al, 937).

Conclusion

In conclusion, recreational activities can be moderated by wildlife federations in such a way that the wildlife habitats will be protected and the sportsmen and women will get a good opportunity to enjoy wildlife recreational activities. It is the highest time that we should conserve our environment and ecosystems. Together with efficient policy-making agencies in states and the human will to conserve wildlife, habitats will be protected.

Works Cited

Brooks, Kendra Abkowitz, and James H. Clarke. “Evaluating vulnerability of critical state park    infrastructure caused by extreme weather events: A tennessee application.” Risk   Management 17.4 (2015): 298-328.

Callicott, J. Baird. “A Sand County Almanac: An evolutionary-ecological worldview.”      Environment: Why Read the Classics. Routledge, 2017. 36-71.

Fronczak, David L., et al. “Annual Survival Rate Estimate of Satellite Transmitter–Marked           Eastern Population Greater Sandhill Cranes.” Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management            6.2 (2015): 464-471.

Islam, Saif Ul, et al. “Complete genome sequences of three novel cycloviruses identified in a        dragonfly (Odonata: Anisoptera) from China.” Archives of virology 163.9 (2018): 2569-        2573.

Zhang, Minglan, and Fade Wang. “An Ecological Study on A Sand County Almanac.” Theory     and Practice in Language Studies 7.10 (2017): 927-932.