“Science-based wildlife management, based on a set of principles developed in the 19th century, brought New England wildlife from its darkest days into an era in which state agencies are pleading for hunters to eat more animals.”
That’s a line from this Boston Globe story arguing that despite population declines in many species – pollinators, songbirds, amphibians – we’re in a “golden age of wildlife” in New England.
That’s certainly true for a number of big species, like turkeys, deer and bear, but I’m dubious about extending it to the whole ecosystem around us. Nonetheless, I’ll take all the optimism I can get!
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David – I agree with you – if it’s game animals we’re talking about, yes, I would say they are doing very well. However, if we were to include predators, I would say more like tarnished silver. A number of species have been in decline for decades (using F&G’s own metrics) and yet hunters can still hunt them. The near century of agency management has reflected a deep agency bias against predators. Lots to say on this.