Folks,
I have a vague impression of how conservation and hunting are connected in US history, but when it comes to the details I really don't know much at all. Is there a good summary history out there that you can recommend? Book length, article length, whatever. Open to all suggestions.
Also, thought / question: It seems to me that one of the greatest threats to wild game animals in the 1800s was unregulated, commercial hunting. Habitat loss played a big role in the east (e.g. that's a big reason why elk will never recover their full range, or anything close to it), but I don't think it explains why bison and large game animals in general suffered severe depopulation and near extinction in some cases. The main reason, I think, is that big game pelts and meat had commercial value, and without regulation, market forces would inevitably cause overuse of a resource that nobody owned (tragedy of the commons). Buffalo Bill is the result. If that's true, then it seems to me that one of the greatest victories for animal conservation must have been (1) laws that limit the amount of harvest and (2) laws that remove the economic incentive to harvest them - specifically, laws that limit trade of wild animal resources. Again, if that's right, then those are the rare kind of big government intervention that I can get behind.
But that's just a guess on my part. Would like to actually see if that's true by studying the history.
I have a vague impression of how conservation and hunting are connected in US history, but when it comes to the details I really don't know much at all. Is there a good summary history out there that you can recommend? Book length, article length, whatever. Open to all suggestions.
Also, thought / question: It seems to me that one of the greatest threats to wild game animals in the 1800s was unregulated, commercial hunting. Habitat loss played a big role in the east (e.g. that's a big reason why elk will never recover their full range, or anything close to it), but I don't think it explains why bison and large game animals in general suffered severe depopulation and near extinction in some cases. The main reason, I think, is that big game pelts and meat had commercial value, and without regulation, market forces would inevitably cause overuse of a resource that nobody owned (tragedy of the commons). Buffalo Bill is the result. If that's true, then it seems to me that one of the greatest victories for animal conservation must have been (1) laws that limit the amount of harvest and (2) laws that remove the economic incentive to harvest them - specifically, laws that limit trade of wild animal resources. Again, if that's right, then those are the rare kind of big government intervention that I can get behind.
But that's just a guess on my part. Would like to actually see if that's true by studying the history.
