I fear conservation has become the mastodon that Aldo Leopold predicted. Modern environmental conservation is: “the protection, preservation, and sustainable management of natural resources such as land, water, air, plants, animals, and ecosystems to ensure their long-term availability in the future.” “ It involves actively managing human use of resources to maintain biodiversity, protect habitats,…
We have come to time in science where specialization has forgotten the big picture of solving problems. Institutions of government and higher learning have grown in parallel to this dilemma of not solving problems that are getting larger as the population of Planet Earth expands rapidly. University specialists receive funds from government specialists to lead…
Our walleye populations, as well as our general fish populations in Wisconsin, have declined despite fish management efforts to preserve them. FISH HABITAT decline on shorelines is attributed to human development and increased recreational use. Recently, shoreline tree drops and a “Fish Sticks’ program has been developed to reverse this. But more is needed! The…
Nature or Mother Earth has a plan that it has been conducting long before humans started influencing it. It is based on time honored factions of evolution and increased diversity of species. Humanity by eliminating species that they are not yet aware of … or those they are aware of … are derailing this plan.…
We as humans have always viewed nature from the oral and written history of our ancestors. Do you think that now we can view what we know of natural history and apply our knowledge of modern ecology? Let us use our northern forest and lakes as example. Let us walk through this history as we…
As freshwater fishers we have become efficient at catching them. It has become a passion for many taking a recreational activity to the level of a professional fisherman. As a commercial netter of fish, we also have become efficient in our pursuit that has been a profession since early man. Early man and now modern…
My name is Rand Atkinson, and I have spent fifty years working as a fish and aquatic biologist in Wisconsin. I previously served on this congress and was a representative during the development of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources’ first walleye plan in 1998. Currently, I represent the Walleye Restoration Foundation, Inc., an organization…
Conservation in America started with movement over 125 years ago. Human pioneering had expanded from the East Coast to the West Coast and the Canadian border to Mexico. It was the vastness and fragility of the arid west that prompted the early conservationists to recognize the intricate relation between land use and abuse. A great…
I spent several hours with an old fellow that has been experiencing a beautiful lake in the Northwoods for a long time. He raised his children to love fishing and the outdoors on this lake. This lake is a pristine one that so far has resisted the most visible effects of humans. Yet slowly, he…
I am troubled by the management of our natural resources, especially in the aquatic environment that is so familiar to me. To deal with the compounding problems that the aquatic communities face with the pressures of humanity there needs to be a shift in how we approach these problems. In our normal sciences, this includes…