Conservation of our fisheries resources, whether it is the Great Lakes or the tiniest lake or stream, has always been based on the fear of loss of what once was. What it once was, is the scenario that thousands of years of time had created to channel the nutrients of life to what we once…
Humans have a long history we can now follow and analyze. We have gathered so much information on the natural world that we have affected in so many ways. What good are these inventories if we do use them to solve problems we have created … I mean REALLY use them to restore and solve…
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…