As the year draws to a close, I’m looking back and thinking about all the positive things that have happened on the conservation front. Globally, our world leaders are slowly moving toward doing something about global warming – something that is very real, and very serious.
Other positive things include the legal hunting of wolves in the West, proof positive that the Endangered Species Act can indeed work if politics can be kept out of it and fish and game managers are allowed to do their jobs.
Elk populations are growing in many states, including West Virginia and Kentucky.
Wild turkeys are now in every state except Alaska, with populations generally on the rise.
Many of our trout streams are cleaner (see the new TU book, “Rivers of Restoration,” by John Ross, for profiles on 20 recovered waters).
And this year, duck populations generally seem to be up across the board, thanks to ideal nesting conditions in the northern pothole regions.
All this does not mean we can lower our guard. The Pebble Mine threat is still very real in the salmon-rich Bristol Bay region of Alaska; drilling in the Marcellus shale belt in the Northeast continues to spread in Pennsylvania, although New York has fended off the drilling so far; the western wolf hunts, while continuing, are still opposed by many animal “rights” groups, with elk suffering due to an overabundance of wolves in some areas. Quail populations are down in Texas, salmon runs are dwindling in California, moose populations are down in the UP; the list goes on.

There is much to be thankful for, much to be concerned about. So while we take stock of the year gone by, let’s get ready for more issues in 2010, for only by staying involved—at the grass roots level, at the national level, whatever works for you—can we preserve this great planet, and hopefully leave it in good shape for the next generation. – Jay Cassell

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