By: Ted Nugent
When I was growing up in that once grand city of Detroit, Lake Erie would occasionally ignite spontaneously. That’s right, the lake would catch fire, and flames would flicker on top of the water due to the criminally irresponsible runaway pollution unleashed by uncaring industrialists.
The perfect “we the people” ballet of whistleblowing sounded the alarm when real conservationist/environmentalist, you know, hunters, fishermen and trappers, with real boots on the ground, witnessed in the swamps and on the water our beloved muskrat, waterfowl and fish populations drop to unacceptable levels. We quickly stepped up to remedy this very dangerous condition that threatened our hunter/gatherer lifestyle.
We simply refused to accept the status quo of the industrial revolution mistakes and knew instinctively that industrial productivity and clean air, soil and water were not mutually exclusive. So we went to work and raised adequate hell to reverse the situation.
And boy oh boy, reverse the situation we did, post haste. It wasn’t that long thereafter that Lake Erie got cleaned up so well that it once again became the world’s top walleye and small mouth bass fishery.
The wild celery and bio-diversity returned and with this natural eco cleansing system came the magnificent flights of wild fowl, fish and furbearers.
That’s right, we not only didn’t lose any jobs or productivity due to the new environmental accountability practices, but production did indeed increase while quality of life was upgraded for all living things in this wonderful Great Lakes wildlife paradise.
And so it continues today with all my hunting, fishing, trapping friends as dedicated stewards to monitor the health of wildlife and wild habitat as the ultimate barometers for quality air, soil and water, and, therefore, overall quality of life.
The canary in this coal mine will always be wildlife, and the billions and billions of dollars exchanged involving hunting, fishing, trapping and a dazzling array of family hours of outdoor recreational opportunities that cleanse the soul and cleanse the good mother earth via this renewable, value-based management model.
As tens of millions of my fellow American hunting families wrap up the greatest, safest and most productive hunting season of our lives, sharing hundreds of millions of ultimate nutritious meals of pure, healthy venison, we know our annual harvest of God’s natural bounty is all about balancing the herds and the land to make room for spring’s new crop of wildlife.
With freezers full, we understand why there are more deer, wild turkey, black bear, cougar and wild geese than ever in recorded history in North America, along with maximum, thriving herds of elk, moose, caribou, antelope and bison.
As usual, there is that pathetic lunatic fringe cult of denial known as animal-rights freaks that would end it all tomorrow if they could, but thanks to educated, caring conservationists, our undeniably successful heritage of hunting, fishing and trapping carries on, guaranteeing a healthy future for wildlife and the critical support network of habitat that just so happens to assure a healthy environment for all living things.
If you are serious about a healthy environment, the best thing you can do is purchase a hunting license, a fishing license and a trapping license, join Ducks Unlimited, Delta Waterfowl, the National Wild Turkey Federation, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Big Game Forever, Pheasants Forever, Safari Club International, the mighty NRA and any number of hunting organizations that are solely dedicated to conserving wildlife and wildlife habitat. We put our money where our mouth is, then reward ourselves with many meals of delicious, nutritious, healthy venison as we prepare to do it all over again when the natural season of harvest comes around this fall.
Now wouldn’t it be great if only enough Americans could put forth such effort to cleanse our government of all that political pollution?