HUNTING IN NORTH DAKOTA, A LITTLE HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

I was fortunate to take part in a very intriguing hunt last weekend. It was called Hunting Dakota with Roosevelt. The hunt is a charitable venture with a major goal of raising money for the Bismarck Cancer Center and that alone should be enough to make the cause worthwhile. In addition to that the organizers of this hunt wanted to also accomplish a couple of other goals, they wanted to acknowledge and thank the men and women of ND whom have taken part in the Global war on terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan, by inviting some of those brave veterans along on this hunt, they also wanted to celebrate the role that ND played in developing one our greatest presidents, Teddy Roosevelt, and the role he played in developing the model of conservation we have today. I would contend that if it were not for ND, TR would never have become President of the United States and I believe he has written and said this many times but I would go on to add that if TR had not become president we would not have the conservation model in this country we have today, and without this conservation model we would have no game to hunt and no worthy land to hunt it on. So to sum it up without North Dakota there may not be the outdoor sports we so much enjoy today.

I write this now because as I was out in this country not far from where TR spent his time in ND, I could literally feel his spirit among us, he truly would have loved the camaraderie and fellowship we enjoyed while chasing pheasants in an area that if it were not for the conservation efforts of men like TR and later FDR, would surely have not held the type of game they do today. Although TR came to ND to hunt large game such as Buffalo and Elk it was his focus on saving the wild parts of this country and a focus on keeping sporting opportunities available for the common man that made these types of pheasant hunts possible.

So whether you hunt in the woods or the prairies, the potholes or the marshes whether you hunt deer or quail or turkeys or ducks rest assured that without the vision of a few of our predecessors you would not have have those opportunities today. When I say a few I truly mean that, TR first started his conservation efforts with a group of 3 men in NY after returning home from ND, of course it was his rise to the presidency that gave him the power to implement the programs he did which did things like develop A National Park System and National Forests along with National Wildlife Refuges. Kind of amazing what can become of a sickly young man who gets a passion for something like TR did. It does not take a million people to accomplish these things it takes a lot of individuals getting involved in something that is important to them.

I will close this by paraphrasing something I heard Jim Posewitz say this weekend. You do not own these resources your are merely borrowing them from your children and grandchildren, so make sure you return the resource to them in better shape than when you found them.

Thanks for listening.
Bill Holtan