The Alliance for Public Wildlife is dedicated to establishing, developing, promoting, and defending principles and policies that will ensure the conservation of North American wildlife.
The legacy of North America's thriving and abundant public wildlife is living proof of what may be the greatest environmental / economic success in history.
At the dawn of the twentieth century, the very existence of wildlife on this continent was threatened by severe, market-driven exploitation. Thanks to the courage and foresight of presidents and prime ministers, guided by the best and ablest on both sides of the Canada/U.S. border, our forefathers enacted science-based policies that turned our greatest tragedy into a 'triumph of the commons.' Anchored in the Public Trust Doctrine, and now recognized as the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, it replenished an entire continent with wildlife. Moreover, it did that while market-driven depletion continued around the world.
Unfortunately, the history of North America's legacy was little-known, and far too taken for granted. By the mid 1980s, profit-based schemes to reverse virtually all of the pillars the North American Model were allowed in multiple states and provinces. These schemes not only allowed the return of markets in dead wildlife, it was to be taken much further: to domesticate, genetically engineer, exploit and promote every available market opportunity. Warnings from scientists, experts, and hunter conservation organizations were ignored. The issues, threats, and consequences outlined have been repeatedly borne out and represent an enormous and growing threat to our greatest living legacy.
Consistent with the mission of the Alliance for Public Wildlife, we will be exploring and detailing these issues and the underlying science and evidence, beginning with the most urgent: chronic wasting disease (CWD).
At the dawn of the twentieth century, the very existence of wildlife on this continent was threatened by severe, market-driven exploitation. Thanks to the courage and foresight of presidents and prime ministers, guided by the best and ablest on both sides of the Canada/U.S. border, our forefathers enacted science-based policies that turned our greatest tragedy into a 'triumph of the commons.' Anchored in the Public Trust Doctrine, and now recognized as the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, it replenished an entire continent with wildlife. Moreover, it did that while market-driven depletion continued around the world.
Unfortunately, the history of North America's legacy was little-known, and far too taken for granted. By the mid 1980s, profit-based schemes to reverse virtually all of the pillars the North American Model were allowed in multiple states and provinces. These schemes not only allowed the return of markets in dead wildlife, it was to be taken much further: to domesticate, genetically engineer, exploit and promote every available market opportunity. Warnings from scientists, experts, and hunter conservation organizations were ignored. The issues, threats, and consequences outlined have been repeatedly borne out and represent an enormous and growing threat to our greatest living legacy.
Consistent with the mission of the Alliance for Public Wildlife, we will be exploring and detailing these issues and the underlying science and evidence, beginning with the most urgent: chronic wasting disease (CWD).
Disease
Wild animals held in captivity experience severe and chronic stress that compromises their immune system. With reduced resistance to disease animals are held in high density in captive pens that allow infectious diseases to spread quickly to all susceptible animals. They are exposed to all manner of pathogens and parasites, not just those native to wild species, but to domestics as well. Throughout history, captivity has been shown to incubate and amplify pathogens, fostering epidemics and trans-species transfers that are extremely difficult to detect, control or treat, and impossible to contain. Repeated 'spillover' events, have spread these diseases to wild populations, to traditional livestock, and to people. Here we document the tragic fostering of chronic wasting disease, now the world's largest biomass of infectious prions. Costs are already into the $billions, and only immediate action will avoid worst case outcomes that almost defy description.
Read more in our white paper…
Genetic Pollution
Though not usually obvious, husbandry and genetic manipulation of wild species to serve market rather than biological preferences carries grave threats and enormous costs. Coming analysis will explore and document these issues in detail.
Habitat
Declared a public resource by the courts, wildlife could not be captured, contained, poisoned or otherwise threatened. Instead, like a stream or river, wildlife had a right to flow freely through private land. The erection of game-proof fences disrupts ecosystems and represents an immediate loss of habitat for public wildlife that loses all access for forage, migration, sanctuary, and escape. Those benefits are not only lost, fences represent an interface of exposure to diseases and parasites and present impossible barriers to migration and escape from all manner of predators.
Economics
The replenishment of North America's wildlife provided the basis for enormous product and service industries, designing, producing, selling a mountain of outdoor equipment and providing all manner of services for hundreds of millions of people to enjoy and interact with public wildlife. Restored as a self-perpetuating public systems asset wildlife generates in excess of $15 billion in expenditures every year.
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