Dartblog

The latest buzz word around Dartmouth has been “sustainability”. It seems that everywhere one goes, students are standing up declaring “sustainability” the biggest issue facing our school and our world. I have often found this claim questionable. After all, should not an academic institution focus on just that, academics? Still, the natural beauty of Dartmouth is enchanting and one feels a fierce sort of protectionism towards it. The future students of Dartmouth deserve to feel the absolute peace of a quiet moment in the New Hampshire woods, the colorful tornado of leaves whipping around the green, and the simple pleasure of stargazing into the clear sky above the golf course. Simple pleasures to be sure, but moments that separate Dartmouth from its peer institutions.

An article in The Washington Post today addressed the environmental movement from the perspective of the original conservationists: the hunters. An excerpt:

“Begun well over a century ago, the success of modern conservation can only be fully understood against the backdrop of historical slaughter for markets that took 40 million buffalo to the brink of extinction and 5 billion passenger pigeons beyond it. It was hunters who led a revolution of new values, new science and new approaches for responsible use of these resources. Seasons, game limits and wildlife conservation funds all came from hunters, and we are immensely proud of that effort. Because of us, white-tailed deer, pronghorn antelope, elk, wild turkeys, wood ducks and hundreds of other cherished life forms transitioned from vanishing to flourishing….

….Our very identity clings steadfastly to stewardship of land, clean water and air, intimate knowledge of natural communities, and careful interaction with the good earth — because that’s how we’ve ensured abundant wildlife and good hunting for more than 100 years.

For us, the amusing irony is that American society, which has looked down its nose at hunters more sternly with each passing generation, is discovering that camouflage has been a primary shade of green all along.”

I’m proud that my family has been involved in this conservationist movement for generations, but I regret the way in which Dartmouth students snub their noses at hunters. Despite a recently renewed Dartmouth Bait & Bullet club, shooting remains a somewhat taboo subject. Certainly guns are not part of the answer to saving our environment, or are they? Open-minded environmentalists might ponder this question when bragging about being ‘green’ around campus. Judging hunters for their conservation activities is only hindering the movement to sustainability that we all desire. When “animal killers” and “tree huggers” can work together, then we will make progress. In the meantime, though, I remain unconvinced that an NRA bumper sticker can ever coexist peacefully with a Sierra Club bumper sticker.