WHY IS HUNTING GOOD FOR THE ENVIRONMENT?
by Whit Gibbons November 17, 2003 I still run into people who think that sports hunting is antienvironmental. Consequently, I want to restate that when the overall picture of wildlife and natural environments is taken collectively from the standpoint of their health and well being, hunters are among the greenest people in the nation today. But first, consider the plight of the hunter. The proportion of hunters in the general population has declined steadily over the last four decades, going from 11% in 1960 to 8.3% by 1990 to about 6% in 2001. Almost any statistic you can find about hunting reveals that the U.S. numbers are declining. Another disturbing demographic aspect about hunters is that the actual number of Americans who hunt is declining at an even steeper rate than the percentage. One explanation is that the number of young people who hunt decreases every year. In other words, hunters are getting older; young hunters are not joining the ranks. This is equivalent to a deer herd
