Wildlife management and conservation

Conservation vs preservation

• Conservation is the wise use of natural resources so they remain available - including regulated hunting, fishing and trapping.
• Preservation means protecting a resource from use altogether (e.g. some parks and sanctuaries).

Hunter education teaches conservation: managing wildlife populations and habitat so that both can be sustained.

Habitat - the key to wildlife

Every species needs food, water, shelter (cover) and space, arranged so it can reach them. Loss or degradation of habitat (development, drainage, roads, invasive species) is the biggest threat to most wildlife - more than hunting.

Succession: habitats change over time (e.g. a burned or logged forest regrows from grasses and shrubs to young forest to mature forest). Different species thrive at different stages - moose and deer often benefit from young forest and edges; some songbirds and caribou need older forest.