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Kevin Bixby is the Executive Director of the SW Environmental Center and recently published an article titled “Why Hunting Isn’t Conservation and Why It Matters."  I asked him on the show for this episode to help me better understand what he means by this.  

By no means is this an anti-hunting article, in fact, Kevin is a hunter himself and is the first to admit that hunting has played a key role in the preservation of American big game animals.  That said, he feels the modern conservation model needs to change in a way that reflects the values of ALL those interested in the preservation of wildlife.  If you’re interested in reading the full article, you can find a link to this article in the show notes.

SHOW NOTES:

• Introductions
• Kevin Bixby and his background
• How Kevin Bixby got into the political side of conservation
• Science versus value systems
• The rise of new value systems
• America’s Wildlife Values Survey
• The changes in cultural values
• A short history of the modern wildlife conservation model
• The need to pivot to a modern conservation model
• What’s wrong with the “hunting is conservation” argument
• How State and federal wildlife agencies receive funding
• The impact of invasive species
• Does industry impact conservation efforts?
• Game management as crop management 
• The current imbalance of decision making 
• The topic of wolves and predators
• The future of hunting in modern times
• The  “hunting is conservation” mantra
• What keeps Kevin going year after year
• Border walls and the impact of wildlife migration
• How to follow up with Kevin Bixby and his work
• Kevin’s Original Article: https://rewilding.org/hunting-isnt-conservation/
• America's Wildlife Values Survey: https://sites.warnercnr.colostate.edu/wildlifevalues/
• Southwest Environmental Center: https://www.wildmesquite.org/index.php/
• Contact Kevin: [email protected]

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