Preserve the Best and Conserve the Rest

Memoirs of a Us Forest Service Wildlife Biologist

As a young teenager, I made a game plan that included an education that would lead me to a vocation working with either fish or game animals. The plan would also complement my avocations, hunting and fishing. This was my utopia. Where was this place? After exhaustive reading, I decided that it was somewhere in the Pacific Northwest. No matter what the job was, it could not be repetitive and monotonous as I tend to get bored very easily. It had to be challenging and definitely had to be fun! And it certainly had to be in the outdoors. I absolutely refused to quit until I found that place and job! When I finally graduated from the University of Maine and hung out my shingle, it read Wildlife Conservation. The word conservation meant only one thing to me: that is the wise use of renewable natural resources, with special regards for wildlife and fish. These ideas were instilled in me by the writings of Aldo Leopold in his Game Management and Durward Allen in his Our Wildlife Legacy.