"Green" does not need to mean anti-hunting. I don't need to remind anyone here that sportsmen were America's first environmentalists. Now, many of us are loathe to identify as such. We should not be. We should not allow vegans and petaRDs to paint us on the other side of that fence. We need to re-stake that claim and make it known that wild fish and game remain our most green and sustainable foods-that no bean or brocolli patch can compare in biological diversity to those fields from which the hunter takes his game; that native lands without value are quickly lost to other uses, and foremost among those values are wildlife, timber and water. They must know that well-managed hunting does not deplete wildlife--that consuming the excess in any population does not mean fewer animals for others to enjoy. Working together, sportsmen and "non-consumptive" (a complete misnomer, given that those who avoid wild foods necessarily destroy entire plant and animal communities in order to cultivate their own) users can ensure better habitat and healthier populations for all. The fact that many are ignorant of this and have chosen sides against us does not mean that we must reject all that they stand for. Who among us does not want cleaner water or air? Rather than deny the green interests we all share, perhaps we should fight to remain the driving force behind the label they are attempting to usurp.
