Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 12 · column 3 of 7 · from the scan, no model involved
This week the bluebirds began nesting, the geese started their northern migration, herring moved into the southern Virginia coastal rivers and the purple martins arrived.
Why is this of interest to us? Well, we’re all partly responsible for the continuing return of all those species. No, not through donations to “Save the Bluebirds,” but largely through the purchase of hunting and fishing licenses.
A major portion of all fees collected from the sale of licenses goes into land acquisition for game management areas and for habitat improvement. Both land acquisition and habitat improvement provide additional nesting grounds for birds and more stable streamside cover for fish and wildlife, with clearer and less toxic water entering streams.
We should all be proud of the vested public lands that are made available, not only to hunters and fishermen, but to birdwatchers, backpackers, canoeists, rockhounds, rock climbers, even picnickers. State funds from the sale of licenses and federal funds from the sale of Duck Stamps and the Pittman-Robertson tax that is applied to all hunting equipment, such as guns, bows, ammo, etc., helped to make these public lands possible.
Just a few decades ago we were using DDT and destroying wildlife left and right. Then, it was kepone in the James, mercury in the Shenandoah, PCBs dumped unceremoniously anywhere there was a dump, even places that weren’t dumps.
Game and fish departments all across the country screamed the loudest, as it n their responsibility to protect our wildlife from us. The EPA and game and fish biologists sought out the sources and fought in our behalf to protect our wildlife, our water sources, fish and all the seemingly unimportant little critters that complete the food chain — the insects that the fish and birds feed on, the fish and birds that the raccoons and foxes feed on, etc.
From the lowly lightning bug to the stately stag, each time we see these creatures of the wild, we should be grateful for the dedicated wildlife biologist, the EPA chemist, the fish and wildlife officer, and most of all the guy that pays the bill, the hunter and the fisherman.
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