Description
The Boone and Crockett Club was founded by Theodore Roosevelt in 1887 as the first national organization to address the destruction of America’s wildlife natural resources and the habitats that support them. In Roosevelt’s day conservation was not a word in the English language. Using some, but saving more for tomorrow was a concept that was counter to the belief that America was the land of opportunity, and that natural resources were in unlimited supply and there for the taking. This proved not to be so. There has been little that has transpired in the area of natural resource conservation that was not conceived of, established or promoted by the Club and its members, beginning with defining conservation as, “the wise and prudent use of natural resources without waste.” Of the many accomplishments the Club has contributed a few that stand out are; the establishment of our national forests and the National Forest Service; many national parks and the National Park Service; the national wildlife refuge system; the Bureau of Land Management, and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service; structured hunting seasons and game laws; and the funding mechanisms for conservation including the Federal Duck Stamp and Wildlife Restoration Act (Pittman-Robertson). The Club is most widely known among sportsmen for its scoring system and as the keeper of the record books for North American big game, as well as the ethical code of conduct of sportsmen, known as fair chase.