Boone and Crockett Club Honors Wildlife Management Institute
MISSOULA, Mont.--(Ammoland.com)- The Boone and Crockett Club has presented its Theodore Roosevelt Legacy Award to an organization commemorating 100 years of conservation leadership and partnership, the venerable Wildlife Management Institute (WMI).
WMI received the award and recognition during the North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference, March 16, in Kansas City, Mo.
Boone and Crockett Club created the award in 2008 to honor the collaborative spirit of Americas greatest conservationist, Theodore Roosevelt.
Cooperative partnerships have always been a key to good conservation, and theyre going to be even more important going forward, said Ben Wallace, president of the Club. WMI has spent many decades developing key partners in state and federal government resource agencies, universities, businesses and organizationsand the results have benefited every American who appreciates sound, science-based wildlife management.
WMI was established in 1911 by a coalition of conservationists, including a number of Boone and Crockett Club members, who were gravely concerned about dramatic declines in many wildlife populations. Its founders saw a need for an independent, scientific voice dedicated to restoring and ensuring wild populations and their habitats.
Although WMIs methods and locations of operation have changed since 1911, it remains a small, nonprofit, scientific and educational organization. WMI works mostly on request with federal and provincial agencies, Congress, college and university researchers and educators, other private conservation organizations and professional associations. It advises, testifies and provides educational services on timely wildlife and related issues. WMI personnel are highly educated and experienced wildlife science and management professionals who work, typically away from the limelight, to catalyze and facilitate strategies, actions, decisions and programs to benefit wildlife.
Steve Williams, WMI president, said, This award is a major recognition of our long history, and of the many individuals who served on our staff and worked tirelessly behind the scenes to advance wildlife management and conservation. Anyone who values wildlife would be honored to be mentioned alongside Theodore Roosevelt. There isnt a more prestigious acknowledgment that WMI remains a critical, collaborative resource for conservation todayand tomorrow.
About the Boone and Crockett Club
Founded by Theodore Roosevelt in 1887, the Boone and Crockett Club promotes guardianship and visionary management of big game and associated wildlife in North America. The Club maintains the highest standards of fair-chase sportsmanship and habitat stewardship. Member accomplishments include enlarging and protecting Yellowstone and establishing Glacier and Denali national parks, founding the U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service and National Wildlife Refuge System, fostering the Pittman-Robertson and Lacey Acts, creating the Federal Duck Stamp program, and developing the cornerstones of modern game laws. The Boone and Crockett Club is headquartered in Missoula, Mont. For details, visit www.boone-crockett.org.