Wildlife Organizations: Positions on Hunting

Source: "What They Say About Hunting - Position Statements on Hunting of Major Conservation
or Preservation Organizations" Printed by the National Shooting Sports Foundation

*Anti, Pro, Neutral (No Position or "Neither for Nor Against")

Organization	Position* on Hunting	Additional Comments from Statements
The American Forestry Association 1516 P Street NW Washington DC 20005 (202) 667-3300	P	"…under proper regulations, hunting should be considered a tool of management by owners of forest and range holders…"
The Wilderness Society 1400 Eye Street NW 10th Fl Washington DC 20005 (202) 842-3400	P	"...recognizes hunting as a legitimate use in wilderness areas…subject to appropraite regulation for species protection."
The Izaak Walton League of America 1401 Wilson Blvd, Level B Arlington, VA 22209 (703) 528-1818	P	"...believes hunting should be considered a valuable management tool, where it is compatible with other resource uses and purposes…"
The National Rifle Association of America 1600 Rhode Island Ave NW Washington DC 20036 (202) 828-6000	P	"Well-regulated hunting is a beneficial use of renewable wildlife resources which, when left to nature, are finally lost to predators, disease, often starvation and old age…"
The Humane Society of the United States 2100 L. Street NW Washington DC 20037 (202) 452-1100	A	"The HSUS is strongly opposed to the hunting of any living creature for fun, trophy, or for sport…The HSUS recognizes that the welfare and responsible management of animals may, on occasion, necessitate the killing of wildlife…also recognizes that the legitimate needs for human subsistence may necessitate the killing of wildlife..."
The American Humane Association P.O. Box 1266 Denver, CO 80201-1266 (303) 695-0811	A	"…opposed to the hunting of any living creature for fun, a trophy, or for simple sport…believes that sport hunting is a form of exploitation of animals for the entertainment of the hunter... when all other avenues have been exhausted and there remains a demonstrable necessity to kill some wildlife, it should be performed by responsible officials and methods utilized must result in instantaneous and humane death...considers sport hunting a violation of the inherent integrity of animals...and calls for positive action to prevent such cruelties."
The North American Wildlife Foundation 102 Wilmot Road, Suite 410 Deerfield, IL 60015 (312) 940-7776	P	"Beneficial non-game wildlife populations and those that are threatened and endangered are given the full protection of the law. Surpluses of game populations can be cropped each year on a sustained basis under strict licensing and regulations…"
The National Audubon Society 950 Third Avenue New York, NY 10022 (212) 546-9100	N	"…has never been opposed to the hunting of game species if that hunting is done ethically and in accordance with laws and regulations design to prevent depletion of the wildlife resource…we will advocate restrictions on hunting, include the complete closure of a hunting season, whenever we are convinced that the welfare of the species involved requires it…we do not advocate hunting. This is no contradiction, though some people seem to think it is. Our objective is wildlife and environmental conservation, not the promotion of hunting. We think lots of the justifications for hunting are weak ones, and too often exaggerated for commercial reasons, and we do not hesitate to say so when the ocassion calls for it. But this does not make us anti-hunting…"
Outdoor Writers Association of America 2017 Cato Avenue, Suite 101 State College, PA 16801 (814) 234-1011	P	"…Without a regular controlled harvest, many animal populations and the ranges they occupy would be impoverished…Further, the hunter and the angler under established seasons and bag limits, take only a portion of the annual surplus which is going to be lost to other mortality causes anyway…"
Friends of Animals, Inc. P.O. Box 1244 Norwalk, CT 06856 (203) 866-5223	A	"The premeditated killing of wildlife is abhorrent to most people, particularly when hunting is condoned under false pretenses, under the guise of 'wildlife management, overpopulation control,' or 'protection of crops and public safety.'…We believe that wildlife, which by law belongs to all of us, has rights and deserves protection, and that the non-hunting majority needs a voice, an active advocate…"
The Wildlife Legislative Fund of America 50 West Broad Street Columbus, OH 43215 (614) 221-2684	P	"The Wildlife Legislative Fund of America believes that hunting, fishing and trapping are Rights not privileges. They are honorable pursuits that can be defended by our Constitution. These oldest of heritages are treasures that can and should be defended as we defend other legacies that weld us to our roots and remind us from where we came. These Rights can be taken away only by breaking the laws and regulations designed to protect wildlife. The Wildlife Legislative Fund of America is the nation's principal sportsmen's rights organization and through its associated organization represents over one million sportsmen. It is a firm believer in scientific wildlife management and supports regulated hunting, fishing and trapping. Founded to combat the animal rights movement, the WLFA is proud to have served sportsmen for over a decade. The staff is comprised of professionals with backgrounds in the fields of public relations, legislative lobbying, natural resource management and law. The WLFA is an association of organizations ranging from national groups like Ducks Unlimited, the Foundation for North American Wild Sheep, National Wild Turkey Foundation and others to hundreds of state and local sportsmen clubs. It provides money and manpower to sportsmen under attack anywhere in America. The WLFA operates in all 50 states and Washington, DC. Sportsmen are America's greatest conservationists. Because of their concern for wildlife and their support of the nation's dedicated wildlife managers, America's wildlife is thriving. No species of wildlife in the United States has been endangered by modern sportsmen. On the contrary, the sportsman's concern for wildlife, backed up by $950 million annually through license fees and self-imposed taxes, is the reason wildlife is thriving. Sportsmen provide a service by harvesting surplus animals. This can be crucial for many wildlife species' populations. Scientific data collected by biologists from the sportsman's game bag provides invaluable information that wildlife managers use to formulate wildlife management plans to ensure wildlife's health and abundance. To combat a growing anti-hunting/animal rights movement, the WLFA recently launched a nationwide public education program called "Protect What's Right". It is designed to carry the sportsmen's message to the non-hunting public. It is currently operational in hundreds of communities in 48 states."
Ducks Unlimited, Inc. National Headquarters One Waterfowl Way Long Grove, IL 60047 (312) 438-4300	P	"…supports the concept of regulated sport hunting as an integral part of sound wildlife management, and as a wise and prudent use of renewable natural resources…Because DU was chartered as a conservation organization, it is not a 'hunting' organization per se. But as a part of its singleness of purpose, DU attempts to educate the public about wildlife habitat and management."
The National Wildlife Federation 1400 Sixteenth Street NW Washington DC 20036-2266 (202) 797-6800	P	"We support hunting because, under professional regulation, wildlife populations are renewable natural resource that can safely sustain taking…the real and fundamental problem facing wildlife is not hunting but, instead is habitat degradation and destruction…"
Defenders of Wildlife 1244 Nineteenth Street NW Washington DC 20036 (202) 659-9510	N	"…neither an anti-hunting nor a pro-hunting organization, but most of its 80,000 members are non-hunters and their concern is with the restoration and protection of all species of wildlife and their habitats…"
Wildlife Management Institute 1101 Fourteenth Street NW Washington DC 20005 (202) 371-1808	P	"…supports and encourages recreational hunting and harvests within (1) prescribed scientific guidelines, (2) essential standards and traditions of fair chase and (3) laws and regulations established and enforced by state, provincial and federal wildlife management agencies…Hunting designated wildlife populations legally and responsibly is a legitimate, healthful and otherwise worthwhile recreational activity…"
The Wildlife Society 5410 Grosvenor Lane, Suite 200 Bethesda, MD 20814 (301) 897-9770	P	"…Today hunting is principally useful for recreational purposes, for utilization of the harvestable surplus to benefit man, and for controlling populations…"
The Fund for Animals 200 West 57 th Street New York, NY 10019 (212) 246-2096	A	"…unalterably opposed to the recreational killing of wildlife…"
The Sierra Club 730 Polk Street San Francisco, CA 94109 (415) 776-2211	N	"…is not opposed to sports hunting outside of appropriate sanctuaries such as national parks, provided it is regulated…Wildlife animals should not be valued principally in terms of whether they can serve as targets…we should respect the moral right of all creatures to exist, to maintain basic and successful breeding stock, to have essential habitat protected, to be free of unnecessary predation, persecution, and cruel and unduly confining captivity…regulated sports hunting may have a place for those who choose to pursue it, but there are more pressing concerns…"
World Wildlife Fund 1250 24 t h Street NW Washington DC 20037 (202) 293-4800	N	"…the organization itself takes no position either pro or con, on hunting…WWF recognizes that responsibly conducted hunting can be an appropriate wildlife management tool, particularly for abundant game that is maintained on a sustainable basis…WWF opposes hunting which might adversely affect the survival of threatened or endangered species…"
National Shooting Sports Foundation 555 Danbury Road Wilton, CT 06897 (203) 762-1320	P	"…Since the NSSF was created 'to foster in the American public a better understanding of and more active participation in the shooting sports,' its position on hunting as properly defined is one of strong support…believes that sport hunting is a desirable part of modern recreational patterns. NSSF feels that Americans have a right to hunt but to do so on private land is a privilege extended by the landowner. Hunting with proper controls is an effective and needed tool of that game management which has become the responsibility of modern man everywhere. It is the function of the hunting-interested to transfer their knowledge and their understanding of the hunting ethic to the younger people just as it has always been their function…No game species has been moved toward serious threat of extinction by sport hunting alone. On the contrary, numerous species have been returned to healthy numbers through hunter-sponsored, hunter-financed habitat management…"