FOR RELEASE UPON RECEIPT
Contact: Chris Cauble, 406-449-0200
Email ccauble@riverbendpublishing.com
A Montana author says hunters need to remember how public hunting came to exist if they want to maintain it in the future.
Jim Posewitz of Helena says public hunting faces serious threats not from animal-rights groups but from trends within the hunting community. He cites the privatization and commercialization of wildlife, and the loss of wild habitats, as the greatest dangers.
In his new book, “Rifle in Hand” (Riverbend) Posewitz tells why and how recreational hunters saved wildlife and wild lands in North America, and he challenges today’s hunters to follow their example.
The book describes the 20th-century conservation achievements of Theodore Roosevelt, George Bird Grinnell, Ding Darling, Aldo Leopold, and others. Posewitz said Roosevelt, a man of power and privilege, and the others were always guided by two principles rooted in American democracy: wildlife belongs to all the people, and all people should have the opportunity to hunt.
“The North American model of wildlife conservation is unique,” Posewitz said. “The courts defined a public-trust relationship with fish and wildlife, and sport hunters developed a philosophy and initiated programs that resurrected waterfowl, upland birds, and big game from the ashes of commercial exploitation and habitat desecration. Because of this combination, we enjoy a wildlife abundance that is the envy of the world.”
Posewitz is the author of two other books on hunting, “Beyond Fair Chase” and “Inherit the Hunt.” “Beyond Fair Chase” is used in hunter education programs throughout North America and has sold more than 400,000 copies.
“Rifle in Hand” is available in bookstores or by calling Riverbend Publishing toll-free 1-866-787-2363.
By Jim Posewitz
112 pages, 5 ½ x 8 ½ inches
$9.95 Paperback ISBN 1-931832-41-2
$19.95 Hardcover ISBN 1-931832-45-5
Riverbend Publishing, Helena, Montana
Toll-free 1-866-787-2363
By Jim Posewitz
Born in Wisconsin in the middle of the “dirty thirties,” Jim Posewitz went to Montana in his eighteenth year to attend college, hunt, and fish. A couple of degrees in fish and wildlife management were followed by a 32-year career with the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. For most of that career he led the agency’s ecological services program addressing stream preservation and wild land protection. In 1993 Jim left the agency and created Orion The Hunters’ Institute to address the issues of ethics and the conservation heritage of hunters. His interest in the hunt and the history of North American hunting led to an appointment as an adjunct professor of history and philosophy at Montana State University. Jim also serves as executive director of the Cinnabar Foundation, a conservation philanthropy active in Montana and the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem.
Posewitz is the author of two other books on hunting, “Beyond Fair Chase: The Ethic and Tradition of Hunting” and “Inherit the Hunt: A Journey into the Heart of American Hunting.” “Beyond Fair Chase” is used in hunter education programs throughout North America and has sold more than 400,000 copies.