I take exception to some of Ehor Boyanowsky’s remarks about hunters and non-hunters. He states at one point that “hikers and wildlife watchers … have little knowledge or information regarding the symbiosis among water, weeds, insects and fish or field and fauna. Only the predator … the angler … the hunter … takes the trouble to notice whether [conditions] are sustaining the species upon which he or, less often, she depends for sport or even survival.” I was dismayed by how readily he could make such a sweeping generalization, backed up by absolutely no evidence whatsoever. There are, of course, those sentimental folks who wax lyrical about the beauty of a flower without having the faintest idea of its biology or eco-niche. But there are also hunters who use their time in the bush to drink beer, tear up the landscape with ATVs and fire guns at anything that moves, often to the detriment of their fellow hunters, other animals or innocent passing motorists. To characterize all those who hike and watch wildlife as witless dilettantes is outrageously unjust to the countless dedicated professionals, non-specialists and volunteers who act as stewards for and analysts of their particular little patches of earth.
As well, his remark that “the environmentalist sounds the alarm too late, when only a few creatures survive,” is equally mystifying. I can surmise only three explanations for his remark: 1) environmentalists have a long history of talking and pleading and lobbying, which is largely ignored until the situation has grown to calamity levels; 2) humans respond much more viscerally to the prospect of an imminent or occurring crisis than to long-term degradation of conditions; and 3) mainstream, commercial media is much more interested in and prepared to air punchy sound bites rather than lengthy, in-depth analyses of environmental concerns. I believe that Boyanowsky’s review, though on the whole interesting, could have been that much more valid if he had avoided groundless simplifications and instead stressed that all of us who visit, make use of, live in or pass through the wild should be mindful of our place within its intricate interconnectedness and complexity, and conduct ourselves accordingly.
