Boone and Crockett Club's 125th Anniversary - The Origins of North American Conservation Part 1

In December 1887, Theodore Roosevelt invited George Bird Grinnell and nine other friends to a dinner party at his home in New York City. The guest list included writers, scientists, explorers, military leaders, industrialist, and political figures. The one thing that they all shared in common was an enthusiasm for big game hunting and each had traveled extensively in the West.

It was at this gathering that Roosevelt sprang forth his idea to put a halt to the momentum of the destruction of America's wildlife. The result was the formation of the Boone and Crockett Club, the first organization of its kind to address the decline and then recovery of these precious natural resources on a national scale.

This was the beginning of a crusade lead by American sportsmen to re-gift America that which it had squandered.

125-YEAR SNAPSHOT: BOONE AND CROCKETT CLUB 1887-2012

• Oldest wildlife conservation organization in North America – founding in 1887 by Theodore Roosevelt and George Bird Grinnell
• Initiator and champion of the first National Parks, including Yellowstone, Glacier, Denali, and Grand Canyon Initiator and champion of the first legislation for wildlife, including the Timberland Reserve Bill, Yellowstone Protection Act, Lacey Act, Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and Alaskan Game Laws
• Champion of the earliest science-based wildlife management efforts and legislation, including the National Wildlife Refuge System Act, and the creation of the Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units
• Champion of the first legislations funding wildlife conservation, including the Wildlife Restoration Act (Pittman-Robertson), and the federal Duck Stamp Act
• Pioneered and established the principles of responsible, ethical, and sustainable use hunting known as Fair Chase
• Created the first big game scoring and data collection system to objectively measure and evaluate species and population health and habitat quality to improve state and federal wildlife polices and management
• Initiator and champion of all of the principle federal land management agencies, including the US First Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service
• Spawned and supported key wildlife conservation organizations, including the New York Zoological Society (1895), National Audubon Society (1905), Wildlife Management Institute (1911), National Wildlife Federation (1937), Ducks Unlimited (1937), and American Wildlife Conservation Partners (2000)

MISSION STATEMENT It is the mission of the Boone and Crockett Club to promote the conservation and management of wildlife, especially big game, and its habitat, to preserve and encourage hunting and to maintain the highest ethical standards of fair chase and sportsmanship in North America.*

*Language adapted from the Certificate of Incorporation of the Boone and Crockett Club, May 23, 1923, Washington, D.C., as presented by Theodore Roosevelt, Charles Sheldon, Kermit Roosevelt, George Bird Grinnell, et al.