The Picture of Dorian Gray was a philosophical novel written by Oscar Wilde in 1890. It concerned a hedonistic and rich young man that made a pact with the devil to stay young forever while a painting of him in the attic aged and became disfigured as his sinful and corrupt life only showed in the painting. The novel, like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (an earlier novel by Robert Louis Stevenson admired by Wilde), evokes terror and an horrific and disastrous ending. Both novels treat the good and evil found in human nature and how “dabbling” in evil often has horrific consequences. Both novels have seen several movie and stage versions produced in the past 100 years.
I thought of Dorian Gray as I read the “Sunday Life” section of the Sunday edition of the St. Paul newspaper this morning. A half-page advertisement in this section, titled “Minnesota Offers Upland Bird Hunting Opportunities Galore” was somewhat a surprise. The pictures showed several ladies and a gentleman, all clothed in the requisite orange vests and caps (one lady wore a pink cap); and two pictures showed bird dogs with brightly colored collars. The paper identified this ad as “Sponsored Content” over two logos; one of “Explore Minnesota” (a state vacation agency) and one the “Minnesota DNR” (Department of Natural Resources).
To say I was surprised by this advertisement that mentioned hunting seasons and described generic information about upland bird (grouse, pheasant, dove, woodcock, and partridge) hunting locations would be an understatement. Since it was not in the sports section, I assumed it was an outreach by the DNR and the state vacation agency to urban recreationists, dog owners, non-bird hunters and other readers of the “vacation trips and movie schedules” section of the paper to encourage them to consider hunting upland birds in Minnesota. I read the ad through and, right in the middle of it, I was struck by curious wording that was the only reference to any wildlife other than the subject Upland Game Birds throughout the article. It read:
“Unlike some states, where habitat is similar throughout, Minnesota’s landscape is highly diversified. In fact, it is so diverse that it harbors not only prairie species but iconic symbols of the north – some for hunting, some not – such as moose, elk and wolf.”
Those last 11 words, “some for hunting, some not – such as moose, elk and wolf” caught my eye and gave me pause. This is an article for neophytes and non-hunters like Moms, Kids and Millennials that either have little knowledge of hunting or harbor vague unease about hunting and wildlife use. Telling such readers that “moose, elk and wolf” are “not” (sic for “hunting”) not only creates more public antipathy towards certain hunting (or controlling or managing them as well) species, it plants the notion of hunting becoming extinct as specie after specie is placed in a “no hunting” category by government.
I believe this is a “dog whistle” (i.e. a signal only heard by an intended recipient) to anti-hunting organizations and politicians that are engaged in the steady campaign to restrict hunting, wildlife management and wildlife control for human purposes. “The DNR is with you and making progress” is the message. Young readers and adult readers with limited rural experience or wildlife knowledge (that read such newspaper sections) might well be expected to take away the statement as I have presented it – “moose, elk and wolves are not for hunting”.
It is ironic that such a statement can be given the imprimatur of the state agency funded by both hunting license revenue and the taxes on arms and ammunition. That it appears in a Sunday section of the newspaper intended for “TRAVEL” and “ENTERTAINMENT” simply raises deeper concerns when coming from state “experts” that also deny wolf depredation is responsible for the loss of moose numbers sufficient to support hunting, and that recently maneuvered outside state requirements for Legislative Review to ban lead ammunition on certain state areas absent any data on lead harms to either wildlife or “the environment”.
The Wildlife Division of the DNR while largely supported by hunting-generated (licenses and taxes on arms and ammunition) revenue is squandering more and more of this revenue on both non-hunted wildlife and even destructive (to game species, livestock, dogs and the “domestic Tranquility” of rural residents) wildlife like wolves. Once reliable data from this and other state wildlife agencies such as species numbers; distribution; effects and control of wildlife as disease vectors; and causes of game scarcity is increasingly speculative political information intended to quell hunter complaints and encourage the new customers of the Wildlife Divisions that intend to cooperate in transforming it into some sort of “Wildlife Public Information Office” within the state “TRAVEL” agency reaching out to photographers, motorists and campers.
Like Dorian Gray, and Mr. Hyde, Minnesota and many other state wildlife agencies are performing hidden deeds that undermine the very reason they were created. They look to the similarly illicit growth of their federal counterparts and for whatever reasons “dabble” similarly in the manipulation of wildlife management agency’s operations, land acquisition, research, wildlife management and habitat management programs, wildlife control, etc. financed for decades with hunting and public-generated funding for consumptive (hunting) and non-consumptive (photography, et al) uses by and for people. This “dabbling” now consists of shifting wildlife management programs to native ecosystem restorations, the elimination of game management, the vilification of animal control and the marginalization of citizens that pursue or benefit from activities like hunting and trapping. Think of such agencies as the opposite of what they were founded to do, using government power and government resources to eliminate the very thing government proposed to save by establishing them.
The drumbeat of losses is steady at the state and federal level as they (like Dorian gray and Dr. Jekyll) deny what is happening has anything to do with them. Where this is going, again like Dorian Gray and Dr. Jekyll, has become a losing race with self-justification based on lies, eventual untenable circumstances and ultimately disaster.
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Jim Beers is a retired US Fish & Wildlife Service Wildlife Biologist, Special Agent, Refuge Manager, Wetlands Biologist, and Congressional Fellow. He was stationed in North Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, New York City, and Washington DC. He also served as a US Navy Line Officer in the western Pacific and on Adak, Alaska in the Aleutian Islands. He has worked for the Utah Fish and Game, Minneapolis Police Department, and as a Security Supervisor in Washington, DC. He testified three times before Congress; twice regarding the theft by the US Fish & Wildlife Service of $45 to 60 Million from State fish and wildlife funds and once in opposition to expanding Federal Invasive Species authority. He resides in Eagan, Minnesota with his wife of many decades.
Jim Beers is available to speak or for consulting.
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