Daryl Bauer, Fisheries Outreach Program Manager
The Thanksgiving holiday is as old as America. You all know the traditional story of the pilgrims and their first Thanksgiving celebration. Subsequently, you can find official proclamations for a nationally observed Thanksgiving that were issued while the war for independence was still very much in doubt (Thanksgiving Proclamation, 1779). Later, our first president, George Washington himself, signed a proclamation calling upon the new nation to recognize an official day of thanksgiving (Thanksgiving Proclamation, 1789).
It is very appropriate that all these years later we have our Thanksgiving holiday with all of its feasting, family, football, and all of the other things we enjoy on this November weekend every year. As you head out the door for Grandma’s house, take a few minutes to read those proclamations. Remind yourself of the spirit of gratitude with which it should all be observed.
For many of us, the long Thanksgiving weekend will offer some opportunities to slip away to spend some time outdoors doing a little hunting, fishing or both!
There is a connection between the two, the founding of our country, our fish & wildlife resources and our privilege to enjoy them. . . .
Again referencing the father of our country, George Washington in his inaugural address as our first president referred to the founding of the United States as a great American experiment. For the first time in history a democratic republic government was chosen by the people. With the individual rights and freedoms recognized in that government, was an entirely different view of natural resources. The fish and wildlife did not belong exclusively to land-owning gentry, kings and lords, but to ALL the people.
The result was the North American Model of Conservation which our fish & wildlife benefit from to this day. So do you and I.
For that I am thankful!