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Jesse's Hunting > Hunting Articles > Articles > JHO Interview - Sierra Sportsmen Organizer, Jon Schwedler
JHO Interview - Sierra Sportsmen Organizer, Jon Schwedler
Holly Heyser - JHO ProStaff
- Sacramento, CA
October 09, 2008
Hunters and anglers rightfully consider ourselves active conservationists – our taxes, fees, contributions and volunteer hours have restored habitats in a world of expanding suburbs, and revived species once believed doomed to extinction.
But our relationship with the nation’s premier environmental group – the Sierra Club – has not been an easy one. While the Sierra Club is not an “animal rights” group and does not oppose hunting in general, its interests have sometimes clashed with those of hunters: It has opposed removing wolves and grizzlies from the endangered species list, building access roads in wilderness areas and maintaining artificial water installations that sustain bighorn sheep in the Southwest.
In April, the Sierra Club started “Sierra Sportsmen,” an interest group that highlights the common ground shared by hunters and environmentalists. Membership is free, and the group aims to help members work on conservation projects seen as beneficial to hunters and anglers.
Some hunters were skeptical about the new group right off the bat. “I don’t trust the ‘tree hugger’ type groups,” one hunter commented in reaction to a post about the group on The Hog Blog. “I’d rather back the NRA, NAHC, NAFC etc.. The Sierra Club has pulled some stuff that, to this day, still has the hunting community upset.”
Others seemed open to the idea of being part of a Sierra Club coalition. “I don’t see any other strong hunting organization as big, as powerful, as active, has the same clout and have the same positive image as Sierra Club,” another wrote in the Hog Blog debate. “It makes sense to hitch our wagon to this organization through tactical or strategic collaboration.”
Jon Schwedler, Greenneck
The self-described "Greenneck", Schwedler believes that the Sierra Club and hunters and fishermen have a lot in common. |
Q: How did you get involved in this group?
“I grew up fishing. I didn’t do a lot of hunting until I started working in conservation – I worked with the Nature Conservancy. I found one of the best ways I can support the critters in the places I care about is by hunting them. I had a mentor, a guy who took me out in Montana, who said, ‘This is the way you do it ethically.’
“When the Sierra Club had this idea for this position, I thought, ‘Here’s an opportunity to be one of the engineers in the bridge-building between these communities.”
Q: What can you say about the Sierra Club’s differences with hunters?
“The Sierra Club is largely volunteer - people who aren’t receiving a paycheck, just doing it because they love it. Sometimes you get folks who aren’t as familiar with some of the data and science of conservation.
“And it’s a personal thing sometimes. There’ll be a chapter that works really closely with Trout Unlimited, and then that person will move on …
Q: And about the commonalities?
“Common sense-wise, people realize we have a lot more in common, environmentalists, hunters and anglers. The water environmentalists care about falls from the sky, then falls on the habitat, and flows through the forest ... On its face to me it’s pretty obvious why we have a lot in common.
“In the end, it’s coming full circle. It was Theodore Roosevelt who suggested to John Muir, ‘Why don’t you start up a group to protect Yosemite?’
“If you remove yourself from the hyperbole, it makes sense. We all recognize there are a lot fewer kids getting outdoors having the kinds of experiences we did as children. As a result, there’s less appreciation for things we care about.
Q: So why is the Sierra Club reaching out to hunters now?
“It may be a reflection of the past seven years … that maybe sometimes an administration isn’t on the side so of what’s best for wildlife. We realized we’ve got to get this stuff done – we’ve got enough enemies. We don’t need any more.”
Q: How will you work with hunters?
“ It will be people working on the ground on issues such as drilling and CAFOs (confined animal feeding operations, whose runoff affects fish). Sometimes it’s around issues; sometimes around kids. We’re really looking to work with a lot of people.”
Q: How many members do you have?
“We have about 5,000 members. One in every five Sierra Club members hunts or fishes. Some of them – probably a lot of them – aren’t hard core; this isn’t their primary way of enjoying the outdoors. But they’ve picked up a rod or a gun.”
(Author’s note: One in five – 20 percent – is a higher percentage than the general population; the latest U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service survey indicates 15 percent of American adults hunt or fish.)
Q: You started hunting 10 years ago. What’s your favorite type of hunting?
“I went on a javelina hunt, and I like pronghorn. I just really enjoy being out in the wilds and the public lands experience.
“Once I was in Montana hunting for elk in the Madison Valley, and I got up on top of a ridge, following a group of them, and we could see wolf tracks. It really struck me at this point: This is what people were doing 5,000 years ago. I was just another of the critters out there. Not just as a witness, but as a participant.
“… You just go so much slower when you’re not just trekking through an area. I enjoy hiking and backpacking when I don’t have a gun or a rod, but it’s not the same.”
Q: Any final thoughts?
“Aldo Leopold once said, ‘A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.’
“The Sierra Club perspective is that if hunting and fishing helps sustain the resources on this planet, then it’s a good thing. And if it gets to the point that they don’t, maybe it’s time to look at it.”
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To learn more about Sierra Sportsmen, go to www.sierraclub.org/sierrasportsmen.
Editor's Note: Schwedler recently left his post on the Sierra Sportsmen. His replacement has not yet been announced on the Sierra Sportsmen blog.
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