Overview of B&C's Conservation Education Programs

Aldo Leopold is considered conservation's most influential advocate and the founder of wildlife ecology. He was an avid sportsman, shown here in Chihuahua, Mexico, in 1938. the photograph was taken by  his son, Starker, who later became a B&C member as well.   

Since the 1940s, the Club has supported numerous wildlife studies as part of its continuing commitment to conservation. Club member Aldo Leopold, widely acknowledged as the "father" of modern wildlife management, set early standards for the Club’s emphasis on research and education. In 1948, B&C invested in research and the career development of wildlife professional through its Conservation Grants Program. Grants assisted the early careers of some of the brightest and best wildlife professionals, including Durward Allen's early wolf and moose studies on Isle Royale; Lynn Rogers' landmark work on black bears in Minnesota; and Maurice Hornocker's pioneering research on mountain lions in Idaho.

Since the mid-1980s, the problem of sustainable development and the process of making resource use consistent with present and future needs, has become an increasing concern of Club members. With the purchase of the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Ranch (a working cattle ranch and hub of conservation education and research activities), the creation of our first University Professor at the University of Montana, and establishment of our headquarters in Montana, the Club was poised to address modern-day natural resources issues head on. Dynamic and evolving, B&C's Conservation Education Programs continues to test convention and look for new solutions to ever-changing challenges.

The future of our wildlife and the habitats that support them depends on choices people make. Research and science are key factors in determining what is possible, and conservation education provides the knowledge upon which the right choices can be made. The Boone and Crockett Conservation Education Program strives to offer perspectives that will foster shared use of natural resources, conservation, sustainable development, and stewardship of the land to build a common ground for sustaining healthy ecosystems.