Hunting for Answers about Sustainable Use Conservation

October 30, 2015

Louis B. Mayer Lounge
UC Hastings College of the Law
198 McAllister Street, First Floor
San Francisco, CA 94102

In our society, views about uses of wildlife vary on a continuum that range from a wide variety of consumptive uses to a complete rejection of consumptive uses, with many positions in between.

Consumptive use occurs when “the entire organism or any of its parts is deliberately killed or removed either as a goal in and of itself … or for a product.” A person who completely rejects this position agrees with non-consumptive use. Non-consumptive use “does not involve direct removal and the wildlife is instead viewed and photographed.” Again, most people fall somewhere in-between.

Legislatures, agencies, non-profit organizations, hunters, and corporations have long fought intense political and legal battles over the ability to hunt big game and, when the hunting occurs overseas, the ability to import any animal parts. The recent death of Cecil the Lion has intensified this debate.

Speakers from all sides of the issue will discuss the laws, policies, and economic impacts surrounding sustainable use conservation.

Sustainable use conservation is the idea that governmental agencies can sustainably manage wildlife in a way that advances the conservation of the species as a whole though consumptive use.