The Center For Conservation Excellence

While lawyers and legal advice are a constant, not only in the general world in which we live, it has also been a constant in the conservation world for a long time. What started as an idea in 2009 came to fruition last year, the Center for Conservation Excellence (CCE): a program dedicated to creating and maintaining informed conservation professionals as to the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation to ensure the protection of wildlife, habitat and hunting heritage.

The idea originated in 2009 from the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies’ leadership, including NWTF co-CEO Becky Humphries, who was the Director of Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources at the time.

Carol Frampton, NWTF in-house counsel who was AFWA’s general counsel at the time, Ron Regan, AFWA’s executive director, Humphries and several other state agency directors, started the conservation law program which was the beginnings of CCE. The center is supported through the multi-state grant program funded by excise tax on sporting equipment paid by hunters, anglers and conservationists from AFWA and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The NWTF and AFWA entered into a Memorandum of Understanding during the 2019 NWTF annual convention in Nashville, to move the law program from Washington D.C. to the NWTF headquarters. This enabled the Center to accommodate office space for up to four law student interns each term. AFWA continues to work in partnership with the NWTF to deliver its conservation goals.

There have been few programs and projects undertaken to create awareness for wildlife law and policy with the mission of protecting Americans’ rights to hunt and fish. Though strong in intention, the scalability has been challenging when addressing this need for protecting modern conservation efforts, hunting heritage and wildlife law. Additionally, the animal rights movement has been at large since the early 2000s and special interest groups are pushing their agenda of “legal personhood” for animals at an alarming and well-funded rate.

With support from the Fish and Wildlife Service, AFWA, the NWTF, the National Rifle Association’s Hunter Leadership Forum, Camp Fire Club of American and others, the Center is standing up to threats against modern conservation efforts and creating better access and quality of conservation and wildlife law education across America.

The CCE, its projects, and its ambitious goals to become available in all 50 states are already on their way to becoming a reality. New partners are coming aboard, and new technologies in education efficiency are being explored and developed with the Center’s partners. CCE management works with academic institutions, state agencies and partnering nonprofits to educate the minds of the future generations of legal practitioners across the country by offering access to education in wildlife law. The next several years of hard work in laying a foundation in conservation law education will help the future of wildlife conservation programs in America for generations.

While the curriculum under CCE does not expect to directly create hunters, anglers or conservationists, this effort’s ability to arm future professionals with honest and accurate principles of wildlife law will benefit the future of conservation in many ways and offer a critical balance to today’s legal education. Those working in the conservation industry depend on the legal system to defend their rights to operate under the North American Model to protect wildlife through modern data and science. For this to continue, students and graduates working in the conservation profession need to understand the importance of conservation law and what it protects: America’s wildlife, habitat, and rights to hunt and fish.

Though CCE currently offers courses in a handful of law schools and undergraduate institutions, and is continuously offering Continuing Legal Education seminars across the country, it strives for more. The Center continues to place more courses and seminars, as well as connect more students and graduates with state agencies, nonprofit organizations and other conservation positions. The long-term goal of the Center is to see conservation law education available across America’s academic institutions and elevate education opportunities to reach audiences before, during and after their education, maintaining their knowledge of the North American Model, Public Trust, Federal Authority, State Management of Wildlife, Constitutional Right to Hunt and more throughout their careers.

All of the programs and courses will better equip conservation professionals but the resources can also be accessed by staff and volunteers alike. More information on the Center for Conservation Excellence and the available resources can be found at conservationlawus.com. Shelby DeVuyst was named the Assistant Director of the Center for Conservation Excellence, and she can be reached at sdevuyst@nwtf.net for more information.