Our View
Today, public awareness is just as important to effective wildlife management as population counts and habitat studies. Community involvement is as essential to conservation as biological and earth sciences.
Through outreach, education and emphasizing science as the basis for decision-making, the Texas Foundation for Conservation (TFC) supports initiatives that uphold the principles of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation and the Public Trust Doctrine. As a Texas-based 501(c)(3), TFC also understands and respects the integral role of private property owners in managing habitat for wildlife, and the Foundation believes private property rights and science-based management are central tenets to successful conservation programs.
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Our Core Values
Our values are rooted deeply in the principles of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation. Collectively, the underlying principles recognize:
- Fish and wildlife are a public trust resource.
- Unregulated commercial markets are not sustainable.
- Laws developed by citizens and enforced by government regulate proper use.
- Citizens have the freedom to view, hunt, and fish, regardless of economic status.
- Game and fish cannot be harvested except for legitimate purposes as defined by law.
- Some fish and wildlife are international resources.
- Good science is the proper basis for sustaining fish and wildlife populations.
The Public Trust Doctrine is essential to the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation because it establishes a trustee relationship obligating government to hold and manage fish and wildlife for the benefit of the public. Fish and wildlife resources are deemed universally important in the lives of people, and Texans should have an opportunity to enjoy these resources.
In addition to these common principles, we believe private property rights are paramount to the success of wildlife conservation. Private stewardship of public resources in Texas has resulted in some great conservation success stories.
“Like winds and sunsets, wild things were taken for granted until progress began to do away with them. Now we face the question whether a still higher ‘standard of living’ is worth its cost in things natural, wild and free.”
– Aldo Leopold