Nimrod Education Center
Hillsdale College
Announcing a Groundbreaking Educational Program
To promote the natural sciences both at Hillsdale College and throughout the country, Mr. Alan Taylor, president of the Nimrod Society, has made a generous gift to establish and endow the Nimrod Center for Education in Areas of Consumptive Sport and Recreational Hunting and Fishing, known simply as the Nimrod Education Center. It will educate the public about the societal benefits of consumptive sports such as hunting and fishing, as well as recreational and competitive shooting sports.
“In a civilized and cultivated country, wild animals only continue to exist at all when preserved by sportsmen.”
-President Theodore Roosevelt
The Nimrod Society
The Nimrod Society is a 501 (c) 3, non-profit foundation aimed at encouraging state and federal wildlife management and conservation agencies to adopt self-sustaining revenue models to fund ongoing, comprehensive media based education campaigns targeted at the general public.The Nimrod Society was formed in 2003 and refers to the biblical name of Nimrod, the founder of several ancient cities and known as “a mighty hunter before the Lord” (Genesis: 10:8-12). For more information, visit nimrodsociety.org
The Natural Sciences at Hillsdale
Since its founding in 1844, Hillsdale College has been interested in what our country’s Founders called the “laws of nature and of nature’s God.” These laws concern not only the human things, but all things in nature. They govern both the physical and the moral universe. Hillsdale’s Articles of Association state that the College will offer a “literary, scientific, and theological” education “outstanding among American colleges.” The study of the natural sciences remains an essential component of Hillsdale’s liberal arts education. All Hillsdale students are required to take courses in biology, chemistry, physics, and mathematics as part of the College’s rigorous core curriculum.
Hillsdale College’s Conservation Program
The Nimrod Education Center is led by the Nimrod Education Center Director, Al Stewart.
Educational Outreach
Educational activities of the Nimrod Education Center will include:
- Academic courses in the areas of wildlife and fisheries management and consumptive sport
- Continuing education programs, seminars, and conferences on fish and wildlife management and consumptive sport
- Scholarships for Hillsdale College students with experience or seeking experience in the consumptive sporting activities of hunting and fishing
- Grants to other educational and tax-exempt organizations to help them develop academic curricula and materials that advance the purpose of the Nimrod Education Center
- Developing partnerships to establish Wildlife Councils in all states
Facilities
The Nimrod Education Center will operate from Hillsdale College’s main campus and satellite campuses. The Nimrod Education Center will use the College’s many existing facilities to conduct its activities, including the G. H. Gordon Biological Station and the John Anthony Halter Shooting Sports Education Center.
The Nimrod Fellowship
As part of the Nimrod Education Center’s mission to promote hunting and fishing at Hillsdale and throughout the country, students are invited to apply for the Nimrod Fellowship. This competitive one-year fellowship is open to undergraduate students of all majors who have experience with, or a significant interest in, hunting and fishing.
The North American Conservation Model
The Nimrod Education Center teaches and promotes the North American Conservation Model, which is defined by these seven unique features
- Wildlife is a public resource. In the Unites States, wildlife is considered a public resource, independent of the land or water where wildlife may live. Government at various levels have a role in managing that resource on behalf of all citizens and to ensure the long-term sustainability of wildlife populations.
- Markets for game are eliminated before wildlife protection laws were enacted, commercial operations decimated populations of many species. Making it illegal to buy and sell meat and parts of game and nongame species removed a huge threat to the survival of those species. A market in furbearers continues as a highly regulated activity, often to manage invasive wildlife.
- Allocation of wildlife by law. Wildlife is a public resource managed by government. As a result, access to wildlife for hunting is through legal mechanisms such as set hunting seasons, bag limits, license requirements, etc.
- Wildlife can only be killed for a legitimate purpose. Wildlife is a shared resource that must not be wasted. The law prohibits killing wildlife for frivolous reasons.
- Wildlife species are considered an international resource. Some species, such as migratory birds, cross national boundaries. Treaties such as the Migratory Bird Treaty and CITES recognize a shared responsibility to manage these species across national boundaries.
- Science is the proper tool for discharge of wildlife policy. In order to manage wildlife as a shared resource fairly, objectively, and knowledgeably, decisions must be based on sound science such as annual waterfowl population surveys and the work of professional wildlife biologists.
- The democracy of hunting. In keeping with democratic principles, government allocates access to wildlife without regard for wealth, prestige, or land ownership.
Al Stewart
Director of the Nimrod Education Center
Al Stewart serves as Director of the Nimrod Education Center. He is also an Adjunct Instructor at Michigan State University. He is associated with the USA Olympic National Team that is located at Hillsdale College and he serves as VP of the Glassen Foundation.
He retired from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources after 50 years with the organization.
Al has both a professional and personal interest in upland game birds. He has followed them for over 50 years. He has had the opportunity to study them in Europe, Russia, Canada, Great Britain, Africa, Mexico, and the United States.
As the Upland Game Bird Specialist and Program Leader for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, he was responsible for statewide conservation and management programs for ruffed grouse, American woodcock, sharp-tailed grouse, quail, pheasants, and wild turkeys. He has been involved with teaching wildlife management for Study Abroad classes in Africa and Russia. He has also taught at the South African Wildlife College. Al oversaw the largest American woodcock chick banding program in the world and is the only person to have captured for restoration or research projects all the species and sub-species of wild turkeys in the world. Al is an International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) commissioner and a professional member of the Boone and Crockett Club.
He has contributed to international and national management activities for upland game birds and has received numerous awards for his contributions including the Teddy Roosevelt National Conservation Award from President George H. Bush that was presented at the White House, MSU Outstanding Alumni Service Award, Henry S. Mosby NWTF Lifetime Achievement Award, Pheasants Forever Lifetime Achievement Award, Dodge Brothers National Conservation Award by Matilda Dodge Wilson Foundation at Meadowbrook Hall, Marv Cooley DNR Wildlife Division dedication award, and Michigan United Conservation Club’s “Legacy” award.
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For more information or questions about the Nimrod Education Center please contact Director Al Stewart
[email protected] (517) 282-1913
More Information
Learn More About the John Anthony Halter Shooting Sports Education Center Learn More About the G. H. Gordon Biological Station