Field and Game Australia - History

History

The Victorian Field and Game Association was established in 1958 at Sale. The name comes from "field sportsmen" and "game management' abbreviated to "Field and Game'. Field and Game was formed by hunters who were concerned at the loss of wetland habitat for the game birds they loved to observe and hunt.

Other resolutions adopted at that first meeting in 1958 were:

To develop Victorian facilities for game bird hunting by the promotion of game bird conservation and management projects. To develop a greater public appreciation of the pleasures and values of game bird hunting. To organise a deputation to the Chief Secretary seeking the establishment of a shooter's license to fund game conservation.

FGA’s guiding principles and purposes as established more than 50 years ago are even more important and more relevant today.

Principles and Purposes Field and Game Australia (formerly the Victorian Field & Game Association) was pioneered by recreational Waterfowl Hunters who recognised that development of farmland after the Second World War was seriously encroaching on important wetlands, causing a rapid decline in waterfowl populations through the state of Victoria. The first Field and Game branch was established as a direct response to these concerns.

At its first meeting the Association adopted the following motto which, up until recent times, appeared on all its letterheads:

"The wildlife of today is not ours to dispose of as we please. We have it in trust. We must account for it to those who come after". ~ King George Vl ~

Initially the Association concentrated its efforts on three wetlands of significance: Winton Swamp near Benalla (now Lake Mokoan) Tower Hill in Western Victoria and Jack Smith's Lake in Gippsland

In those early days the Association appeared as radical in its aims as many contemporary conservation groups do today. This was because hunters placed a value on swampland, which because of its unsuitability for agriculture was otherwise regarded as being useless. Many in the community thought the FGA members odd in the 1950s when they proposed that regulated water from irrigation systems should be available to wetlands.

Building Assets for all Australians

Members of the Association lobbied strongly for the introduction of a shooter’s license system that would make funds available for the protection of wetland habitats. Under Sir Henry Bolte’s watchful eye, the Shooter's License was established in 1959 and provided Victoria’s first ever funds for game and wildlife management. Important areas of waterfowl habitat were purchased and the Game Research Station at Serindip near Lara was established - now a popular wetland education centre.

Many of the wetland reserves in Victoria owe their existence to the shooters license, which today raises over $4 million annually. A new Game License introduced in 1990 raises another $1 million annually.

Recognition F&GA's efforts came in 1978 when the Association won the Conservation Council of Victoria's prestigious prize for the organisation that had contributed the most to conservation over a 5-year period.