The conservation and wildlife community lost one of its strongest advocates and most outspoken supporters with the recent passing of Tony Dean. Dean was an easy-going, even-tempered sportsman from South Dakota who stood up for and spoke out on issues in which he believed. And one thing he believed very strongly was that conservation was fundamental to good hunting and fishing.
"Tony was a thoughtful and passionate advocate for conservation. His folksy style could sway even the toughest of politicians," wrote Susan Brown, Executive Director of the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) Action Fund, in a tribute to Tony Dean on the group's website. "We will remember his vigor for life and passion for the great outdoors, but most of all we will honor his commitment to the people who fish and hunt — he was their true friend."
Tony Dean has been widely praised for spreading the message of the importance of conservation for future generations — an ethic he learned at an early age from parents who cared about the outdoors. His father was an angler, hunter, and farmer, whose neighbors all flocked to his fields to hunt. The reason, Dean explained, was because his father was as proud of the ring necks, sharp tailed grouse, and Hungarian partridge, as he was of his farming practices. He took care of his land so that it would take care of his family and sustain wildlife. Dean's mother was the most avid angler in the family, instilling her love for fishing in Dean, while his father encouraged a love of the outdoors. Both parents taught Tony the importance of leaving places wild for the wildlife. His father also gave his son some sound advice. "Stand for something and fight for what you believe in. If you do, you will make powerful friends, and you'll make a good share of powerful enemies, too. But you can be damn proud of both."
Tony turned his love of outdoors into a career. He hosted his own radio program, "Dakota Backroads," and television show, "Tony Dean Outdoors," which covered everything from geese hunting in North Dakota, to fishing for Walleye in South Dakota, to how climate change impacts hunting and fishing. "As I moved along in my outdoor career I began to see, sometimes slowly at first, how critical clean water, air and open spaces were to wildlife," Dean remarked at the South Dakota Wild Grasslands Coalition's Annual Wilderness Symposium in 2005. "And I learned the truth about South Dakota -- that our most precious resources are, in no particular order, water, soil, and grass."
Dean not only promoted conservation and protection of wildlife and habitat in South Dakota, but around the country. At home he promoted wetland conservation and prairie protection. He was also a vocal supporter of the South Dakota's Wild Grasslands Coalition's Wilderness Proposal, which would designate the first prairie wilderness in the country. This precious land is the same prairie that Lewis and Clark wrote about in their journals, where they described living on a diet of big game like elk and buffalo, and it is rapidly disappearing.
Tony was a national voice on climate change. Earlier this year, he participated in Climate Crisis Action Day in Washington, DC, where he joined thousands of participants in urging Senators to support steep reductions in global warming pollution and to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Dean continually addressed climate change issues and educated his listeners and readers through the platforms of his radio and television programs, as well as his columns.
More recently, Dean joined the National Wildlife Federation Action Fund at the "I Fish, I Hunt, I Vote Conservation" event at the Democratic National Convention. This life-long Teddy Roosevelt Republican was unyielding in his support for an energy policy that dealt first and foremost with global warming. Dean was also a strong critic of anti-conservation practices, and did not hold back when he felt a group or individual was doing something to harm wildlife habitat or contributing to climate change. Tony was both pro-gun and pro-conservation, and stood up to the National Rifle Association when the group backed candidates whom he felt would not support conservation efforts.
Dean felt strongly that hunters and conservationists should be allies. "Hunters and environmentalists have so much in common, so much at stake, that a coalition of these two groups who often view the other from afar and with no small amount of suspicion, makes so much sense." Dean was relentless in trying to find common ground between these groups and his impact on hunters, anglers, conservationists and so many more is felt from coast to coast.
The outpouring of praise for Tony, since his passing, is just a glimpse of the incredible way he touched those around him. He will be sorely missed, and the greatest service we can do to his legacy is carry on his message and work diligently so that future generations are able to experience the same great hunting and fishing opportunities that Tony Dean did, and as so many generations before him.
