The "Tragedy of the Commons", Culture, and Information

Most mornings about a half hour after sunrise, some wild turkeys wander through our back yard. They're pretty impressive birds. The tom turkey (shown left) is the size of a medium dog. They come fairly close to the house to browse the seeds that drop off our bird feeders.

Wild turkeys were hunted to local extinction within only 20-30 years of European settlers moving to northeast Ohio. Diaries and accounts of the time record the total wanton disregard the settlers had for nature. Entire primeval forests were razed to the ground and burned to make pot ash to be shipped back to the east coast and to clear space for farming. The settlers hunted every single animal for food or for sport, and basically transformed a thriving forest into a big grassland in only a few decades.

The turkeys that are around today were reintroduced by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. The populations are maintained by restricting hunting through laws, and also through education, and culture, and also, importantly through a mass shift in farming practices, so large portions of the landscape have returned to forest over time, and the habitat of the animals has been restored.

It's a good question whether animals like turkeys would survive without hunting restrictions, or if the cultural, educational and economic changes are actually the driving force in their survival today. It's also a good question if the settlers of the 1800's really knew what they were doing, that is, their collective impact, would they have behaved the same way? If each individual person making selfish, short sighted choices had more complete information, would they moderate their actions? Or, put a sharper way, would a community of people abide cheaters in their midst, that is, those who exploit the commons to the detriment of all?