John Thomas Miner was born on April 10, 1865 in the US. As a young man he moved to Essex County in Ontario
Over time- Jack Miner as he was called, became known as the father of of North American conservation.
In the 1880’s he worked as a trapper and hunter to augment income from the brick business that used the clay on his property.
However his first steps at conservation began when he built winter shelters for quail who were having a hard time surviving, later raising ringneck pheasants.
He also began noticing ducks and geese landing on ponds on the property as they migrated and wondered where they went on their travels north and south.
By 1904 he was deliberately trying to attract geese to his property and was banding them to be able to track movements.
In 1908 the property in Kingsville in the southwest corner of Ontario near Lake Erie became one of the first bird sanctuaries in North America. It continued to grow in importance becoming a provincial crown reserve in 1917 known as the Jack Miner Migratory Bird Sanctuary.
He began travelling to give lectures about conservationism, inspiring many others to think about the issue. His banding efforts led to a much greater understanding of migration patterns and he was among the first to instill the importance of international cooperation in migratory bird conservation.
His efforts helped to establish the U.S. Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, representing an agreement between six nations making it unlawful to capture, sell, or kill certain migratory birds.
As early as 1927, he also was prescient in warning of the dangers of pollution in the Great Lakes
Jack Miner died in 1944. He had been presented with the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by King George VI in 1943 “for the greatest achievement in conservation in the British Empire.”
In 1947 Canada declared National Wildlife Week Act to be observed the week of Miner’s birth, April 10, each year.
Kingsville celebrates his work each year with an annual Fall Migration Festival.
His bird sanctuary work is carried on today by the Jack Miner Migratory Bird Foundation, incorporated in the US and Canada. Kingsville will aslo be celebrating the 150th anniversary of his birth all this weekend with public ceremonies to begin at the Sanctuary on Saturday morning.
Books on J Miner : J.M. Linton and C.W. Moore, The Story of Wild Goose Jack (1984); J. Miner, Jack Miner and the Birds (1923) and Wild Goose Jack (1969).
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