The Middle River Group, LLC

fly fishing, conservation and politics.

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U.S. House Votes to Dirty Your Water

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Just to prove it is not just the renegades over at the Appropriations Committee trying to undermine conservation and environmental policy, the U.S. House of Representatives voted last week to gut the Clean Water Act by passing  H.R. 2018, The Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act.

Conservation, Sportsmen’s and Outdoor Industry Organizations Oppose H.R. 2018

Before the vote, The American Fly Fishing Trade Association, Trout Unlimited, The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, The Izaak Walton League of America and The National Wildlife Federation sent a letter strongly objecting to this legislation.

The bill would adversely affect waterways nationwide, and would lessen protective standards provided by the Clean Water Act for 38 years. The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee held no legislative hearings on the bill, and rushed to pass it through committee. The bill deserves far more scrutiny.

Yup, you read that correctly. This legislation didn’t get a hearing, in fact the bill was introduced at the end of May and apparently the need to gut the Clean Water is such a high priority for the Republican leadership in the House it got to the floor in short order.

Puts nation’s waters, fish and wildlife at risk.

H.R. 2018 proposes sweeping changes to the Clean Water Act that would undercut the progress the Act has made in restoring our waters over the last four decades. The bill purports to strengthen “cooperative federalism” by giving the states more control over EPA’s Clean Water Act oversight. In fact, the bill undermines the federal‐state partnership on which the Clean Water Act is based.

We would welcome committee consideration of an appropriate increased role for the states. However, as written this bill clearly is intended to weaken implementation of the Clean Water Act.

Of course water tends to travel across state lines so while one state might hold the water in the state in high regard, their up stream neighbor might not be so conscientious. That was one of the reasons for having the Clean Water Act in the first place.

Habitat equals opportunity that creates economic activity

Clean water is key to 40 million anglers who spend about $45 billion a year  and about 2.3 million hunters spending $1.3 billion each year hunting ducks and other migratory birds. The U.S. House continues to ignore the simple economics of outdoor recreation in favor of poorly conceived “solutions” to unfounded “problems”.

Who voted for this?

Wondering how your Representative voted? You can check the final vote results for Roll Call 573 here.

Why not write your Representative  and let them know what you think of their vote.

Fortunately if the Senate is silly enough to pass this legislation the Administration has put the word out that the veto pen will be uncapped.

Stay tuned…

First Follower Theory

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I am a student of leadership so when this showed up in my @tenkaraguide twitters this morning:

I hit the youtube link and watched. You can too. It is 3 minutes, worth watching, very entertaining and visually delivers an important leadership lesson.

There is no movement without the first follower

A leader needs the guts to stand alone and look ridiculous. But what he’s doing is so simple, it’s almost instructional. This is key. You must be easy to follow!

Now comes the first follower with a crucial role: he publicly shows everyone how to follow. Notice the leader embraces him as an equal, so it’s not about the leader anymore – it’s about them, plural. Notice he’s calling to his friends to join in. It takes guts to be a first follower! You stand out and brave ridicule, yourself. Being a first follower is an under-appreciated form of leadership. The first follower transforms a lone nut into a leader. If the leader is the flint, the first follower is the spark that makes the fire.

A little more research took me to Derek Sivers. He put up the video and narrates it. It is on his blog along with the transcript: Leadership Lessons from Dancing Guy.

The take aways for me:

1) Someone has to be the dancing guy, that is leadership but it is overrated. we can’t all be leaders.

2) The first follower is courageous and is the real ignition for the movement.

3) It takes time to build a movement and followers may come and go (read the comments).

Sivers summation works for me:

The best way to make a movement, if you really care, is to courageously follow and show others how to follow.

When you find a lone nut doing something great, have the guts to be the first person to stand up and join in.

Tenkara? Sure.

The whole tenkara thing fits the first follower model hence @tenkarausa’s tweet to a couple of us early adopters.

Important keys to success in creating a movement are the leader embracing the followers as equals and the first followers showing others how to follow.

While calling the adoption of tenkara in this country a movement may be a stretch at this point, it clearly is gaining followers. The lessons of the Dancing Guy are pretty evident. Most importantly those early followers are showing others how to follow. Tenkara will continue to grow because of this willingness to share the knowledge and encouraging others to try tenkara.

There is a lesson here as well for those of us in the fly-fishing business:

  • Are you making it easy to follow you?
  • Are you welcoming them into the movement?
  • Are you sharing the knowledge?

From what I have seen the successful fly-fishing businesses can answer yes to these questions. Those who don’t look at new ideas and ways of doing business are not helping to build the fly-fishing movement.

Tenkara may be a good case study on how to help fly-fishing grow. It starts with the first follower theory.

What do you think?

 

Sportsmen, Conservation and the Economy

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“Fly Fishing Retailers Hang in the Balance.”

“Dismiss the notion that conservation funding is akin to a charitable donation, and understand that fly fishing manufacturers and dealers are among the most vulnerable if government conservation funding is slashed as planned.”

These warnings open Tim Romano’s report, “Bull Moose Sportsmen’s Alliance Event Underscores Critical Link Between Conservation and Jobs” in Angling Trade. I was there, he is right.

The event, “Taking Aim at Conservation: American Sportsmen at a Crossroads Forum” was part of road trip bringing 35 sportsmen and women from 
seven states to Washington to unveil the Alliance’s policy agenda and educate Congress on policies and programs 
that are important to hunters and anglers in America. As a strong supporter of BMSA I had been asked to participate in a panel discussion during the forum.

The first part was devoted to special guests speakers. We heard remarks for Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, U.S. Senators Jon Tester (D-MT), Mark Udall (D-CO) and U.S. Senator James Risch (R-ID). A common theme from the speakers was the importance of hunting and fishing to the economy. And while that was good to hear there was also an acknowledgement that the fiscal situation and political climate were extremely difficult in Washington.

What I think was a more important part of the forum was a panel discussion about sportsmen and conservation. It was my privilege to share the panel with Kirk Deeter of Field & Stream and Angling Trade fame, Steve Moyer, Trout Unlimited’s VP of Conservation Gary Taylor, Legislative Director for the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, Montana State Senator Kendal Van Dyk, New Mexico State Representative Nate Gentry and Alliance Co-director Gaspar Perricone.

Each panelist was asked to address questions posed by Alliance Co-founder Tim Mauck. What emerged from the responses was a clear sense that the lack of conservation funding and the attacks on conservation and environmental policies were not only an imminent threat to fish and wildlife but also a threat to the economic contribution made by the outdoor recreation industry.

“It’s time that many Americans, particularly those who draw their livelihoods from the outdoors industry realize that our nation’s “conservation deficit” is just as real and just as much a burden for future generations as any financial budget deficit,” said Deeter.

For those of us who cherish hunting and fishing and especially those of us who work in the outdoor recreation industry the message is clear. Ignore these warnings at your economic peril.

It is time to add your name to the list of folks who are willing to speak out in support of a simple equation; conservation of habitat creates recreational opportunity and that means economic activity and jobs.

 


Conservation politics is good business

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A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post offering to compile and coordinate fly-fishing business voices and perhaps bring a little organization to a network of engaged business folks. It was prompted by a call to action on Moldy Chum.

The purpose was to gauge interest within the fly-fishing business community to speak up for conservation. I know the connection is strong and I was hoping to help direct that interest in such a way that the collective voices could help the cause of conservation. My follow up conversation with folks in the fly-fishing business has been both positive and supportive, the industry really does understand habitat = opportunity = economic activity.

I am still looking to recruit more businesses, so lend a hand, the more the merrier, (you can leave a comment or shoot me a note and I will follow up with you).

There were also some thoughtful comments on both the blog and Facebook that deserve a response.

Conservation politics

The question of whether the conservation discussion should be a political one got some attention.

To me it depends on what “political” means.

Experience has taught me that extremes on both sides of the conservation and environmental debate are easily marginalized and in both cases can prevent progress on important policy from taking place. Labels and litmus tests rarely work.

To my way of thinking “political” means using your standing in the community – whichever community you belong to – to influence the discussion and more importantly the outcome on these critical policy issues. Going political without making progress doesn’t make a lot of sense to me and may even be counter-productive.

In the case of the fly-fishing business community their economic standing has significant influence. What needs to happen is for them to exercise that influence.

Outdoor recreation dependent businesses like fly-fishing need to carry the fight themselves and not rely on others to do it for them. Making a financial contribution to conservation groups is important but adding your voice to the conversation is critically important as well.

It is in our economic self-interest to do so. To quote Patagonia’s Yvon Chouinard “We are a part of nature and as we destroy nature we destroy our selves. It is a selfish thing to want to protect nature.”

The same holds true for our nature dependent businesses. Support for conservation is a good business model but to pound the point home, YOU need to be directly involved in letting policy makers know it is important to your business!

Conservation advocacy as a marketing advantage.

I bet you can think of examples of when a business speaks up as an advocate for clean water, healthy habitat and responsible use of our natural resources they enhanced their brand reputation. Why not do the same thing?

Think about it. If the reaction to AFFTA’s award provoked such an outcry then it seems to me our customers see conservation as a pretty important element of the sport.

Letters to the editor, radio interviews or blog posts about a conservation topic can be become free advertising. They help define your business as part of the community that cares about the future and is a good steward of land and water.

What are you doing to show you conservation street cred?

Need some suggestions on how to shine a light on what you are doing on the conservation front? Drop in a comment or shoot me a note. I will be happy to offer some more ideas.

The take away

Whether it is politics, altruism or economic self interest the fact of the matter is the if we don’t make our voices heard either directly to our elected officials or in the court of public opinion then we only have ourselves to blame. The opportunity to engage in the discussion is easier than anytime in history and I will be delighted to help in any way I can, just let me know.

 

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Conservation and the fly-fishing business

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A call to action

A recent post on Moldy Chum challenged fly-fishing businesses to step up their game when it comes to conservation:

“I would challenge our industry to use its resources to be even stronger advocates for the environment. If we lend the weight of our industry to the environmental causes that are crucial to the health of our planet, it will also be good for the bottom line.”

That notion was echoed by Sam Snyder on his Headwaters blog:

“The future of our fisheries depend upon diverse communities, diverse fisheries, and diverse thinking. If you cherish your habit, religion, sport, or whatever you want to call it, I am inclined to say that you have no business in this sport if you don’t take conservation seriously.”

Conservation creates recreational opportunity that translates into economic activity. It’s really that simple.

If you work in the fly-fishing industry you get it. You see it every day, whether you are on the water or in the shop or in the factory. Your bottom line depends on the health of the watersheds your customers visit with your products in hand.

Unfortunately, not everyone understands this vital equation. But those in the media who do are laying the importance of protecting the environment at the feet of sportsmen and women who MUST come around, especially if they hope to pass their sporting heritage down to coming generations (your future customers, mind you).

For instance:

  • Bob Marshal warned us, This will be the year that will test the commitment of the outdoors community.
  • Hal Herring took up the battle cry when he wrote, Are There Any Politicians Who Really Understand Sportsmen’s Concerns?
  • Kirk Deeter added his voice in, Should Conservation Be a Political Issue? and then sounded the alarm loud and strong by writing, Proposed Conservation Funding Cuts Could Devastate Fly Fishing Resources.

    • Will you lend a hand or sit back and wait for others to take action?

    As someone who has spent 20 years incorporating my love for fly-fishing into my conservation advocacy work, I strongly believe our industry can make a difference in the conservation challenges facing our country and our businesses. If that is going to happen, then those of us in the fly-fishing business are going to have to get involved.

    Sure, everybody says “we” need to do something. Problem is, all too often that “we” really means “they.”  So I am putting me in for the we this time.

    In order to help organize that collective weight of our industry, I am compiling and coordinating a group of men and women in the fly-fishing business who will give voice and personality to local, regional and national conservation challenges.

    You understand first-hand the economic benefit that outdoor recreation provides to small businesses, many of them in rural areas where economic benefits are hard to find or come at a high price to the lands and waters.

    If you are in the fly-fishing business I want you to be part of that group and one of those voices.

    What can you do?

    It is really pretty simple, and won’t take a lot of your time.

    There are a number of conservation challenges coming our way. It is my business to keep track of them and work with conservation groups to create advocacy messages to respond to them.

    When an opportunity arises to author an op-ed or letter to the editor, sign on to an advertisement, speak with a reporter or blogger, or take other action, I will contact you so that your voice can be included in the conservation discussions. It will be my job to create the message—your time commitment will be minimal.

    Each opportunity will always be permission-based and voluntary. You will always have the opportunity to decide if you want to participate.

    As someone in the business, you offer a unique perspective on conservation challenges and I hope you will be willing to help.

    This is a collaborative process; your questions, thoughts and suggestions are most welcome!

    If you are interested leave a comment and I will follow up with you.

    Best tenkara quote of the day

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    Ok so the review, Stuff We Like: Simms Harbor GORE-TEX Shoes, was about fancy new kicks but it was Kirk’s observation on why shops should sell them that caught my attention:

    Reason 1:  Small stream fishing is the new vogue.  Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.  I can tell you, from a media/writer’s perspective, small streams–places where you can wet-wade, use Tenkara and fiberglass rods, and catch wild fish (on dry flies)–will be the subject matter of many stories in the next 12-18 months.

    Looks like that tenkara thing might just be catching on…

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