fly fishing, conservation and politics.
Now we are talking!
Here in Virginia we have a Lt. Governor, Bill Bolling, who loves to fly fish which is great in and of itself.
More importantly he “gets it” when it comes to the how important fishing, hunting and outdoor recreation is to Virginia’s economy.
Check it out!
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M46moS7YvoA
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The following is a tribute I wrote for the News Virginian two years ago:
There are some columns one would prefer never to write. This is one of them.
Please indulge me as I reflect on two people who are no longer with us. Not to mourn their loss so much as to celebrate their lives.
On Tuesday morning one of my very closest friends lost his battle with cancer.
He was like a brother to me. The best man in my wedding, a hunting and fishing partner of many years and the voice on the other end of the phone keeping me strong when trouble came. And oh, the whiskey we drank.
Many of you have never heard of James D. Range. But all of you have been touched by his work. He was a conservation hero. Embodying a conservation ethic on the scale of Roosevelt, Leopold, Muir and Pinchot.
One of my most cherished memories, from many years ago, is standing with him in my dining room one night. We got choked up looking out at the fields and woods where I lived.
He told me that not a lot of folks were willing to protect the things he, I and many of you love so much like fish, wildlife and the wild things of this earth. He said, “Tommy we have to protect the wild things. If we don’t do it, it won’t get done.”
Tears streamed down our faces. Big men do cry.
Range was a modern architect of natural resource conservation. A skilled bipartisan policy and political genius with an extraordinary network of friends and contacts.
Range had wonderful oratorical gifts, a way of always speaking from his heart, sometimes in language not fit for a family newspaper. You may not have liked what he said but you surely knew what he thought.
He was the personification of “if they don’t see the light, we can surely make them feel the heat.”
Range’s fingerprints are all over the nation’s conservation laws, including the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act. His championing of conservation tax incentives earned him a profile in Time magazine.
He ably chaired the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership’s Board of Directors pouring his enormous energy into its resurrection.
He served with distinction and candor on the Board’s of Trout Unlimited, the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation, the American Sportfishing Association, Ducks Unlimited, the American Bird Conservancy, the Pacific Forest Trust, the Valles Caldera Trust and the Yellowstone Park Foundation.
Range was an original board member of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, helping to chart the outstanding course it is on today. He also held presidential appointments to the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin and the Sportfishing and Boating Partnership Council.
In 2003, Range received the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Great Blue Heron Award, the highest honor given to an individual at the national level by the Department.
He was also awarded the 2003 Outdoor Life Magazine Conservationist of the Year Award and the Norville Prosser Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Sportfishing Association.
Range’s greatest love was the outdoors. He fished and hunted all over the world. I suspect he was happiest however, at his place on the Missouri River near Craig, Mont.
Flyway Ranch was his sanctuary. A sanctuary, which, in typical Range fashion, he shared with friends and colleagues so they too could enjoy a respite from challenges both personal and professional.
Beside his multitude of friends and admirers, Range is survived by his father, Dr. James Range of Johnson City, Tenn., brothers John Neel, Harry and Peter, twin daughters Allison and Kimberly, and loyal bird dogs Plague, Tench and Sky.
Range may be gone but we will be telling stories about him for the rest of our lives.
The Valley lost another friend recently as well. She was one of Range’s favorite people and the mother of his girlfriend Anni.
Jean Marion Gregory Ince, died on Jan. 12 at the University of Virginia Hospital in Charlottesville. She and her husband Eugene St. Clair Ince, Jr. and her beloved golden retriever “Meg” were residents of Madison.
Like Range, Jean Ince was a giver. She and Meg, a certified therapy dog, worked with patients at the Kluge Children’s Rehabilitation Center in Charlottesville and at the Augusta Medical Center in Fishersville.
Anni told me her mom, like Range, loved the outdoors and animals, particularly horses and dogs. She said that love was passed on to her children and grandchildren as well.
Jean and Bud enjoyed a special relationship. They wrote about it in the December 1978 issue of GOURMET Magazine. An Evening at the Waldorf chronicles the evening of their engagement.
It is a wonderfully engaging story of a young couple, a special hotel, and a time when doing for others was a common practice.
I hope you will take a moment to read it. It is a gift that will make any day a better one.
You can find a copy of An Evening at the Waldorf at http://www.usna.org/family/waldorf.html.
Jim Range and Jean Ince have made our world a better place. Their friends and families miss them but their memories will warm our hearts forever.
Hal Herring posed an interesting question a few days ago on Field and Stream’s The Conservationist blog. Herring asked “Are There Any Politicians That Really Understand Sportsmens’ Concerns?”
Herring starts off by looking at the reaction to the recent announcement by the Department of Interior regarding the Bureau of Land Management’s new guidance on wilderness. I covered that subject and won’t belabor the point. It will be interesting however to read the comments to Herrings post in context of my post.
This is a highly subjective question. Politician is a broad moniker. In this case I am going to refine my search to elected federal officials. I will further refine it to those officials I have had first-hand experience with either directly or with staff.
Here is my list of favorites off the top of my head:
Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) Unquestionably the dean of sportsmen legislators in the US Congress.
Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA)
Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA)
Sen. John Tester (D-MT)
Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT)
Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID)
Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID)
Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)
Sen Jeff Bingaman (D-NM)
Sen. Mark Udall (D-CO)
President Obama (I have not dealt directly with him but he tried fly-fishing and has surrounded himself with some excellent Cabinet members – Salazar and Vilsack being notable – appointed officials and staff.)
These officials are not always on the side of sportsmen but by and large, they have better understanding of and appreciation for sportsmen’s concerns then many of their colleagues.
There are certainly many more who understand the issues that sportsmen are concerned about but are not necessarily looking at those concerns from a sportsmen’s perspective. This is a real challenge for the sportsmen’s community. We need to do a better job of establishing our relevancy. For those of you who have read this far and know me, here comes my economics refrain.
According to the American Sportfishing Association “60 million anglers generate over $45 billion in retail sales with a $125 billion impact on the nation’s economy creating employment for over one million people.
In 2008, $720 million of these excise taxes were distributed for fisheries management and recreational boating enhancement. In addition, fishing license sales generated $600 million in revenue for state fish and wildlife agencies.”
According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation “Sportsmen contribute $7.5-plus million every day, adding more than $2.7 billion every year for conservation. Hunters and shooters have paid $5.93 billion in excise taxes since the inception of the Pittman-Robertson Act in 1937. Hunting in America is big business, generating 600,000 jobs in the United States. For more than 80 years, sportsmen have paid more than $12.1 billion for on-the-ground projects in every state, protecting our natural environment and our fish and wildlife. The $4.95 billion in annual federal tax money generated by hunters’ spending could cover the annual paychecks of 150,000 U.S. Army Sergeants.”
The economics message is pretty simple. Conservation creates recreational opportunity and that leads to economic activity. There are plenty of facts and figures to back the message up and more are on the way.
Secretary Salazar made the point in his announcement on BLM’s wild lands guidance.
“The wild backcountry here in Colorado, and across the West, is also a huge economic engine for local communities. Outfitters, guides, hotels, restaurants, and retailers like this one all have a stake in the protection of America’s great outdoors.
Wise stewardship isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s good for business and it’s good for jobs,” said Salazar.
We need to do a much better job of educating our elected officials on the significant impact fishing and hunting have on our economy, not just in habitat protection, but in the ripple effect it has for local economies. Now more than ever this simple economic message needs to be delivered to as often as possible.
Secretary Ken Salazar and Bureau of Land Management Director Bob Abbey took an important step toward protecting wilderness values on BLM lands. If you are a backcountry angler or hunter you should be glad they did.
Wild lands are important venues for those of us who fish and hunt. They are where you have to earn access by a bit of effort. They are also the bedrock of important habitat.
The BLM has not had a national wilderness policy since 2003. An out-of-court settlement between then-Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton, the State of Utah, and others lead to the revocation of wilderness management guidance in the agency’s handbook.
According to the BLM release, “The Secretarial Order 3310 directs the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), based on the input of the public and local communities through its existing land management planning process, to designate appropriate areas with wilderness characteristics under its jurisdiction as “Wild Lands” and to manage them to protect their wilderness values.”
The order also “directs the BLM to maintain a current inventory of public lands with wilderness characteristics, which will contribute to the agency’s ability to make balanced, informed land management decisions, consistent with its multiple-use mission.”
I rarely miss an opportunity to push the conservation equals opportunity equals economic activity message. It is wonderful to see Secretary Salazar make those points in his announcement in Denver last week.
“The wild backcountry here in Colorado, and across the West, is also a huge economic engine for local communities. Outfitters, guides, hotels, restaurants, and retailers like this one all have a stake in the protection of America’s great outdoors.
Wise stewardship isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s good for business and it’s good for jobs,” said Salazar.
My favorite response so far is from Chris Hunt on his ever-wonderful Eat More Brook Trout Blog.
“Hey, it’s really pretty simple. Habitat equals opportunity. Without one, you really don’t have the other (unless you’re dunking worms in a pay-by-the-pound trout pond or “hunting” behind a high fence, that is). Fortunately, Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar understands this most basic of equations–today, he announced that the Bureau of Land Management would once again consider high-quality federal land for potential wilderness designation,” writes Hunt.
Trout Unlimited and The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership both had laudatory comments pointing out the important conservation impacts.
“Interior’s announcement will require the BLM to analyze the fish, wildlife and water values of backcountry areas before allowing development activities that could otherwise impair them,” TU’s CEO Chris Wood said. “This is simply common sense applied to commonly-owned lands for the common good.”
“The clean waters and undisturbed fish and wildlife habitat provided by pristine public lands enable sportsmen to continue enjoying days afield,” said TRCP’s President Whit Fosburgh. “We commend the federal government’s efforts to permanently safeguard America’s finest backcountry lands and the outdoor opportunities they offer sportsmen all across the nation by taking this necessary action.”
No doubt there will be voices in opposition. It will be predictable from the extraction boys. What will be unfortunate is if some of our colleagues in the hunting and fishing community start to decry the lack of “access”. Hardly the case as Hunt points out.
“Indeed, the “controversy” surrounding wilderness (and wilderness study areas, for that matter) is largely due to misunderstanding and misinterpretation. My guess is that you’ll hear a few folks from the foam-at-the-mouth crowd talking about being “locked out” by wilderness, or that Salazar’s new policy restricts their “access” to public lands. That’s simply not true. In fact, very little–if anything–will change. It would be largely inconceivable for Salazar or BLM Director Bob Abbey to approve a new WSA that would alter existing uses, including those designated for motorized access,” writes Hunt.
Of course one man’s access is another man’s annoyance. I come down on the side of wilderness and wild lands. I don’t like machines around when I fish and hunt and will happily work hard to get to those places, the fishing and hunting is always better.
Thankfully those of us who spend our time in the wild lands can get a fair shake again.
To read Secretarial Order 3310, click here.
To read the BLM’s draft guidance to its field managers for implementing the Secretarial Order, click here.
Q and A document can be found click here.
Secretary Salazar and Bob Abbey’s remarks as prepared can be found here:
Monte Burke talks about his hunting dilemma:
and
RMEF pledges $300,000 for elk restoration:
Mullings’ Rick Galen has a wonderful holiday suggestion:
Here is the schedule for Buccaneers and Bones:
Yesterday while pondering the post mid-term election scene one of my western friends rang in for a chat. He is one a small group of hunting and fishing friends out west who work as hard at conservation as they do at fishing and hunting. So after catching up on our adventures afield and talking about politics he asked if I knew about the Bull Moose Sportsman’s Alliance. “Sure do” was my reply.
We talked some more about the alliance, some recent press they got and where they were headed. Given the fact we have just finished a pretty intense election cycle the need for this group is pretty self-evident.
I came across them on Facebook and after checking out their web site really liked what I saw.
As a sportsman, Theodore Roosevelt’s passion for the rod and gun was equally matched by a strong conservation ethic for the sake of both sport and wildlife. It is time sportsmen revive Roosevelt’s passion and unite around an agenda built on common values to respond to the 21st Century challenges facing hunters and anglers.
The Bull Moose Sportsmen advocate for our outdoor traditions by building a network of sportsmen to advance our collective interests with policy makers.
It gets better. There is also the Bull Moose Sportsmen’s Alliance Action Fund. The action fund makes campaign contributions to candidates who support the goals of the Alliance.
You can join the Alliance for free, but they will certainly put donations to good use.
If you want to help in the political game then send a contribution to the action fund.
The need to educate our elected officials on the important contribution hunting and fishing and conservation makes to our economy and our quality of life continues. As hunters and anglers we need to engage our elected officials and educate them. The Bull Moose Sportsman’s Alliance gives us a chance to do that.