Middle River Dispatches

A gumbo of fly-fishing, conservation, politics and days afield, for what it is worth....

Doing the Right Thing

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On Thursday the Huffington Post posted “Republican NY State Senator Roy McDonald’s Awesome Defense Of Gay Marriage”

Did you see it?

The quote that captured many peoples attention was brilliant, whether you agree with his views of gay marriage or not.

“You get to the point where you evolve in your life where everything isn’t black and white, good and bad, and you try to do the right thing,” McDonald, 64, told reporters.

“You might not like that. You might be very cynical about that. Well, fuck it, I don’t care what you think. I’m trying to do the right thing.”

“I’m tired of Republican-Democrat politics. They can take the job and shove it. I come from a blue-collar background. I’m trying to do the right thing, and that’s where I’m going with this.”

Wow, courage, candor, common sense and the conviction “to do the right thing.” Pretty damn refreshing.

It would be nice to see the Members of Congress in our nation’s Capitol start doing the right thing for the country. I think we need to start asking them what is more important, the party, their job or the country.

What do you think?

AFFTA announces matching fund to support Utah Stream Access Coalition

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Last week The American Fly Fishing Trade Association announced a matching fund to support the Utah Stream Access Coalition.

Only AFFTA members qualify for the match but anyone can donate! This is going to be a big and costly fight so donations are needed and most welcome!

Go to www.utahstreamaccess.org

Read the full release after the jump: [Read more…]

Sportsmen’s Organizations Oppose Conservation Cuts

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A deliberate move away from America’s long conservation tradition…

Responding to the draconian cuts passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in HR 1, 42 of the country’s leading hunting, fishing and outdoor organizations sent a letter to the U. S. Senate today urging restoration of funding to conservation programs.

The key point for me:

While we fully acknowledge that conservation programs should shoulder a fair and proportional burden of reductions to the Federal budget as required to address the budget deficit, these provisions of HR 1, in our view, represent a deliberate move away from America’s long conservation tradition and, specifically with respect to the interests of the hunting, fishing and outdoor community. We are very disappointed that the House considered these actions without consultation with the hunting, fishing and conservation community, and appeal to you to please give significant and favorable consideration to our perspectives. These vital conservation programs with long-standing track records of success are foundational to fish, wildlife and habitat conservation, good for the economy in creating jobs particularly in rural communities, and critical to providing opportunities for access to and enjoyment of fish and wildlife resources by America’s sportsmen and sportswomen. [emphasis mine]

You can add your voice with this Action Alert from Trout Unlimited

Full letter after the jump.
[Read more…]

Conservation politics

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Kirk Deeter recently posted on Field & Stream’s Fly Talk Blog, “I get angry when a discussion about a conservation concern — like oil and gas drilling in Wyoming or Utah, or maintaining roadless areas in Idaho or New Mexico, or a proposed pit mine in the headwaters of the world’s largest wild salmon fishery — degenerates into a “political debate.”
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Bully for them

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It is always a pleasure when a friend calls out of the blue.

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.

Bull Moose Sportsman’s Alliance

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.

Click to learn more!

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.

Sounds pretty good don’t you think?

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.

Looking ahead

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.