The Middle River Group, LLC

fly fishing, conservation and politics.

Fishing

Playing 20 Questions on Eat More Brook Trout

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If you spend any time reading this blog then you know Chris Hunt is one of my best friends and favorite people. Our passions and points of view run along nearly identical lines.

Chris gave me the 20 question treatment yesterday on his blog, Eat More Brook Trout. His introduction was overly kind and he certainly got it right when he wrote:

in our hearts, we’re after the same thing–the protection of the places that matter, and not just to us, but to the future of our hunting and fishing heritage. The thought of our kids or our grandkids growing up without knowing what the natural world has to offer is dead-on frightening.

often present when Hunt and Sadler are together...
The questions were both thought provoking and entertaining. Much like every conversation I have with Chris, ‘cept maybe in that “interesting little establishment on Bourbon Street.”

Read my answers to the 20 questions here.

Creative Lobbying – Don’t Tell Them, Take Them!

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As a career choice, lobbyist was not at the top of my list when I graduated from college. I really had planned to do something in the outdoors with smoke jumper and fishing guide topping the list. But fate is what it is and I wound up spending the bulk of my adult life in DC as a hired gun plying my trade in the various Gucci gulches of the U.S. Capitol.

You don’t do something for more than 30 years without becoming something of a student of the game and over the years I have seen, heard or read a number of example of good and bad advocacy techniques.

One of the best lobbyists I know...

The other day I came across an excellent examples of creative lobbying in this post, How to Win Through Chit Chat on the Trucacabra blog. It chronicles the author’s very effective lobbying techniques. I won’t spoil his thunder but will tell you he has hit on one of the best ways to engage our elected officials on conservation issues.

I know Washington, DC can be an exciting place to visit and all the hoopla of fly-in days and receptions can be quite alluring. My experience tells me the place to effectively engage our elected officials in where we live, work and play. Don’t tell them how important woods, water, wetlands or fields are. Take them there!

The outdoor economy

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Madison River in Yellowstone National Park

When it comes right down to it, it really is this simple: healthy habitat = recreational opportunity = economic activity.

Need more proof, read this is from the recently released America’s Great Outdoors progress report (click here to download the entire report).

“The great outdoors has fueled centuries of economic activity through recreation and natural resource management, and it continues to employ millions of people today. The Outdoor Industry Association reports that outdoor recreation in the United States—from hunting and fishing to hiking and camping—contributes an estimated $730 billion to the U.S. economy. The “recreation economy” supports nearly 6.5 million jobs. It generates $88 billion in annual state and national tax revenue and $289 billion annually in retail sales and services. From the largest parks to the smallest historic sites and memorials, National Park Service areas alone see over 280 million visitors. They generate $12 billion in visitor spending that supports nearly 250,000 jobs. As part of the leisure and hospitality sector, the fifth-largest employer in America, the recreation industry has proven resilient in tough times. It shed only three percent of its workforce from 2007 to 2010 and maintained non-exportable jobs tied to places where people live and recreate right here in the United States. Maintaining this industry hinges on an accessible and healthy America’s Great Outdoors.”

There is lot’s of good information in the AGO Progress report and it not only details the progress to date, it provides action items to be accomplished going forward. Hopefully many of the action steps will take place and the country can reap the economic and societal benefits of a strong outdoor economy.

What’s Wrong with Outdoor Recreation Jobs?

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Tom Wharton of the The Salt Lake Tribune recently asked, “When was the last time a Utah politician has done anything to help the state’s tourism and outdoor recreation industry?”

Fishing on the Green River

Readers know that I am a strong subscriber to the habitat = opportunity = economic activity equation (didn’t know that? click here).  The outdoor recreation economy is a bright light in these troubled economic times not just in Utah but across the country, yet as Wharton aptly notes:

“It almost seems as though the money generated by tourism and outdoor recreation doesn’t matter or that our politicians view the jobs these industries create as not worthy of support. This attitude could have a negative impact on our state economy.”

Wharton points to figures from the Utah Tourism Industry Coalition that show tourism is a $6.23 billion industry in Utah which created 110,000 jobs and reduced, yup you read that correctly, reduced taxes for Utah household by $703.

According to the Outdoor Industry Foundation, outdoor activities like fishing, paddling, camping, hunting, climbing, hiking, backcountry skiing, mountain biking, and wildlife viewing contribute a total of $730 billion annually to the economy, supporting 6.5 million jobs (1 of every 20 jobs in the U.S.) and stimulating 8% of all consumer spending.

Outdoor recreation creates sustainable jobs and long term societal benefits for our nation, yet our elected officials seem tone deaf to this economic reality.

Check out Wharton’s column (click here).

 

Hold Them Accountable

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Montanan Tony Bynum see danger in Congress and their attack on our public lands. Bynum expresses his concern about the Wilderness and Roadless Release Act and the points out how the recent demonizing of the Antiquities Act is so much pandering to right wing nit wits and really a diservice to hunters and anglers.

He talks about how the Upper Missouri Breaks National Monument is a prime hunting destination this time of year and because of the Antiquities Act it will still be that way 100 years from now.

Upper Missouri Breaks National Monument (courtesy BLM)

Pretty hard to recruit and retain hunters and anglers when we lose venues to irrational demonization of laws that create and protect these prime hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation places. As Bynum puts it,

“Let’s remember what matters most. What legacy shall we leave our children and theirs? Public land, open hunting for the common man is a tradition out west. I wish to leave that legacy to my children and, when this heritage is threatened by bad leadership decisions, we need to hold our leaders’ feet to the fire. It is far better to manage wisely and preserve our intact systems than it is to dismantle and try to rebuild them later.”

When the political carnival barkers start braying about access it is time to ask them if creating more venues might not be a pretty good way to create more access?

Read Bynum’s opinion piece in the Missoulian (click here).

Roadless wolves invoke “access” shibboleth

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I don’t know Ben Long but I like the way he thinks. Over the years I have heard the “access” dodge employed by politicians to justify tearing hell out of the public lands. They like to don the camo cloak and rant and foam about the lack of access. Long writes:

“America’s national forests belong to everyone, and all Americans deserve and rightfully demand access to this national birthright. Such access is like oxygen for hunters and anglers, but beware: Industry barracudas and their pals in Congress are trying to hoodwink sportsmen into supporting bad legislation by promising more lenient access.”

Dig a little deeper and you find the access issue is a little more complicated then the politicians would have you believe. Especially with legislation like the Wilderness and Roadless Release Act. Legislation that is opposed by TRCP, TU, AFFTA, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, and RMEF (they originally supported it, but to their credit changed their stance when their members raised hell).

 

Read Long’s piece (click here) on why this legislation is not the “access” panacea the proponents claim.