The Middle River Group, LLC

fly fishing, conservation and politics.

funding

Mojo | The Week That Is: A ‘Dark Ages’ Of Wildlife Management Descends On The West

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Each week, I have the pleasure of joining Mountain Journal founder Todd Wilkinson in our “The Week That Is,” column where we discuss topical events relating to the nation’s capital city and the public land West.

As Todd wrote in the intro, “some topics are treated either as taboo or approached with the certainty that any discussion about them will erupt on social media into an uncivil exchange of name-calling. Hunting is one of those. We find dualism most unfortunate because it leaves little room to have a reasonable conversation about hunting as a tradition, its role in advancing wildlife conservation and examining such topics as predator control. By fostering a dialog about trophy hunting and hunting ethics, Mountain Journal is not staking out a position as being “anti-hunting,” nor when giving hunters a voice, is it failing to the recognize the valid positions of animal rights and holding reverence for non-human animals as sentient beings.”

 The second of the two-part conversation. Read part one by clicking here.

Read it here > A ‘Dark Ages’ Of Wildlife Management Descends On The West

Mojo | The Week That Is: Are Hunters Still Leading Wildlife Conservation in America?

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Each week, I have the pleasure of joining Mountain Journal founder Todd Wilkinson in our “The Week That Is,” column where we discuss topical events relating to the nation’s capital city and the public land West.

As Todd writes in the intro this week “some topics are treated either as taboo or approached with the certainty that any discussion about them will erupt on social media into an uncivil exchange of name-calling. Hunting is one of those. We find dualism most unfortunate because it leaves little room to have a reasonable conversation about hunting as a tradition, its role in advancing wildlife conservation and examining such topics as predator control. By fostering a dialog about trophy hunting and hunting ethics, Mountain Journal is not staking out a position as being “anti-hunting,” nor when giving hunters a voice, is it failing to the recognize the valid positions of animal rights and holding reverence for non-human animals as sentient beings.”

This is the first of a two-part conversation.

Read it here > Are Hunters Still Leading Wildlife Conservation in America?

Veto Pen for the Rusty Machete

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Here is a an update on the conservation funding bill that is headed to the House floor next week. The administration weighed in this afternoon with a STATEMENT OF ADMINISTRATION POLICY on H.R. 2584, The Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act.

The SAP, as they are known, is five pages of details of the funding and policy problems created by this bill should it become law. Worth a read if you are still unsure how bad this is…

Stay tuned.

 

Thinking About – Fish Hatcheries

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Been thinking about hatcheries lately.

The next year’s budget for federal fish hatcheries got hit with the budget axe and there are some folks who are pretty sore about it. The “whys” and “wherefores” are complicated. You are gonna have to take my word on that part. That is not something frankly I feel much like writing about.

Uncomfortable questions got me thinking

Read more after the jump > [Read more…] about Thinking About – Fish Hatcheries

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…] about Sportsmen’s Organizations Oppose Conservation Cuts