The Middle River Group, LLC

fly fishing, conservation and politics.

Politics

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!

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?

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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A Conservation Nightmare

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We were warned

When Bob Marshal wrote, This will be the year that will test the commitment of the outdoors community, he gave us fair and early warning of the assault on conservation that was coming.

The conservation battles sportsmen fought to protect fish and wildlife habitat in the past may seem like speed bumps to the wall being raised in Washington this year.

Hal Herring took up the battle cry when he wrote Are There Any Politicians Who Really Understand Sportsmen’s Concerns?

What is disturbing is that we seem to have lost any conservative political leaders who understand sportsmen’s concerns, or, in the same vein, who recognize that there can be value in undisturbed land, or waters, or that intact ecosystems, with their healthy game and fish populations, also hold economic value in producing clean water, clean air, grazing, wildlife, flood or invasive weed control, all those elements that may not always add to the bottom line of corporate profit, but are the actual bottom line of life on this planet.

Not long after that Kirk Deeter added his voice in Should Conservation Be a Political Issue?

In my humble opinion, conservation shouldn’t be a political issue. It should be a cultural issue. And in that regard, I think those doing the real heavy lifting to protect wild places for fishing and hunting aren’t so much “green” as they are “camo.”

U.S. House takes an axe to conservation

Yesterday Deeter sounded the alarm loud and strong in his reaction to the US House of Representatives passage of HR1, Proposed Conservation Funding Cuts Could Devastate Fly Fishing Resources.

HR1 is a bill in Congress right now that would slash funding for a number of important conservation programs that impact fly fishing from coast to coast. I don’t care what your political persuasion is…if you’re a fly fisher, this should concern you, because any threat to habitat is a threat to opportunity. And in many cases, once a resource is gone, it’s gone.

He joins calls to action from Ducks Unlimited and Trout Unlimited!

Are you getting the message yet? If not, then you are not paying attention!

[Read more…] about A Conservation Nightmare

Politicians and Sportsmen

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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?”

Wild Lands

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.

So are there any politicians that really understand sportsmens’ concerns?

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.

Understanding our issues but not us

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.

Economic talking points

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.”

Conservation = Opportunity = Economic Activity

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.