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TRCP

U.S. House Votes to Dirty Your Water

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Just to prove it is not just the renegades over at the Appropriations Committee trying to undermine conservation and environmental policy, the U.S. House of Representatives voted last week to gut the Clean Water Act by passing  H.R. 2018, The Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act.

Conservation, Sportsmen’s and Outdoor Industry Organizations Oppose H.R. 2018

Before the vote, The American Fly Fishing Trade Association, Trout Unlimited, The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, The Izaak Walton League of America and The National Wildlife Federation sent a letter strongly objecting to this legislation.

The bill would adversely affect waterways nationwide, and would lessen protective standards provided by the Clean Water Act for 38 years. The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee held no legislative hearings on the bill, and rushed to pass it through committee. The bill deserves far more scrutiny.

Yup, you read that correctly. This legislation didn’t get a hearing, in fact the bill was introduced at the end of May and apparently the need to gut the Clean Water is such a high priority for the Republican leadership in the House it got to the floor in short order.

Puts nation’s waters, fish and wildlife at risk.

H.R. 2018 proposes sweeping changes to the Clean Water Act that would undercut the progress the Act has made in restoring our waters over the last four decades. The bill purports to strengthen “cooperative federalism” by giving the states more control over EPA’s Clean Water Act oversight. In fact, the bill undermines the federal‐state partnership on which the Clean Water Act is based.

We would welcome committee consideration of an appropriate increased role for the states. However, as written this bill clearly is intended to weaken implementation of the Clean Water Act.

Of course water tends to travel across state lines so while one state might hold the water in the state in high regard, their up stream neighbor might not be so conscientious. That was one of the reasons for having the Clean Water Act in the first place.

Habitat equals opportunity that creates economic activity

Clean water is key to 40 million anglers who spend about $45 billion a year  and about 2.3 million hunters spending $1.3 billion each year hunting ducks and other migratory birds. The U.S. House continues to ignore the simple economics of outdoor recreation in favor of poorly conceived “solutions” to unfounded “problems”.

Who voted for this?

Wondering how your Representative voted? You can check the final vote results for Roll Call 573 here.

Why not write your Representative  and let them know what you think of their vote.

Fortunately if the Senate is silly enough to pass this legislation the Administration has put the word out that the veto pen will be uncapped.

Stay tuned…

A toast to Jim Range

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Two years passes way too quickly…

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.

Jim Range and Jean Ince (courtesy of John Ince)

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.

To work hard at work worth doing…

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The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership today announced that they have selected Whit Fosburgh as the new President and CEO.

Having had the pleasure of working with Whit during his tenure at TU, he is an outstanding choice to lead the TRCP.

His quote speaks volumes.

“I am honored to play a leading role in promoting the TRCP mission to guarantee all Americans a place to hunt and fish – and in so doing, as Roosevelt himself stated, ‘to work hard at work worth doing.’”

Good show TRCP and congratulations Whit!

The TRCP press release follows:

News for Immediate Release May 12, 2010

Contact: Katie McKalip, 406-240-9262, kmckalip@trcp.org

TRCP Names Whit Fosburgh New President/CEO

Policy expert and conservationist to lead the sportsmen’s group in its mission to secure high-quality hunting and fishing for all Americans

WASHINGTON – The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership today announced that Whit Fosburgh has been named president/CEO of the national sportsmen-conservation group. Formerly the vice president for program development at Trout Unlimited and director of TU’s Coldwater Conservation Fund, Fosburgh is a widely respected authority on fish and wildlife conservation policy with a broad range of experience in the nonprofit arena and natural resources management.

“We at the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership are very pleased that Whit Fosburgh is taking on leadership of our group,” said Jim Martin, chairman of the TRCP board of directors. “Whit’s expertise and breadth of experience within the sportsmen-conservation community will ably serve the TRCP, the national policy issues we seek to advance through our mission and the millions of hunters and anglers in whose interests we labor. The TRCP board of directors looks forward to working alongside Whit to drive fish and wildlife conservation in the name of American sportsmen and in the spirit of Theodore Roosevelt.”

Fosburgh joined Trout Unlimited in 1995 and played a critical role in that organization’s evolution into a conservation powerhouse, bringing to TU a wealth of experience centered on conservation policy, fundraising and program development. Prior to his time with TU, Fosburgh served as fisheries’ director for the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, was chief environment and energy staff person for Sen. Tom Daschle and was a wildlife specialist for the National Audubon Society.

“The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership has set a new standard of accomplishment within the sportsmen’s community on conservation policy matters of crucial importance to our fish and wildlife populations and hunting and angling traditions,” said Fosburgh. “I am honored to play a leading role in promoting the TRCP mission to guarantee all Americans a place to hunt and fish – and in so doing, as Roosevelt himself stated, ‘to work hard at work worth doing.’”

“Whit’s reputation for strong leadership and innovative thinking, combined with his extraordinary knowledge of conservation issues important to hunters, anglers and all citizens, make him an ideal choice to direct the TRCP,” said Diane Craney, TRCP interim president/CEO. “Under his guidance, we can ensure that sportsmen-conservationists are more effectively engaged in the TRCP’s vital policy work, further the responsible management of America’s shared resources and perpetuate our unique outdoors heritage.”

Inspired by the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, the TRCP is a coalition of organizations and grassroots partners working together to preserve the traditions of hunting and fishing.

Vote for Jim Range as the Budweiser Conservationist of the Year

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News from TRCP:

Vote for TRCP Co-founder and Former Chairman Jim Range as 2010 Budweiser Conservationist of the Year.

Jim Range, one of the country’s greatest champions for sportsmen-conservationists, has been honored with a posthumous nomination as a finalist for the Budweiser Conservationist of the Year award. This annual program recognizes individuals who have made exceptional contributions to perpetuating the American outdoor way of life. Budweiser and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation will donate $50,000 to the 2010 winner’s conservation organization of choice, with the money to fund the group’s conservation efforts. The three runners-ups will receive $5,000 grants for the conservation organization of their choosing. Jim’s family has designated the TRCP to receive the proceeds from this honor.

Since losing Jim so suddenly 10 months ago, we at the TRCP, along with the  thousands who loved Jim and worked with him for better conservation of our natural resources, have sought out ways to honor his legacy and leadership. Budweiser and NFWF have given us all an opportunity to say “thank you” again to Jim for everything he did to help guarantee us all quality places to hunt and fish.

Jim spent his entire professional life conserving and enhancing Americans’ hunting and fishing opportunities. His cumulative efforts stand as a very high benchmark to those of us who care about our outdoor sporting heritage – and the lands and waters on which we pursue these traditions. His ability to inspire passion in others through his words and actions rallied countless supporters around his conservation vision.

In addition to his critical role in establishing and chairing the TRCP, Jim served on the boards of directors for Trout Unlimited, Ducks Unlimited, the Wetlands America Trust, the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation, the American Sportfishing Association, the American Bird Conservancy,  the Pacific Forest Trust, the Yellowstone Park Foundation and the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust, among others. He also was an original NFWF board member and worked directly with many other hunting, fishing and conservation groups to advance conservation and sportsmen’s interests in Washington and around the country. During his 11 years on Capitol Hill working for Sen. Howard Baker, Jim fought tirelessly to conserve our natural resources with a bipartisan approach that became his trademark. He played a critical role in the passage of several landmark laws, including the Clean Water Act. In 2003, Jim received the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Great Blue Heron Award, the highest honor given by the department to an individual at the national level.

The deadline for voting is December 15th – vote today.

To vote, go to www.budweiser.com – after logging in, click on the “vote” link on the home page and select Jim from the four finalists.

Votes also can be submitted via mail. On a 3-inch by 5-inch card, print your name, address, age and name of candidate (“Jim Range”). Mail the card to 2010 Budweiser Conservationist of the Year, P.O. Box 750026, El Paso, TX 88575-0026.

Voters must be aged 21 or older, and voting is limited to one vote per person. The 2010 award will be presented at an event during the SHOT Show in Las Vegas on Jan. 21.

Since Anheuser-Busch was founded in 1852, the company has been committed to conserving natural resources. Budweiser, its partners and consumers have raised $8.7 million over the past 10 years to conserve vital habitat and wildlife across the country. Visit www.anheuser-busch.com.

A nonprofit established by Congress in 1984, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation sustains, restores and enhances the nation’s fish, wildlife, plants and habitats. Since its establishment, NFWF has awarded more than 10,000 grants to more than 3,500 organizations, and its work has resulted in more than $1.5 billion invested in conservation. Visit www.nfwf.org.

Learn more about Jim Range, his efforts on behalf of America’s sportsmen-conservationists and the fund established in his memory.

Vote for Jim Range as the Budweiser Conservationist of the Year!“

Full Disclosure: I am a consultant to the TRCP. TRCP provided this material. I received no compensation for posting it. Any one who knows me knows Jim was one of my closest friends for nearly 20 years. Here is a link to the tribute i wrote when he died earlier this year.

Good news for wetlands protection

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Those of us who care about wetlands got some great news this week. the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee passed an amended version of the Clean Water Restoration Act. There is much work ahead but at least things are moving now.

Here is the release from the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership:

Sportsmen Laud the Senate Advancement of the Clean Water Restoration Act
The Senate Environmental and Public Works Committee moves this crucial conservation legislation forward to protect America’s waters

WASHINGTON – In a clear vote to protect clean water and essential habitat for fish and wildlife, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee today passed an amended version of the Clean Water Restoration Act.  The bill as approved reaffirms the original intent of the Clean Water Act to broadly protect water quality and the streams, lakes and wetlands important to our country.  The vote today creates momentum for legislation to be introduced and quickly considered in the U.S. House of Representatives.

“ America’s waters are closer to again having the comprehensive Clean Water Act protections that Congress intended,” said Jan Goldman-Carter, wetland and water resources counsel at the National Wildlife Federation. “This bill restores critical protections for our nation’s increasingly-precious fresh water resources while respecting private property rights and continuing longstanding Clean Water Act exemptions for agriculture and forestry.”

“This is a huge step toward restoring the Clean Water Act’s safety net for prairie potholes and well over 20 million acres of wetlands throughout the U.S. that provide critical habitat for waterfowl and other fish and wildlife – and hunters and anglers,” said Scott Yaich, director of conservation programs for Ducks Unlimited

By a vote of 12 to 7, the committee approved a substitute amendment offered by Sens. Max Baucus (Mont.), Amy Klobuchar (Minn.) and Chairman Barbara Boxer (Calif.) that:

  • Adopts a statutory definition of “waters of the United States” based on the long-standing definition in EPA and Army Corps regulations.  In addition, the amendment specifically excludes previously converted cropland and manmade waste treatment systems from the definition.
  • Deletes the term “navigable” from the Clean Water Act therby clarifying that Congress’ primary concern in 1972 was to protect waters from pollution rather than simply sustain navigation.
  • Includes a set of findings that clearly explains the Constitutional authority Congress has over an array of waters and wetlands.
  • Preserves existing exemptions from the Clean Water Act for farming, ranching,mining, energy development and forestry activities.  

A series of amendments to gut the definition of “waters of the United States,” including removing protections for streams and prairie potholes, were defeated.

“Hunters and anglers know first-hand the importance of wetlands, lakes and streams,” said Geoff Mullins, Policy Initiative Manager at the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. “Restoring these clean water protections will ensure that sportsmen can enjoy these resources for generations.  Thursday’s committee vote represents the biggest step yet towards restoring these much needed protections in the past eight years.”

“Today’s vote is a major step toward restoring traditional Clean Water Act protections for streams, lakes and wetlands in our communities,” said Scott Kovarovics ,Conservation Director at the Izaak Walton League of America.  “There’s clear momentum now for legislation to be introduced and considered in the House of Representatives this summer.”

“This is not ‘the biggest bureaucratic power grab in a generation,’ as some have said, but rather it is about clean water and healthy watersheds for future generations,” said Steve Moyer, Vice President for Trout Unlimited. “Two bad Supreme Court decisions have derailed the Clean Water Act, and today’s courageous action by the Committee gets us a big step closer to getting the law, and all its clean water benefits, back on track,” said Moyer.

Thursday’s vote would not be possible without leadership from Sen. Russell Feingold (Wisc.) and EPW Chairman Barbara Boxer (Calif.).  Sen. Feingold has introduced the Clean Water Restoration Act in multiple Congresses and consistently championed the fight to protect drinking water and critical habitat.  This year, Chairman Boxer seized brought the bill to a vote less than three months after it was introduced.  We also commend Sens. Baucus and Klobuchar who brokered the amendment language that facilitated passage of the bill.

Contact: Geoff Mullins, 202-654-4609, gmullins@trcp.org

Sportsmen Laud the Senate Advancement of the Clean Water Restoration Act
News for Immediate Release
June 18, 2009
Contact: Geoff Mullins, 202-654-4609, gmullins@trcp.org