By Bob Marshall

$615 Million Cut from Conservation

Sportsmen got a sneak preview of how much Congress values their issues earlier this week, and it wasn't pretty: House and Senate appropriators agreed to cut $615 million from key fish and wildlife conservation programs that support public hunting and fishing--not to mention the overall quality of human health.

The cuts were contained in the 2012 “minibus” spending bill, so-called because it will only keep the government running another four weeks, rather than a regular "omnibus" spending bill which would have provided funding through the end of the fiscal year. 

Among the drastic cuts announced:

• Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program cut by $35 million.

• Wetlands Reserve Program cut by approximately $200 million.

By Hal Herring

This morning, I received a press release from the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership about a new study defining the economic benefits and effects of outdoor recreation, conservation, and historical preservation efforts in our country. It reports that “the great outdoors and historic preservation generate a conservative estimate of more than $1 trillion in total economic activity and support 9.4 million jobs each year. “

I hope people will take the time to actually read and ponder what is revealed here. So much of it, if we think about it, is common sense-- we all know (or are) someone who owns or works in an outdoor store, or as a guide or outfitter, or who has recently bought a boat or upgraded fishing tackle or guns. The money is there, it’s moving through the economy, and it is dependent on having healthy and protected lands and waters to use that tackle or shoot those guns (imagine the miniscule percentage of the economy in France, or China that is generated from hunting and fishing- then look at the US figures in the linked study).

By Hal Herring

My rod tip bent, straightened, bent again as the 1 1⁄2-ounce sinker grabbed bottom, lost it, grabbed it, the big nightcrawler rolling with the current on the main Missouri River, looking for a channel cat or a walleye. The river was running high and muddy, and almost every species of fish in it was feeding on the banquet of the flood.

My daughter held the big budget-model spinning rig we call the River Cat, and she slowly cranked up on some heavy thrashing creature, careful not to set the circle hook, just tighten and keep the pressure on. A flash of gunmetal silver in dark water and a river drum, two pounds or so, came to the surface.