Please Sign In

Please enter a valid username and password
  • Log in with Facebook
» Not a member? Take a moment to register
» Forgot Username or Password

Why Register?
Signing up could earn you gear (click here to learn how)! It also keeps offensive content off our site.

Recent Comments

Categories

Recent Posts

Archives

Syndicate

Google Reader or Homepage
Add to My Yahoo!
Add to My AOL

The Conservationist
in your Inbox

Enter your email address to get our new post everyday.

  • March 22, 2013

    Native Grasslands Can Be Saved by 'Protect Our Prairies Act'

    By Bob Marshall

    There’s new hope that native grasslands—arguably the most threatened wildlife habitat in the nation – can be saved.  But the House of Representatives will have to follow the bipartisan lead of a couple of prairie state representatives to get that done for sportsmen.
     
    The Protect Our Prairies Act recently introduced by Tom Walz (D-MN) and Kristi Noem (R-SD) would help protect the nation’s remaining native sod and grasslands by reducing federal crop insurance subsidies for the first four years those acres are farmed.
     
    This is a new version of the “Sod Saver” concept that has been around for some time, with the aim of preventing native grasslands from being plowed for two important reasons: This habitat is critical for a wide range of upland birds, migratory waterfowl and numerous other species; and they are far less productive for crops than other lands.
     

    Read Full Post | Comments (5)
  • January 29, 2013

    Burned Up: Oil Fields Are Wasting Enough Natural Gas Daily to Heat Half-Million Homes

    By Hal Herring

    There was a lot of hubbub around the West when NASA revealed the beautiful “Black Marble” satellite images of America and the world, showing the intensity of our settlements through the brilliance of our electrical lights. So much of the eastern and southern U.S. is lit, and the lights only began to fade as you reach the northern Great Plains, and then look to the northern Rocky Mountains, which remain fairly dark.

    Read Full Post | Comments (20)
  • June 7, 2012

    Hero for a Day 2012: Improving a Wisconsin Wildlife Haven for Veterans

    Read Full Post | Comments (2)
  • January 30, 2012

    The Debutante Hunters Documentary Shows The Best Side of Hunting

    By Hal Herring

    (Editor’s Note: The Debutante Hunters won the Shorts Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival after this post was written.)

    Sometimes it seems to me that conservation in the American West is like a Rocky Mountain river, wild with snowmelt, tumultuous and dramatic, with some new, obvious, challenge every second. But Southern hunting and fishing, and the conservationist ethic they spawn, seem more like a southern river, broad and slow and deep, shadowed with history and tradition.

    Read Full Post | Comments (12)
  • November 18, 2011

    Conservation Roundup: Sportsmen Lose Millions

    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.

    Read Full Post | Comments (21)
  • November 16, 2011

    Conservation Roundup: Call Super Committee Before Conservation Budget Cut

    By Bob Marshall

    Let the Super Committee Hear from You

    Sportsmen who care about the future of their traditions have an important job over the next week: Let the congressional Super Committee on the budget know that more cuts in conservation programs will only increase the deficit, not lower it.

    The Super Committee is the bi-partisan group charged with outlining $1.2 trillion in budget cuts over the next decade by Nov. 23rd. Failure to agree would trigger automatic cuts of the same amount, most of which would come out of defense and domestic spending. Congress already has cut conservation spending by 30 percent earlier this year, putting vital fish and wildlife programs on the edge of collapse.

    Conservation groups fear the Super Committee is considering even more damage--but they worry those automatic cuts could be just as severe. The frustrating thing is that, as mentioned in many previous posts here, conservation spending actually turns a profit for the nation's treasury. So it's time for sportsmen to contact their congressional delegations and tell them "Hands off of conservation funding.” You can find out who your reps are, and how to contact them here.

    Read Full Post | Comments (1)
  • October 31, 2011

    Conservation (Bad) News: Salmon Plague Spreads to Wild Pacific Stocks

    By Bob Marshall

    Deadly Disease Threatens Wild Pacific Salmon

    File this one under: Just when you think things couldn't get worse.

    Earlier this month fishery officials in Canada and the U.S. confirmed the deadly infectious salmon anemia had been found for the first time in wild Pacific salmon. This is the same disease that devastated salmon farms in Chile and other countries. The disease was found in two sockeye salmon smolts off British Columbia.

    The news sent shock waves through the fishing industries and communities that depend on salmon. It was good to see the threat also quickly cut through the entrenched partisanship in Washington resulting in a bi-partisan bill to address the outbreak.

    Read Full Post | Comments (0)
  • October 21, 2011

    Guest Blog: Now is Not the Time to Retreat on Wildlife Conservation

    By Dan Ashe

    Editor’s Note: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Director Daniel M. Ashe is the person ultimately responsible for the welfare of the nation's fish and wildlife and its habitat. This enormous duty puts Ashe in a perfect position to realize how much damage the threatened budget cuts to federal conservation programs would inflict on those priceless resources—and, as a lifelong hunter and fisherman, he also understands how much those cuts would harm our sports and their future.

    This is his response to Conservation Editor Bob Marshall’s recent column about the specific losses those potential cuts would cause, and explains why sportsmen must exclude conservation programs in any calls for budget reductions.

    by Dan Ashe

    Like all duck hunters, I know that, oftentimes, the worse the weather, the better the hunting. I look at our current conservation climate in much the same way.

    Although our nation is going through some rough economic weather right now, we can’t lose sight of the fact that there are still enormous needs – and opportunities - for fish and wildlife conservation.

    I understand and respect hunters, anglers, and shooters who believe that in the current budget climate, conservation programs should share in any cuts. This community has always put what is right ahead of what is easy, and I believe the reluctant support some may give for budget reductions comes from genuine patriotism.

    But we should recognize that America has always found a way to enrich her conservation legacy despite difficult times. During the Civil War, President Lincoln inked a land deal for what later became Yosemite National Park. In the 1930s, during the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl era, hunters supported landmark legislation that created the Federal Duck Stamp and the Wildlife Restoration Act, contributing to the establishment of 142 wildlife refuges across the nation in that decade alone.

    Read Full Post | Comments (13)
  • October 14, 2011

    The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership And The $1 Trillion Question

    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).

    Read Full Post | Comments (8)
    • Page 1 of 212next ›last »

    All F&S Blogs

    Visit Our Sister Sites at Bonnier Corporation
    Active Interest SKI | Skiing | Skiing Business | Scuba Diving | Sport Diver | TransWorld Ride BMX | TransWorld Business | TransWorld Motocross | TransWorld SKATEboarding | TransWorld SNOWboarding | TransWorld SURF | TransWorld WAKEBOARDING | WaterSki
    Travel Caribbean Travel + Life | Destination Weddings & Honeymoon | Islands | Florida Travel + Life
    Lifestyle & Epicurean Garden Design | SNOW | Saveur
    Marine & Aviation Boating | Boating Life 360 | Cruising World | Fly Fishing in Salt Waters | Flying | Marlin | Marlin University | Sailing World | Salt Water Sportsman | Sport Fishing | Yachting
    Outdoor Field & Stream | Outdoor Life | SHOT Business | Cycle World
    Parenting Babytalk | Parenting | Conceive | Working Mother
    Technology Popular Science | Science Illustrated | Sound + Vision | Popular Photography | American Photo
    Entertainment/Events Warren Miller Entertainment | World Entertainment Services | World Sports & Marketing

    Fieldandstream.com is part of the Field & Stream Network, a division of Bonnier Corporation.

    Copyright © 2012 Bonnier Corp. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.