By Bob Marshall

Journalists often are stumped for the right words to explain amazing news that comes across their desk. But this time the simple words announcing the news were amazing enough:

"A wealthy hedge fund manager has set a record, donating 170,000 acres of prime wilderness land in Colorado’s pristine Sangre de Cristo Mountains to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, making it the largest donation to the agency."

It gets better.

"Avid conservationist Louis Moore Bacon, 56, CEO and founder of Moore Capital Management, which is one of the largest hedge funds in the world, donated to the wildlife agency most of his 81,400-acre Trinchera Ranch Saturday, Sept. 15, adding to a previous 90,000 acre donation from his adjoining Blanca Ranch."

By Bob Marshall

This is where all the political gamesmanship over the budget for the last year has put fish, wildlife and sportsmen: The current Farm Bill expires at the end of the month, which could bring a halt to the wide range of programs it supports, including Conservation Reserve, Wetlands Reserve and Grasslands Reserve. The Senate passed a bill that drew praise from sportsmen during the summer, and the House Agriculture Committee followed suit. But GOP deficit hawks think it gives too much to nutrition programs like school lunches and conservation, while some Democrats think the cuts to nutrition programs are too steep.

Veteran Hill lobbyists say they fear election year politics is now having an impact, with each side afraid a vote either way could be used against them.

"The calendar doesn't lie, and right now it says we've got eight legislative days (days when congress meets and can vote) before the end of September, and there's no evidence of a Farm Bill on that (House) calendar," said Steve Kline, director Center for Agricultural and Private Lands Director at the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership.

By Bob Marshall

Editor's note:
Go here for a video about the hunting and fishing opportunities at risk in the Mississippi Delta.

For an interview with Ryan Lambert, who owns a fishing lodge where Hurricane Isaac is projected to make landfall, go here.

Like all hurricanes these days, Isaac is bad news for Louisiana's coastal fish and wildlife.

Hurricanes are to the great estuary of the Mississippi River what fire is to western forests: A natural, needed force in a healthy ecosystem, creating openings for renewal of key species and leaving behind a surge of life in the wake of its destructive force.

By Bob Marshall

A press release from the Department of Interior last week held some of the best news in recent years for sportsmen—and the quality of life of all Americans: After decades of steady declines, the number of hunters and anglers in the U.S. showed significant increases over the last five years.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s 2011 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation showed the number hunters and anglers increased 9 and 11 percent respectively, part of the 38 percent of all Americans who participated in wildlife-related recreation. That was an increase of 2.6 million participants from the previous survey in 2006. A Service spokesperson said the survey, which has been done every five years since 1955, last showed an increase was in the late the 1980s — which means we've halted a 30-year slide.