From what I have been told (contrary to their propaganda), PETA really does not have much credibility in Washington DC. Its tough to have influence when some of your more radical people are involved in destruction of property and other illegal activities.

This does not mean that we should ignore them. They are just not priority #1. The best way to fight them is through the kids fishing programs. Be suspicious when programs like these get their funding cut for any reason.

Right now there are too many fisherman for them to defeat, but that will change if we don't continue to bring people into the sport. As much as I hate all the overcrowding of our rivers and lakes, its a good thing in the big picture.

We also need to be aware of what is being introduced in state level congress. Recently in an East coast state, an environmental group got legislation introduced to ban the use of lead sinkers. It was defeated, but its disturbing that it got that far.

Defending the sport against animal rights extreemists is not the reason I got involved in RFA, but its another good reason. If they going to hurt us, it will be using the political process so we need a political force to combat them.

Hunters: If you have not noticed, hunting is in trouble. There fewer and fewer hunters, not to mention less animals to hunt. The population growth is in the cities and will continue to be. They are not the most sympathetic people to hunting as a sport. Get involved or risk continuing to loose hunting rights in the next 50 years.