As I stated before, it appears to me the outdoors men are always on the defensive. This thread started with a post about some b.s. policies the current administration is undergoing that are environmentally harmful to fish. That has been replaced by complaints about environmental groups and PETA (which is an animal rights group. Don't know how they got in there. By the way, they are such a fringe group who's supporter are dwarfed by outdoor enthusiasts. How in the hell do they command so much attention on this sight is beyond me. You legitimize them by your acknowledgement.)

The facts are that there are a lot of industries that harm rivers, lakes, wetlands, uplands, ocean, etc. There are also a lot of lobbyist and politicians that support them. Our job is to work hard to confront and reverse this destruction. How do you do this? Complaining about environmental groups that go too far is not going to help. Voting for people opposed to these groups but have a poor environmental record certainly will not help. Complaining about fishing/hunting conservation organizations that are not perfect will not help.

What will help is doing your research and giving money and time to groups that you are mostly comfortable with and are trying their best to preserve the wildlands and our lifestyle. TU is not perfect but would they be closer if they had more support and money? Would they have to compromise less and form less “partnerships” with other environmental groups if they had more cash? I'd like to find out.

Get on the offensive. Give money and time so that fishing/hunting environmental groups have a bigger constituency, bigger lobby and more power to influence public policy. Maybe then, we could stand up to the b.s. out there without feeling like our rights to fish/hunt is going to be taken away. How does Sierra Club become so influential? There are more fisherman and hunters out there then birdwatchers.
S.C. got there because they are aggressive. They lobby, market themselves, etc. They get cash from these folks. We get our license and pray that G.W. is a sportsman like his daddy and will protect our individual rights. Unfortunately, Washington D.C. does not answer prayers.

Last thought, what are these groups really for? Are they to protect the fish, watershed, and fisherman or only to protect our individual rights to fish? I hope the former. I love fishing and do a hell of a lot of it. As a result, I love the fish I catch and the water they come from. Because of that, if I'm shown good science that states that I should not be fishing an area because it is in trouble, I'll take heed and my rod elsewhere. Can you say them same or is all to make sure nobody screws with your right do whatever you damn well please?

Fsih but fish enlightened.

Surffish