T
TFinalshot
Guest
Dentry: NRA alienates hunters with latest positions
November 7, 2006
Anti-hunters turn up in the strangest places, even among the ranks of warriors defending the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution.
That is the amendment that reads, " . . . the right of the people to keep and ride ATVs shall not be infringed."
No, it was about arms, I think. But in its recent campaigns against wildlife and wild places, the National Rifle Association has added internal combustion engine rights to gun rights.
In the past half-dozen years, the NRA has tried its hare-brained worst to alienate its own dues-paying members who count hunting, fishing and the enjoyment of nature's remaining natural scraps as the anchor of their traditional values.
The NRA's most recent campaign against the land and hunters pits it against a bill in congress that proposes wilderness status for 20,000 acres of Bureau of Land Management property east of the Arkansas River above Brown's Canyon.
Colorado's congressional delegation supports the bill. Wildlife managers, hunters, conservationists and area residents support it. The only spoiler is the NRA, which wants an old, unused wagon road opened to make hunting more convenient for elite gadgeteers who ride screaming cylinders.
The last time the NRA meddled in Colorado's hunting business was in 2005, when it wrote to the state legislature opposing a bill raising resident hunting and fishing fees for the first time in 13 years.
The bill had nearly unanimous support from Colorado hunters and anglers, who are rightly proud of their tradition of supporting the state's wildlife without help from taxpayers.
Outraged at NRA's official in-absentia stance, a procession of its own life members testified at the State House in favor of the bill while hurling insults at their organization for its arrogance.
The bill passed, with provisions establishing a habitat stamp (as in many other states) for hunting-land enhancements and a fee of 75 cents on licenses to fund public information announcements.
(You might have heard the first announcement on Colorado Public Radio. It lauds the wonders of Colorado's wildlife thanks entirely to sportsmen. More announcements will appear on TV. What's not to support?)
The NRA has lobbied against protection of national forest roadless areas, which are key to preserving healthy wildlife, good hunting, clean water, scenic views and - particularly in Colorado and the West - a fishing and big-game-based hunting economy that rivals the ski industry.
Last summer, a bipartisan task force appointed by Gov. Bill Owens voted to keep roadless protections in place for those reasons. What's not to support?
The NRA has favored rampant energy development and road building on western Colorado's prime public hunting lands with little or no public input and against the protests of local governments and conservationists.
The gun group's anti-habitat obstructionism started a few years ago, when it threw a tantrum and dropped its supporting membership in the Outdoor Writers Association of America over a flap with the Sierra Club, another supporting member.
That brought a rash of resignations among OWAA members, some of whom belonged to both organizations. The result was the only major rift in the venerable, 79-year-old hook-and-bullet writing organization's history.
Prompted by pro-development madness in the Bush administration, the rift has gone national, spawning pro-hunting conservation and public lands defense groups such as Republicans for Environmental Protection, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, and now the American Hunters and Shooters Association.
The AHSA has come out in support of wilderness designation for the Browns Canyon parcel. Incensed that any hunters and shooters might run contrary to its eminence, the NRA has run home to mama and reverted to default name-calling.
A statement from NRA accuses AHSA of being "an anti-hunting and anti-gun front group."
That seems unlikely, given that AHSA is run by the likes of president Ray Schoenke, formerly of the Washington Redskins, who hunts and owns a shooting preserve in Maryland; and executive director Bob Ricker, who for 20 years was a top lobbyist for the firearms industry.
What seems more likely is that the NRA has run amok on its ATV. No one can accuse it of being anti-gun. But the anti-hunting evidence is mounting.
[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
November 7, 2006
Anti-hunters turn up in the strangest places, even among the ranks of warriors defending the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution.
That is the amendment that reads, " . . . the right of the people to keep and ride ATVs shall not be infringed."
No, it was about arms, I think. But in its recent campaigns against wildlife and wild places, the National Rifle Association has added internal combustion engine rights to gun rights.
In the past half-dozen years, the NRA has tried its hare-brained worst to alienate its own dues-paying members who count hunting, fishing and the enjoyment of nature's remaining natural scraps as the anchor of their traditional values.
The NRA's most recent campaign against the land and hunters pits it against a bill in congress that proposes wilderness status for 20,000 acres of Bureau of Land Management property east of the Arkansas River above Brown's Canyon.
Colorado's congressional delegation supports the bill. Wildlife managers, hunters, conservationists and area residents support it. The only spoiler is the NRA, which wants an old, unused wagon road opened to make hunting more convenient for elite gadgeteers who ride screaming cylinders.
The last time the NRA meddled in Colorado's hunting business was in 2005, when it wrote to the state legislature opposing a bill raising resident hunting and fishing fees for the first time in 13 years.
The bill had nearly unanimous support from Colorado hunters and anglers, who are rightly proud of their tradition of supporting the state's wildlife without help from taxpayers.
Outraged at NRA's official in-absentia stance, a procession of its own life members testified at the State House in favor of the bill while hurling insults at their organization for its arrogance.
The bill passed, with provisions establishing a habitat stamp (as in many other states) for hunting-land enhancements and a fee of 75 cents on licenses to fund public information announcements.
(You might have heard the first announcement on Colorado Public Radio. It lauds the wonders of Colorado's wildlife thanks entirely to sportsmen. More announcements will appear on TV. What's not to support?)
The NRA has lobbied against protection of national forest roadless areas, which are key to preserving healthy wildlife, good hunting, clean water, scenic views and - particularly in Colorado and the West - a fishing and big-game-based hunting economy that rivals the ski industry.
Last summer, a bipartisan task force appointed by Gov. Bill Owens voted to keep roadless protections in place for those reasons. What's not to support?
The NRA has favored rampant energy development and road building on western Colorado's prime public hunting lands with little or no public input and against the protests of local governments and conservationists.
The gun group's anti-habitat obstructionism started a few years ago, when it threw a tantrum and dropped its supporting membership in the Outdoor Writers Association of America over a flap with the Sierra Club, another supporting member.
That brought a rash of resignations among OWAA members, some of whom belonged to both organizations. The result was the only major rift in the venerable, 79-year-old hook-and-bullet writing organization's history.
Prompted by pro-development madness in the Bush administration, the rift has gone national, spawning pro-hunting conservation and public lands defense groups such as Republicans for Environmental Protection, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, and now the American Hunters and Shooters Association.
The AHSA has come out in support of wilderness designation for the Browns Canyon parcel. Incensed that any hunters and shooters might run contrary to its eminence, the NRA has run home to mama and reverted to default name-calling.
A statement from NRA accuses AHSA of being "an anti-hunting and anti-gun front group."
That seems unlikely, given that AHSA is run by the likes of president Ray Schoenke, formerly of the Washington Redskins, who hunts and owns a shooting preserve in Maryland; and executive director Bob Ricker, who for 20 years was a top lobbyist for the firearms industry.
What seems more likely is that the NRA has run amok on its ATV. No one can accuse it of being anti-gun. But the anti-hunting evidence is mounting.
[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
