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Sportsmen’s Stake in Election To Challenge Outdoor’s Future                                          Back

By Ray Scott

 

Having a “Fisherman’s Friend” in the White House is vital.  “Nature… It’s good for people’s souls and minds…” George W. Bush

WASHINGTON, D.C. –– The 50 million fishermen and hunters in the country will be called upon November 7th to cast their votes to elect the next President of the United States and chart the direction of the new millennium and the future course of the outdoors.

Fishermen, hunters and outdoorsmen have valid concerns about the fate of their recreational sports.  The next administration will decide key issues about mounting gun control legislation, lawsuits against legal sporting arms manufacturers, stewardship over the sportsmen’s Pittman-Robertson and Wallop-Breaux funds and widespread use of chemical herbicides that destroy aquatic vegetation and fishing habitat.

“Having a fisherman’s friend – an outdoorsman – in the White House is vital to the understanding of the outdoors and conservation concerns,” says Ray Scott, founder of the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society (B.A.S.S.), a 600,000 member fishing and conservation organization.

Scott of Pintlala, Alabama , a 67-year old life-long fisherman and hunter, is eagerly anticipating a fishing friend in the oval office in the person of presidential candidate Governor George W. Bush of Texas .

“George W. is a bona fide bassin’ man – a lifetime member of B.A.S.S. – and understands outdoorsmen.  He’s personally dedicated to preserving our wildlife resources and the environment he, too, enjoys so much,” Scott claims.

Scott says the unchecked use of chemical poisons and herbicides in an all out “War on Weeds” is destroying the aquatic vegetation in lakes all across the country.  “This is one of the biggest challenges to quality bass fishing in the future,” believes Scott, who was named by Field & Stream magazine as one of the “top twenty persons to influence the outdoors sports in the past century.” 

“I know George W. Bush,” adds Scott, “and he knows the problem.”  As far as Scott is concerned the Texas governor showed his mettle during the “Battle of Bastrop” – a popular bass fishing impoundment near Austin – two years ago.

Scott explains, “ Bastrop was on the hit list for chemical herbicides to wipe out aquatic vegetation, a total destruction of the fish-holding habitat.  A similar fate that befell Alabama ’s Lake Guntersville , the Santee-Cooper lakes in South Carolina , and the Harris Chain in central Florida .

“On behalf of a lot of agitated Texas fishermen and B.A.S.S. members, I asked Governor Bush to help get a reprieve because we knew such action would kill the bass fishing in Lake Bastrop .  But, more importantly,” continues Scott, “the bass fishermen knew the vegetation could be controlled and managed by using a mechanical harvester.  Our group asked for the opportunity to prove it.”

Scott was delighted with Governor Bush’s response.  “He understood the issue and was open to ecology-friendly alternatives to herbicides,” notes Scott.

Bush obtained a cease-fire from the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA), who agreed to delay poisoning Bastrop until a mechanical harvester could be demonstrated as an alternative solution.

Governor Bush was not only present for the demonstration, along with Scott, but operated the mechanical weed harvester, showing its grass-clearing capabilities.  Texas fishermen and other out-of-state anglers contributed the needed monies to transport the mechanical weed harvester, borrowed from the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in Tennessee .

Two important events, for fishermen, happened in the wake of the Bastrop showdown.  The LCRA placed an order for a $200,000 state-of-the-art weed harvester, and the outdoor coalition SMART, calling for “Sensible Management of Aquatic Resources Team”, organized to halt the use of widespread chemical spraying.

“As Governor Bush observed,” Scott notes, “it’s time for new thinking.  Poisoning our fishing and drinking waters is absolute lunacy,” opines Scott.  “There’s a pro-chemical bureaucracy taking charge of our public fishing waters and sportsmen need to challenge their methods.”

Scott urges sportsmen to be S.M.A.R.T. voters.  “Our position on the issue is simple: Chemical poison herbicides should not be used to control and manage aquatic vegetation in public waters until, or unless, every non-toxic mechanical or manual method has been completely exhausted,” vows Scott.

During the Bastrop crisis, Scott had the opportunity to hear Governor Bush’s views on other issues facing sportsmen in the new century.  “I was impressed with his thoughts…he’s got more than a sound bite on the six o’clock news.

“George W. Bush understands the real meaning of fishing…that it’s more than competition, angling skill or the thrill of catching a trophy bass,” asserts Scott.  “He knows what it is to be in Nature.”

“As he confirmed in a recent press interview, ‘It’s good for people’s souls and minds,’” points out Scott. “Fishing clears the mind and connects you to the Creator.  It’s not complicated nor too sophisticated, but personally I welcome the leadership of a President who understands that.”

Scott has, also, been assured by Bush that as President he will guard the funds that fishermen contribute yearly to state fisheries through the self-imposed federal excise taxes on fishing and boating equipment.  Scott, himself, worked for seven years alongside American Fisheries Society and sportsmen to help pass the amendments to the Sport Fishing Restoration Act (Wallop-Breaux bill).

With its passage through the help of then Vice-President George Bush, the Wallop-Breaux monies increased from $35 million to $102 million yearly.  This has been a lunker-size benefit for every angler and allowed states to better protect and improve their fisheries, Scott declares.

“But all is not well,” continues Scott.  “It is a scandal how the funds have been spent and misspent under the current administration.”

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and director Jamie Rappaport Clark have been called to answer such claims by the General Accounting Office and legislators.  Pittman-Robertson funds collected on sporting arms, ammunition and equipment is also under the USFWS duties to appropriate monies to state fish and game departments for programs that benefit hunters.

“It’s a mess,” says Scott.  “Millions of dollars are unaccounted for in slipshod accounting and funds have been spent on highly questionable projects that have nothing to do with improving hunting and fishing.  On the contrary, there’s reason to believe animal-right groups are hijacking the sportsmen’s funds.  As a fact, anti-hunting and fishing sentiment has steadily grown during the Clinton-Gore administration.”

Some $500 million in special-earmarked taxes are passed from sportsmen’s pockets through the U.S. Treasury and deposited with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service annually.

Scott claims the funds “have always been ripe for raiding.”  He says, “The lesson is that as sportsmen we’ve got to be constantly vigilant and on-guard.”

As Scott relates during George Bush’s days in the White House, a move was undertaken to dip into the Wallop-Breaux monies.  “Fishermen were ready to riot and contacted myself and B.A.S.S. to ask for help.  I talked with President George Bush and the political pressure on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ended.  He protected the sportsmen’s welfare.”

So, it is not so surprising how Ray Scott comes down on the side of hunters and fishermen in the upcoming election.  “It is self-assuring to have a President in charge who understands and supports the intended use of our sportsmen’s funds.

“I know George W. Bush – as did President Bush before him – will be a strong steward and guardian of our outdoors and the environment.  There’s rarely been a more critical time when having a fisherman’s friend in the White House than our immediate future,” concludes Scott.

 

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