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Outdoorchannel TV

Temecula, Calif. --(Ammoland.com)- Outdoor Channel, America’s Leader in Outdoor TV, today announced the successful mobilization of nearly 2,500 volunteers as part of its inaugural Conservation Tour of Duty for its Outdoor Channel Corps initiative – a philanthropic program that aims to restore and improve public lands and spaces in order to ensure that the outdoor lifestyle thrives in communities across America.

Timed around National Public Lands Day, September 25th, 2010, Outdoor Channel Corps deployed volunteers to a total of eight sites, where the network spearheaded the charge in restoration and improvement projects. Various cable affiliate groups, such as Comcast and Time Warner, along with conservation/environmental partners, such as the Boy Scouts of America, Everglades National Park, the San Diego River Park Foundation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, joined the effort by lending their time and support.

“Outdoor Channel Corps is happy to ignite the power of volunteerism. Almost 2,500 volunteers turned out for our first-ever Conservation Tour of Duty initiative, and their valuable efforts resulted in a measurable impact on public parks and spaces across the country. Volunteers collected over 3,000 lbs. of debris and cleared over 20 miles of trails and shorelines,” said Denise Conroy-Galley, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Research for Outdoor Channel. “We extend our appreciation to our affiliates, partners, and, of course, the volunteers that came out to make a lasting difference. It is important to invest in conservation, and future Outdoor Channel Corps events will build on the momentum of our kick-off events.”

Conservation Tour of Duty Highlights
Outdoor Channel Corps was created in May 2010 to leverage the unrivaled strength of the Outdoor Channel brand to mobilize passionate outdoor enthusiasts to volunteer in their communities. The program aims to recruit one million volunteers for outdoor-related projects over the next five years, making it the largest outdoor volunteer program of its kind. Projects will be organized around specific “Tours of Duty” and will focus on the principles of conservation, outreach, responsibility and education.

The Conservation Tour of Duty focused on ensuring access to public lands and outdoor spaces through restoration and improvement volunteer events. Conservation of public lands is critical to ensuring that future generations of hunters, anglers and outdoor enthusiasts have access to traditional recreational pursuits like hunting and fishing. According to a General Accounting Office (GAO) report, more than 50 million acres of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Forest Service (USFS) have inadequate access. Through its Conservation Tour of Duty, Outdoor Channel Corps is determined to dramatically improve accessibility and restore our cherished public lands.

EVENT LOCATION

AFFILIATE

OBJECTIVE

RESULTS
Canyon Lake,Canyon Lake,Texas*

GVTC
Texas

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers event taking place on Sept 18th; Public park/shoreline debris clean-up and seedling plantings.

200 volunteers accumulated 172 bags of trash weighing in at over 1,375 lbs.; cleared 5.5 miles of trails and shoreline trash; planted Bluebonnet seedlings across 3 acres of Potter’s Creek Park; trimmed 20 trees; painted 8 large tables; and planted 15 feet tall Burr Oak Trees. Also, held the following conservation and outdoor-related classes: Water Quality Monitoring, Recycling to New, Non-point Pollution, Water and Boating Safety and Canyon Lake Gorge Tour.
Shark Valley Trails atEverglades National Park, Everglades City, Florida*

Comcast
South Florida

Trail maintenance and debris clean-up.

Pulled out 15-bags of an exotic vine called syngonium; trimmed tram/bicycle road at some of the corners where the vegetation had gotten tall and was making it a visual safety hazard.
Kings Gap Environmental Education andTraining Center,Carlisle,Pennsylvania*

Comcast
Pennsylvania

Trail maintenance; Removal of invasive and non-native species.

90 volunteers cleared and widened an ADA trail; improved a rock trail by elevating it and creating a border; created waterbars to divert water off the trail and address erosion issues; thinned invasive tree species and created firebreaks; and weeded/cleaned interpretative education trail along the butterfly garden.
Miami-Dade Parks,Miami, Florida*

Comcast
South Florida

5 Miami-Dade Parks are participating in NPLD. Trail maintenance and debris clean-up.

54 volunteers removed large garbage bags of Arrowhead Vine / American Evergreen; cleared a trail of fallen Royal Palm fronds; and cleared debris throughout the park and trail.
San Diego RiverPark, Santee,California*

Outdoor Channel
Corporate Event

Riparian Habitat Restoration, invasive nonnative tree removal event.

102 volunteers removed over 800 lbs. of trash and nearly one ton of green waste debris from an area equaling 6,794 square feet across the San Diego River shoreline and removed the biomass on at least 6 Tamarisk trees from the basin.
Kaanapali Golf Course Pond,Lahaina, Hawaii

Oceanic Time Warner
Cable Maui, Hawaii

Maui Electric’s 2ndAnnual Keiki Fishing Tournament benefiting Maui United Way hosted by Kelly Gotch from Outdoor Channel’s “Step Outside”; Conservation education.

The event drew over 1,500 attendees; Outdoor Channel’s Kelly Gotch emceed the Keiki Tournament; Gotch also educated the group on conservation and provided “catch and release” techniques and fishing tips for a new generation of anglers.
Camp Pouch, Staten Island, New York

Time Warner Cable
New York City

Cleaning of Boy Scout camp grounds as part of “Save Camp Pouch” campaign.

60 volunteers accumulated 75 garbage bags filled with debris from a two-mile stretch along the Pouch Camp perimeter, weighing roughly 750 lbs.
Stonewall ResortState Park, Roanoke,West Virginia

Shentel Cable (Shenandoah Telecommunications)
West Virginia

West Virginia Division of Natural Resources’ celebration of national hunting and fishing on Sept. 25th & 26th; Conservation education and debris clean-up on the 25th.

Ken Cobb and Scott Langely from Outdoor Channel’s “Huntin’ the World…Southern Style” helped the state park promote conservation and preservation through an educational overview on how to understand and appreciate the natural habitats that surround us; the two drew 397 visitors to the Outdoor Channel/Shentel booth.

* Denotes events officially held in conjunction with the National Environmental Education’s (NEEF) National Public Lands Day

About Outdoor Channel Holdings, Inc.
Outdoor Channel Holdings, Inc. owns and operates Outdoor Channel, America’s leader in outdoor TV, and Winnercomm Inc., an Emmy Award winning production and interactive company. Outdoor Channel offers programming that captures the excitement of hunting, fishing, shooting, off-road motorsports, adventure and the Western lifestyle and can be viewed on multiple platforms including high definition, video-on-demand, as well as on a dynamic broadband website. Winnercomm Inc. is one ofAmerica’s leading and highest quality producers of live sporting events and sports series for cable and broadcast television. Winnercomm also owns and operates the patented Skycam and CableCam aerial camera systems which provide dramatic overhead camera angles for major sports events, including college and NFL football. For more information, please visit http://www.outdoorchannel.com.

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Lawsuit Over Montana-Made Guns Goes to Next Judicial Level

Montana Shooting Sports Association

MISSOULA, MONT. --(Ammoland.com)- In MSSA v. Holder, the lawsuit to validate the Montana Firearms Freedom Act (MFFA), plaintiff Montana Shooting Sports Association announced today that it is now free to take this lawsuit to the next judicial level, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

MSSA president Gary Marbut commented, “We’ve believed all along that the federal District Court cannot grant the relief we request. We seek to overturn a half-century of bad precedent.

Only the U.S. Supreme Court can do that. In that light the pending dismissal by the District Court means little except that we are now free to move to the next step of the process.”

MSSA and its partner the Second Amendment Foundation filed MSSA v. Holder on October 1, 2009, to validate the principles of the MFFA. Enacted by the 2009 Montana Legislature, the MFFA declares that any firearms made and retained in Montana are simply not subject to any federal authority under the power given to Congress in the Constitution to “regulate commerce … among the states.”

The MFFA is part of a growing national effort by states to reject federal authority and control over everything. It is an assertion of states rights, and the Ninth and Tenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution

Since the MFFA was enacted in Montana, it has been cloned and enacted in seven other states: Tennessee, Utah, Wyoming, South Dakota, Alaska, Idaho and Arizona. Other clones have been introduced in the legislatures of 20 other states. (See: www.FirearmsFreedomAct.com)

MSSA v. Holder has attracted numerous amicus curiae parties that have filed supporting briefs, including the State of Utah (also representing other states), the Goldwater Institute, the Paragon Foundation, Gun Owners of America, the Weapons Collectors Society of Montana, Montana Legislators, and Legislators from other states. It is expected that other amici will join as this suit is appealed to the Ninth Circuit.

Once the Ninth Circuit rules on the appeal, plaintiffs intend to appeal any continuation of the dismissal to the U.S. Supreme Court, at which point in the process plaintiffs could get an actual ruling on the merits of the case. Or, the Ninth circuit could recognize the merit of the issues involved and remand the matter to the District Court for an actual trial.

“That the U.S. is so desperate to keep this matter from going to trial,” Marbut said, “tells me that they are very afraid of any precedent that might be established. Normally, a Motion to Dismiss is to preserve judicial economy. In this case it is to prevent a fair hearing on the significant issues we raise. The federal government doesn’t want any questions about the extent of its power.”

“The vehemence of the recommendations by the magistrate involved” Marbut continued, “demonstrates the desperation of the federal government, including its judicial branch, to prevent a fair adjudication of the issues underlying the MFFA.”

About Montana Shooting Sports Association:
MSSA is the primary political advocate for Montana gun owners. Visit: www.mtssa.org

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