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Natural Resources Defense Council Assaults Freedom to Enjoy Public Lands and Water with Attacks on Shimano

Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation

Washington, DC --(Ammoland.com)- Americans who enjoy fishing, hunting and other recreational activities on public lands and water are under attack by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and its allies.

A recent article by well respected journalist Doug Olander, www.sportfishingmag.com/blog.jsp exposes the extremes to which the radical elements in the environmental community will go in their attempts to bully opponents of their views on how (or how not) Americans should use our public resources.

“The ‘Shame on Shimano’ campaign by NRDC is an outrageous misrepresentation of the facts about a company who has led the outdoor industry in supporting scientific research, habitat improvement, youth programs and fishery conservation efforts across North America for twenty years,” said Jeff Crane, President of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF).

“The NRDC attack (www.shameonshimano.com ) attempts to portray Shimano, a quality rod and reel manufacturer, as ‘anti-ocean’ and influence cyclists to boycott Shimano, who is also a major manufacturer of bicycle components. Shimano is a leader in the fight to protect the rights of Americans to continue to responsibly use, access and enjoy our public natural resources for recreation.”

The NRDC web campaign against Shimano began when company representatives in partnership with CSF and other recreational fishing groups encouraged the Obama administration to make recreational fishing and access to public waters a national priority in the implementation of the President’s Ocean Policy Task Force recommendations.

The basis for these requests at the federal level originated from concerns in the angling community over the California Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) process which is creating permanent fishing closures in prime recreational angling areas along the California coast. The badly flawed California MLPA process has been advanced as a potential national model for America’s coastal, Great Lakes and inland waters, making it a big concern for America’s sportsmen and women.

America’s 60 million anglers generate over $46 billion in retail sales with a $114 billion impact on the nation’s economy, while employing over one million people. Shimano, together with other members of the recreational fishing and boating industries, also contribute millions of dollars every year in federal excise taxes to state fish and wildlife agencies for fisheries management and research; fishing and boating access, and angler and boater education and safety programs.

“Every angler, hunter and recreational user of public lands in America needs to stand together in support of our rights to access and responsibly enjoy our public lands and waters,” said Crane. “The NRDC ‘divide and conquer ’ tactic is attempting to bully a corporate conservation leader into submission because they dare to disagree with the NRDC on the importance of access to our public resources, and this highly inappropriate conduct by a major environmental organization is where the shame really lies.”

“CSF works in the public policy arena where the democratic right to disagree is respected, so the NRDC assault on Shimano’s bike business is especially offensive,” said Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus co-founder and CSF Board Vice-Chairman, Lindsay Thomas. “Shimano has stepped up for years on behalf of people who fish, hunt and who ride a mountain bike – and this is why NRDC is aggressively attacking them, and in a very real way all of us.”

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What Would Mother Nature Say To Those Who Mistake Environmentalism For Conservation

New Jersey Outdoor Alliance

New Jersey - -(AmmoLand.com)- Conservation is the sustainable use of our natural resources. All living things rely on the ecology for survival – including humankind. Conservation is a practice that acknowledges this reliance by making certain that natural resources prosper.

The most notable conservationist is Mother Nature. She practices sustainable use by striving for balance between flora and fauna – a perpetual process of attempting to steady supply and demand.

There is a brand of environmentalism, it seems, that is the activity of trying to protect the environment for its own sake – saving numbers of fish for the sake of saving fish or saving numbers of wildlife for the sake of saving wildlife. It is a philosophy that ignores the principle that living things rely on the ecology and behaves as if it humankind and ecology are distinctly separate.

This brand of environmentalism ignores the history of evolution and Mother Nature’s use of conservation to shape it.

HSUS, PETA, NJ Sierra and other organizations, to varying degrees practice a misguided brand of environmentalism. However, their erroneous philosophies are used as the basis for shaping environmental policy. Plus, their sphere of influence grows as they gain greater access to policy making positions and elect similar minded legislators to public office.

Below are two examples of this ignorance:

In the first, HSUS tries to vilify shark tournaments while ignoring that sharks are managed by the federal government and also consumed by the angler (steadiness of supply and demand or “conservation” of the resource.)

In the second, the Asbury Park Press displays an ignorance of the precepts of conservation by supporting the selection of those with misguided environmental backgrounds to the Mid-Atlantic Regional Fishery Management Council.

I wonder what Mother Nature would say to HSUS and the Asbury Park Press?

Get involved. Join the NJOA. Help to stop the progress of ignorance. Return the precepts of conservation and the integrity of Mother Nature to their rightful spots.

http://www.njoutdooralliance.org/support/njoa.html

About:
NJOA – New Jersey Outdoor Alliance is the state’s first major political action committee devoted to the task of electing outdoor-minded candidates to public office.
NJOA has formed with the support of leaders of major pro-hunting, pro-angling, and pro-trapping organizations. We are not a hunting, fishing, or trapping “club” or “group,” and do not compete with the interests of such organizations. NJOA helps to ensure that strong wildlife and natural resource protection laws are produced by outdoor-minded elected officials. The best way to ensure a “conservation presence” in Trenton is to support the election campaigns of representatives who understand the relationship between a balanced ecology and hunting, fishing, and trapping.

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