What's wrong with this picture?

[fly flinger]

I just added up the forum posts found at; The Chesapeake Angler/MD board, Northern Neck, Virginia Angler, and Crabbers which = 657,090 posts. The Conservation & Policy board has 12, 381 posts.

Now I know why it's so hard to motivate people to vote for the bay, to write letters and be proactive in the fight against the despoilers. Apathy and "can't" will not improve your fishing experience.

We need to open a can of "CAN DO" and get the six bay watershed states to implement the EPA's "pollution diet" mandate. Its up to us to push the various statehouses to reform the bad practices that have killed the bay.

Please put down your rod and pick up your pen.

[fly flinger]

Recently I was told by a very reliable source that the watermen associations will not support the EPA/STATE pollution regulations because they don't want ANY restrictions on their industry in any manner or form. This is a hard to believe as anyone who has any knowledge of the robber baron days would know OPEN season + NO LIMITS = the law of diminishing returns. Except for oysters, fishing is an extraction industry. Unlike the farmer who plows and plants his future crop, fishing takes but does not replace. That said, foul water will kill off the remaining jobs in the bay. If we fishermen do not get vocal the bay may reach the tipping point where they'll be hell to pay before any restoration would be possible. Read the papers about Hungary's aluminum sludge flood. We have coal slurry ponds all over the bay's watershed. There are manure ponds one rain event from bursting their retaining walls, never inspected or licensed. The list is long, time is short.

[goose70]

While I understand and, to a certain degree, share your frustrations, keep in mind TF's primary purpose. The site was designed -- and most people are here -- to share fishing stories/lies and methods. Most people seem to take up hobbies, including fishing, as an escape from the stress of everyday life. I'm not surprised that folks would tend to gravitate towards the portions of this site that allow them to do that. Many environmental issues are pesented in a stressful, depressing and often heated manner. The challenge for all of us is to get people to act in their own self interest (i.e.- preserving and improving the ecosystem that allows their hobby to exist) while not simultaniously taking the fun out of fishing.

[gwag]

Jim you have hit the nail on the head,the enviromental groups are full of wackos that have no interest in the rights of humans . Nice people donate to these groups with out realizing the true agenda,they donate to save the polar bear (which does not need saving ,they have survived and will continue) then find their money used to stop access to their favorite beach . WE need more conservationalist and do not need these special interest groups petioning this corrupt govt. to deny our rights as Americans to access our public lands. Hunters and fisherman have done more to help the enviroment and the animals than any one at Audobon

[fly flinger]

As gwag stated there are wackos out there who will protest against something or everything just to have a hobby. Wind power issues will turn out the the waterfowl lovers who believe the turbine blades will kill or interfere with migrations. Other NIMBYs will not want their view destroyed. The reality is that wind, as we all know, is intermittent and not a reliable source of energy. Of course, every bit of GREEN energy is welcomed. The 800 pound gorilla in the room is MONEY. Energy in its many forms isn't cheap and demand is rising at an exponential rate. As our population increases we will see more "CLEAN" coal fired power plants, they're cheap to build and come on line very fast compared to "HORROR" nuclear plants. Americans are addicted to gadgets that require electricity and their appetite for more is boundless.
Hopefully, homes and businesses in the future will be required to use DC rechargeable devices powered by solar collectors to reduce pollution and the load on the grid.

CCA, TU, FFF, RFA and host of other groups are "SPECIAL INTEREST" groups. They have a special interest in preserving their stake in the environment same as Audubon, Sierra Club, etc. All these groups are trying to give a voice to the animals. Sometimes the RIGHTS of some are compromised by the looking out for the better good of all. And you have to remember, extinction is forever. There's no going back once a species dies out. Have you seen ONE of the countless millions of passenger pigeons lately?

I remember asking my father why Maryland and Virginia oyster men were shooting at each other as reported in the Baltimore Sun back in the good ole days of the 50's. He said it was a war over who got what. That's when the Federal government had to step in to make regulations and set boundaries. Not all regulation is bad, not all politicians are corrupt, not all sportsman are good for the environment, a great number of farmers take care of their topsoil and some dairymen fence their cattle out of the streams. Too broad a brush doesn't work. What we need is GOOD legislation that corrects the defects that are killing the once bountiful Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. We need to counter act the thousands of letters being sent by special interest groups who want no new restrictions and would prefer no regulations. We fishermen have to become the squeaky wheel or be drowned out.

SEMPER PARATUS