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How about don thomas
How about don thomas
Hi Randy,
I really enjoy your podcasts. I'm particularly worried about the transfers of federal land that you've talked at length about. I enjoy hunting federal lands both here in my home state of Mississippi as well as out west. I'm not sure if this is a podcast topic or maybe you've already covered it, but how can someone like me, in Mississippi, help with the fight against federal transfers?
Edit: I should add that after recently buying a few acres of land in SW Montana, I am really looking forward to my family being able to enjoy the millions of acres of national forests there.
I drove to Lewistown today and we spent a couple hours talking about some very important issues. Should be one that catches a lot of ears.
Good question. It is probably the hardest question I get asked, in terms of having a good answer.
I really wish I could say, "Go here and join this group, their sole cause is to keep public lands in public hands." But, there is no group such as that.
Best advice I can give is to continue staying informed. Keep seeking information, here and elsewhere. Whoever you have as your elected officials, make sure they hear from you on the issue. Make sure your friends hear about it and encourage them to contact your elected officials. Groups I know of who are actively opposing this effort to transfer public lands are RMEF, B&C, TRCP & BHA. Joining them, with a note that this issue is important to you will reinforce their advocacy on our behalf when this issue is debated.
Wish I had a better answer. If others here who are active in policy have more ideas, please share them. I think your question is very, very relevant to people who are knew to the discussion and the process by which the policy issues are changed/protected. When I got into this stuff 25 years ago, Al Gore had not yet invented the internet. We did it with phone calls, letters (yeah, we really wrote letters), attending public meetings, testifying at legislative hearings, etc.
I realize that in today's world of two working spouses, raising kids, and all that life demands, the manner in which I was brought to the debate is probably not feasible. Or, at least not to the degree I was able to do it, having a wife who accomplished her employment dream of being a "stay at home mom." That gave me so much more time and flexibility. I only had one kid, so time demands there were less. I realize how different my situation was than it is for most of you today who want to get involved. Finding a good solution to the question you asked is going to make huge progress in our ability to continue recruiting the next generation of hunting/public land advocates.
I would like to hear a podcast dedicated to explaining the positions of all of the presidential candidates in regards to 1) public lands and 2) conservation issues.
I was just listening to your Q&A podcast and when you brought up the foodies turned hunters it brought up one good question. How do we prevent them from turning against us? Im not expecting a direct answer im expecting a discussion. Somewhere i heard the envioromentalists were in the same position we got all excite about them joing us and they turned against us in general.
I guess I struggle to see how someone who hunts for food, thereby supporting hunting and conservation, would be considered as having "turned against us."
Randy,
I don't know too much about hunting politics out west so I am not sure if this question is applicable to anything you have run across or not. However I would really like your opinion on this topic. Here in Wisconsin we have different laws than the American Indians. The laws are so different that our fishing season is directly affected by how many 10's of thousands of walleye are speared/killed and harvested during there spawning. This is one of many examples that I (and many others) believes directly goes against ethical hunting and good conservation. They have also now made it legal for American Indians to shine and kill deer at night.
I would really appreciate your opinion on this matter and am an avid listener of your podcast. I am very thankful I found both yours and Steven Rinella's podcasts as it has made me a more aware and educated conservationists.
I guess I struggle to see how someone who hunts for food, thereby supporting hunting and conservation, would be considered as having "turned against us."