Public Land Form Letter

[grizzly_]

Does anybody else think it would be beneficial to all of us if we could either collectively, or have one of the more eloquent individuals among us, write some sort of a Form Letter that we can each attach our names to and post on our social media accounts, send to our local/state/national reps, as well as send in to local newspaper's Letters to the Editor.

I would love to send some sort of quick letter to my newspaper giving the outdoorsman's perspective on why the land grab is a bad idea, possibly including the names of the hunters orgs that have publicly opposed it (BHA, RMEF, TRCP, B&C, etc...).

If we can start the conversation among hunters as to why the hunting groups oppose this, it will be a lot harder for the generic elected official to become a land-grab hardliner. I think this is a winnable fight, we just need the troops to coalesce.

Certainly HT has members in enough locations to get a well-written and concise letter published in most major newspapers around the western US. Many of us want to send in that letter, we just aren't informed enough to put pen to paper.

 

[RockyDog]

I would post it. Im really seeing alot of people in my area posting tons of crap about KrisAnne Hall and how she is the biggest expert in the country and its illegal for the govt to own land. Im sick of it.

 

[Big Fin]

Hmmm. Might be a good idea. Give me a few days and I will try to put something together. I am swamped until Friday.

 

[Ben Lamb]

Form letters are tough. While it's nice to have the template, I've found that letters to the editor with a personal touch resonate more with elected officials & real people than form letters.

If you want to draft a letter, I'd be happy to help with some suggestions or edits. Feel free to PM me.

 

[RockyDog]

A picture and a quote in a meme is how most people get their facts. Nobody checks a second source. thats why we know that Hillary, Obama and Sylvester Stallone are gonna take away our guns.

 

[Gerald Martin]

Sly wants to take our guns?!!!!!! No way! I'm never gonna give Rambo another dollar in my life.

 

[Ben Lamb]

Meme away

 

[RobG]

maybe

 

[TimeOnTarget]

maybe

Awesome!!

 

[grizzly_]

My thought is that we all talk a big game about fighting to protect public lands. If a pre-written letter existed that spoke directly to hunters, there'd be no excuse for every one of us not to put our name on it and submit it as a Letter to the Editor. Every newspaper in the west should have a well-written piece showing Average Joe hunter/hiker/camper that sportsmen oppose this. Then let all these Republicans stand up in their rural district and explain why they are voting against RMEF and B&C.

We need the conversation expanded among hunters and outdoorsmen alike that the land grab is bad for the public. Not everybody is on HT, Facebook, etc... Let's talk to those guys, too.

 

[quarterhorse]

Sounds like a good idea. Especially when you can wrap all forms of outdoor recreation in.

 

[Sapper.dawg]

Here is one I put together recently for our local papers and outdoor publications. After listening to Fin's podcast with Shane Mahoney, I have spent a lot of time thinking about the value of free range, fresh meat, fish and fowl that come from our public lands. I dug up some metrics on carcass yeilds and organic meat prices, then used the DNR stats for some prior years to come up with the numbers. After doing this, the interesting finding to me was that although public lands in AL only make up 7% of the state, they account for about 12% of the total harvest.

Value of Alabama’s Public Lands


Between 2010 and 2014 Alabama sportsmen and women harvested over half a BILLION dollars’ worth of free range, organic meat and fowl within the State’s borders, over $65 million of that coming from our public lands. Considering that approximately 7% of the State is publicly accessible land which, according to the 2014 DNR harvest estimate, accounts*for over 12% of the total game harvest, our public lands are well used and we must ensure their continued availability to all Alabamians.

Those of us that grew up in the rural south were “green” before being green was cool. We hunted and fished to provide part of our meat source, and we had a garden we worked all spring, summer and fall where the fruits and vegetables were preserved via canning and freezing for the rest of the year. Our carbon footprint was practically non-existent, not that we knew what that meant or that it mattered. Those were the days a person could knock on a door and ask for hunting permissions on a neighbor’s land, and likely get it with a handshake and wish “good luck”. That reality has long passedfor many in our*State. The rise of the exclusive hunting club, intensive game management, and reduction of timberland leasing opportunities leave many without their “own” place to hunt or fish. Alabama’s*network of*public hunting lands, thousands of acres of lakes, and hundreds of miles of rivers and streams fill this gap.

The USDA notes that the monthly cost of food for a family of four is about $1,100 per month, and we can assume approximately 30% of that total would be dedicated to meat proteins. With continually rising meat prices, and the move to more sustainable farming practices, meat costs will only continue to rise, consuming an ever larger portion of the monthly grocery budget. Our public lands are vital assets that supply Alabamians with local access to free range, organic meats; further extending monthly grocery budgets andpotentially improving public health.

Only Texas has less public land than Alabama by percentage when comparing Southeastern Conference states. While discouraging on face value, what public land we do have is very productive - such that every resident of the state has the opportunity to pursue and harvest fish, fowl and game from Alabama’s wild lands and waters, as well as experience the solitude and challenge of the hunt relatively close to home.

It is imperative we keep these lands open, protected and preserved for future generations of Alabamians so they too have the opportunity to walk in the same footsteps of their fathers, mothers and grandfathers and grandmothers.

 

[BMurr]

After listening to Fin's podcast with Shane Mahoney, I have spent a lot of time thinking about the value of free range, fresh meat, fish and fowl that come from our public lands. .

Well done.

The Wild Harvest Initiative cannot come soon enough, I truly believe it will open a lot of eyes in the non hunting community and the people who are indifferent to what we do.

 

[Gerald Martin]

Great letter Sapper.dawg.

 

[JohnCushman]

I have 3 college degrees, but I end up using a bunch of swear words and telling people they are stupid with their heads up their butts and the whole things breaks down to a mess whenever I try to write more than a paragraph

 

[RobG]

Does anybody else think it would be beneficial to all of us if we could either collectively, or have one of the more eloquent individuals among us, write some sort of a Form Letter that we can each attach our names to and post on our social media accounts, send to our local/state/national reps, as well as send in to local newspaper's Letters to the Editor.

Nobody has said it for some reason, but for what it is worth, form letters carry very little weight when sent to policy makers, and newspapers won't publish them.

However, I think they can help spread awareness, especially when posted on social media and have some big names endorsing them.

 

[grizzly_]

Nobody has said it for some reason, but for what it is worth, form letters carry very little weight when sent to policy makers, and newspapers won't publish them.

However, I think they can help spread awareness, especially when posted on social media and have some big names endorsing them.

I guess I need a different name than a "Form Letter". I'm talking about something well-written that each of us can plagiarize from with good information, written in a concise, clear format. Where all we each have to do is attach our names and send to our local papers (mostly they're submitted online now anyway).

My point is that we all come on here and talk a big game about fighting for public lands, but very few of us are writing that Letter to the Editor. If a letter was written, and just needed a few tweaks (maybe with the specific state examples of selling public land, for instance) there would be no excuse for every one of us not to send that to our newspaper.

I'm not looking for something that looks like a form letter, but something that looks independently written and is informative but can be easily personalized.

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Example...

A quick rundown of the history of the land grab, and how it is solely funded and pursued by special interests.

The state's history of selling land once it gains ownership (maybe personalized for that persons state).

A connection from hunters to other outdoor recreation enthusiasts (hunt/camp/hike/ATV/photography) and how this fight applies to all of us. And summing up with references to the opposition by groups like BHA, RMEF, TRCP, B&C (this is important because it gives legitimacy to our concerns and puts the politicians in the position of defending their actions against national conservation organizations).

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We need to expand our forces and educate hunters that are not on social media, as well as non-hunters that just want to protect public lands. We need to build a multi-pronged coalition. If we can get the casual hunter (or the guy that used to hunt, but doesn't really do it much anymore) aware that a few private interests are trying to take it from their grandkids, and everybody else, and paint a picture of a united front against this scheme by hunting interests, we might be able to expand the conversation and put the proponents on their collective heels.


I'm happy to write it and share it with everybody else, I just know there are much more talented writers among us that could be more persuasive than I. It would be great to get something compiled and then have a challenge from BigFin to get it published in as many papers as possible. The few guys on HT can't win this fight, we need more troops in our army.