Headwaters

Rise Forms, Issue 3

After a bit of delay, Rise Forms is hot off the press, I think I have a review of Gierach's most recent work, though I read the book and wrote the review seemingly ages ago and don't really recall what I said. Hope I didn't make a fool of myself! I am also proud to say my father has a short narrative on fishing for the big browns of Patagonia, so it is a bit of father & son representation in this one! Anyway, there are some great essays, art, and narratives within this issue. Take a look and enjoy!

Minute, Yet Significant, Changes

[Note: I intend to resume fly fishing history posts sometime soon, I have some great items on the docket, including some interviews with anglers past. However, this post makes an unexpected 3rd in a 3 part series on commentary on the state of resource politics in Alaska.]

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If you pay attention to the extreme minutea then you might have picked up on the reality that the Alaska Department of Natural Resources just changed their mission statement. There is only one word missing, but it seems a significant move for sure.

Old Mission Statement:
To develop, conserve, and enhance natural resources for present and future Alaskans.

New Mission Statement:
To responsibly develop Alaska’s resources by making them available for maximum use and benefit consistent with the public interest.

It seems they have forgotten that Article 8, AK Constitution insists upon one point that was left out of the new mission statement -"conservation of all natural resources belonging to the State, including land and waters, for the maximum benefit of its people."

But hey,who needs conservation for the people of the state, for the future of the state, when you can pebble, I mean peddle, off the recources at a rapid rate today?

So, the question remains: Whose interest does DNR have at heart? Whose interests will they keep in mind when they look to evaluate all those permits for that project called the Pebble Mine? Well, clearly they'll use this new mission as the bar of evaluation and focus on developing those resources. . .For whose benefit, I am not entirely sure.

For another take on these same issues dealt with in the past few posts, Shannyn Moore has an Op-Ed on the issue in today's Anchorage paper.

More Trust for Alaska's Decision Makers

Well, if the amazing mining track record in Alaska doesn't have you feeling all warm and fuzzy inside about the prospects of elected officials, or people chosen by elected officials to make sound decisisons about resources use, extraction and management in Alaska, then this story certainly will! And, warm and fuzzy feelings are needed right now, given the cold temps in Alaska these days.

So, it has just come to light that the Director of the Division of WIldlife for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Corey Rossi was just busted for not only 12 hunting violations, but also working as a guide on an illegal bear hunt a handful of years ago. Yes, this should make one proud of our management directors and leaders. Sound choices there. . .But then again, this a-hole was appointed by none other than Sarah Palin. An unsurprisingly apt choice on her part.

The Anchorage Daily News has a good opinion piece on the issue and they nail it when they note: To argue that politics and special interests won't affect fish and game decisions is naive. But our nonpolitical priorities come first -- sustain fish and game for the long haul and demand the hiring of qualified professionals of integrity.

The trouble is, however, special interests and policits are such bedfellows, seperating them out is impossibble. Nonpolitical priorities should come first, but it seems they never well. After all, Alaska Governor Parnell has made it quite clear during his time in office that the science coming from state agencies should not drive policy in his adminstration. Nope. Instead, policy should drive the science. And, if your science runs counter to the policy of the administration, then you can see yourself to the door.

While Mr. Rossi's actions have nothing explicitly at all to do with what is going on in the fight for Bristol Bay, the bigger picture of politics, science, management and interests has everything to do with what is going on in Bristol Bay. This is all the more reason why leaders of the Bristol Bay region have called upon the EPA to step up and step in and use science to protect America's last great salmon fishery. In the end, despite a constitutional requirement to do so, those in leadership of the state of Alaska have only their own personal and extended special interests in mind, not those of the people they work for.

Read more here: http://www.adn.com/2012/01/14/2264250/our-view-fish-game-and-foul.html#storylink=cpy

A Trustworthy Track Record - Yay Alaska

Well, this news certainly makes me fell better about things up here in Alaska. We can all rest assured that Pebble Partnership will adhere to industry standard and keep things nice and clean in Alaska. They'll be just like Red Dog mine, which Pebble touts as being so good for the surrounding environment and fishes (click the link and scroll down to "myth busting.") 

USEPA released a report this week noting that Alaska mining operstions account for ninety percent of the toxic chemical releases in the four-state Pacific Region." This means, really, that Alaska's toxic releases to air, water, ans land are the highest of any state in the nation! Hooray.

Pebble likes to highlight the wonders of Red Dog mine, they might want to think again, as Red Dog annually spews 777 million pounds of toxics annually into the air, water, and land.

For more on this story, check out this LINK.

GIve it a read, it should make us all sleep better this weekend

Fraser River Sockeye Hung Out to Dry

So, it has been a slow spell for Headwaters. I have more coming soon, but thought in the meantime, I would throw this out there in case you missed it:

Fraser River Sockeye Hunt Out To Dry - By Craig Orr And Stan Proboszcz, Vancouver Sun

With all respect to a certain cinematic frog, it's tough being a Fraser River sockeye, judging by masses of evidence and testimony tendered over the past two years at the Cohen Commission Inquiry into the Decline of Fraser River Sockeye. There's little doubt: Sockeye face a tough existence, and unless things change, their future - and ours - will be far less rich. Sockeye are plagued by a lack of food, lax pollution standards, ineffective habitat protection efforts, archaic water laws, harmful hydro impacts, unjustified riverbed mining, a "modernized" Fisheries Act, illegal fishing, subpar catch monitoring, and debilitating climate change. Unlucky Oncorhynchus nerka must also swim a gauntlet of non-selective nets, predators, toxic algae blooms, and pathogen-bearing fish farms - all for an increasingly slim chance to spawn and die.

If these stresses weren't troubling enough, the federal review of Fraser sockeye woes recently reopened to testimony about positive tests for the infectious salmon anemia virus (ISAv) in wild and farmed salmon. Indeed, despite vigorous government assurances to the contrary, compelling evidence suggests this virus has been here for some time. Governments' reaction to the news - and to leaks that they had known of a possible virus for nearly a decade - prompts one to fear that wild salmon ranked disturbingly low on their list of priorities.

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/Fraser+sockeye+being+hung+politicians/5917974/story.html#ixzz1icINwU48

It's not just a mecca for sport fishing

 

Steward of the Week

I am honored to be recognized, but more importantly inspired to be associated with amazing people - from the folks fighting for Bristol Bay to those who make Recycled Fish one of the most exciting new conservation and fishing organizations out there.

Click on the image to read a great write up based on provocative questions by Recycled Fish volunteer, Josh Milczski.

 

Get Your Hands on a Holiday Tackle Box!

 

Holiday Tackle Box Auctions
Loaded tackle boxes carry special meaning for our waters
 
NEBRASKA CITY, Neb., Nov. 10 – The Holiday Tackle Box really is a gift that keeps on giving. That’s because proceeds from each purchase will benefit our fisheries and waterways.
 
From Nov. 14  to Dec. 13, Recycled Fish will auction a different fully loaded tackle box every day on eBay. Each box is valued at around $350, and a different box is auctioned every day.
 
“When you win an auction, our waters win too,” said Teeg Stouffer, Recycled Fish Executive Director.
 
Funds raised will assist programs through Recycled Fish, but 20 percent of each auction also will benefit different Recycled Fish partners in stewardship, including Vanishing Paradise, Anglers Legacy, KeepAmericaFishing, Clean Angling, Wildlife Forever, Sportsman’s Alliance for Alaska, USA Ice Team, Casting for Recovery, B.A.S.S. Conservation, The Future Fisherman Foundation and Bonefish & Tarpon Trust.
 
The Flambeau tackle boxes range from  recycled plastic three-tray models to Bio ‘Tuff biodegradable containers and many other models. Every box features a pair of Onos Curlew sunglasses, and is packed with hooks, baits, weights, line and accessories from Berkley, Strike King, Vicious Fishing, Sebile, FoodSource Lures, Castalia Outdoors, Secret Weapon Lures, Scott’s Elite Lures, SAFE Angling, Timbuktu Outdoors, Lucky Bug Lures, Tru-Turn, Trilene, DICK’S Sporting Goods, Grip-On Lights, Recycled Fish, Fish Itch, KayakJak Outfitters, Clean Angling, Grabber Warmers, Wildlife Forever, Shark Tooth, Ventafish, Let Us Fish, Fishhound, BugBand and MonsterOutdoors.com.
 
“It’s the time of year when we’re looking for special gifts,” said Stouffer. “Giving someone one of these Holiday Tackle Boxes is extra special because it not only sets them up for countless adventures in the outdoors, but the proceeds help protect our waters and wild places.
 
“Whether it’s restoring the Louisiana Delta, preventing the spread of invasive species, or introducing new people to the sport of fishing, there is much we can all do to be a part of helping our waters,” he added. “Many anglers have a specific passion when it comes to stewardship, so you’re able to bid on a day when you have a deeper connection with the benefitting cause.”
 
A complete listing of the tackle boxes, the featured items and the benefitting non-profits is available at www.RecycledFish.org/HolidayBoxes. Visitors can sign up to be notified daily when each auction goes live.
 
The first auction goes live at 7 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 14.
 
About Recycled Fish:
 
Recycled Fish is the non-profit organization of “anglers living a lifestyle of stewardship both on and off the water, because our lifestyle runs downstream.” We Are Stewards.
 
The Recycled Fish “Sportsman’s Stewardship Pledge” invites anglers to become actively involved as not just a user of our waters, but a steward of them. The SAFE Angling Program — Sustaining Angling, Fish and Ecosystems — is a way to help anglers embrace a lifestyle of stewardship on the water. It involves catch and release fishing, the use of single barbless hooks, biodegradable lures, and non-toxic weights. Recycled Fish also teaches anglers about preventing the spread of invasive species, habitat loss, removing litter and pollution prevention. For more information on the 501(c)3 group go to: www.recycledfish.org .

Collaborative Writing for the Drake

I meant to post this yesterday.

Recently, I teamed up with Josh Mills of Chucking LIne and Chasing Tail. Oh, the joys of the internet and blog-o-sphere, it brings up so many great opportunities for writing, collaboration, and of course fishing. After some chatting about the issues facing Brisol Bay and the history of crap that has impacted the Columbia river watershed, we thought we'd put our thoughts on a common page and this is what we came up with:

Yesterday, it ran in the Drake Online.

Follow the link, give it a read, let us know what you think, and support the groups fighting the good fight.

I look forward to more projects like these in the near future!

Money Talks, But More is At Stake . .

Thinking about Bristol Bay and other locations for mining in America, our dear friend Lisa Murkowski noted today how federal conservation efforts, particularly the work of the EPA were stagnating economic opportunity. She wondered what impact these regulations were having on our economy, on jobs, and the like. All very reasonable concerns given our current economic situation, given the various voices screaming from both sides of the aisle at Wall Street and corporate America. But what she misses is that these potential places for mining are not just places for mining.

(Sun setting on Bristol Bay, somehwere near the Pebble deposit)

This is not a vacuum.

No, these are places like Bristol Bay, coldwater habitats around the West, places where folks like us like to walk to rivers, wade through streams, and chase fish without the fear of smelling sulfur or hearing mining blasts, or finding no fish or worse yet no water in the river anymore. What she fails to realize is that these places are already a part of a massive economic engine.

Earlier this month, a report released by Southwick and Associates underscores the economic importance of natural resoruce conservation and outdoor recreation in America. Tom Sadler over at the Dispatches from Middle River, has a great breakdown of the numbers contained within the report.To lift from his fine work:

Let’s look at fishing, according to that report;

• Number of Participants:  32.9 million
• Jobs Supported:  587,000
• Gear Related Sales:  $6.4 billion
• Trip Related Sales:  $16.2 billion
• Fed and State Taxes generated:  $4.1 billion
• Total Economic contribution:  $61.54 billion

In the Bristol Bay context for Murkowski to note:

• Anglers took an estimated 51,000 recreational trips to Bristol Bay annually
• This amounts to an estimated 100,000 angler days a year fishing in Bristol Bay
• Of those trips, 65% were taken by Alaskan residents
• 35% were from non-Alaskans
• The Bristol Bay sport fishery employs upward of 1200 people a year
• Outdoor recreation in Bristol Bay amounts to upwards of $160 million in annual expenditures  

So, there. If you want to compare dollars for dollars, there is plenty of fodder for the discussion. And, the reality, particularly today, is that money talks in all of this debate over fishing, conservation, and resource management. But let's pause and remember there is a lot more too it.

Once upon a time, seemingly forever ago, I wrote an article published in the Journal for the American Academy of Religion, an article that was recently described to me (by someone who didn't know I wrote the article), as one of the only peer-reviewed analyses of the cultural (albeit religious and spiritual) dimensions of fly fishing.  There are a handful of others out there and quite frankly, though, you don't need an academic to tell you that fly fishing means a hell of a lot more than the dollars it generates for the economy. But as numbers get thrown around, it is important to remember what is at stake in all of this.

We fish because it means something to us viscerally. Whether swinging flies at steelhead on a cold winter's day, or hiking the high country in search of native trout in their native habitat. Fly fishing's impact upon the angler is an affective mark of connection to something more than ourselves.

David James Duncan, mused that

When the trout are happening, I can kneel on merciless stones happily,
for hours and hours; I can stare into blinding glare, withstand heat or
cold, be chased by bears, cow moose with calves, or redder necks than
my own, and still rush gratefully back for more. I don’t understand the
why of all this. I don’t try to understand. I just pull on my waders and
merge via a spirituality so thrashing, splashing, cursing, casting, and
Earth-engaged it doesn’t feel spiritual at all: it just feeds the spirit.

 

At the end of the day, we don't reflect upon the why of fishing in economic terms. Instead, we open a beer, share a tale with friends at the barstool or around a campfire, and we recount stories from fish caught and missed, close encounters with bears, or general moments of clarity. We all recognize there is something special, deeper, and powerful about the sport. If there wasn't, we wouldn't care about Walton or Gierach, there wouldn't be vast libraries of texts in special collections of university libraries, or there wouldn't be twice as many fishing and fly fishing blogs on the Outdoor Blogger Network blog directory as any other topic (and that is hardly the whole of the fishing blog-o-sphere).

The why of fishing is, further, what drives many folks to move beyond fishing to conservation. Or, it should at least. You've heard my rant, you needn't hear it again.

But seriously, in my academic days I compiled countless hours of interviews with anglers who articulated that fishing impacted them deeply. That fishing encouraged some broader understanding of river ecosystems and ecology. That understanding led to a realizing that they must do something for rivers and watersheds that were in peril for whatever reason. And finally, that realization, then, drove them to speak out or get engaged in conservation/restoration work.

Though, if only more anglers thought that way! (Admittedly, my interview samples were limited to those already engaged in conservation).

For the future, however, we need to keep encouraging more folks to fish, because that should mean that there are more out there fighting the good fight. It also means greater numbers in the column of economic benefits.

Herbert Hoover insisted that "next to prayer, fishing is the most personal relationship of man [and women]." He also used sentiments like these to justify investing in fisheries and resources conservation. So, for him the economics and the affect were not too far a part.

In the halls of congress, economic arguments might rule the day, and rightfully so. After all, we are talking about jobs in a down economy. But when it is said and done, let's try to remember that there is a lot more at stake than dollar signs. Or, better yet, let's make sure that those making the decisions understand the numbers so that something greater can be protected, preserved, and passed on to the next generation.