Opinions, musings, ideas, pearls of wisdom
What Did He Mean By That?
Opinion by Kent Hull
What Did He Mean By That?
Opinion by Kent Hull
Some more senior members of the Club wondered what last month's editorial had to do with our fly fishing club. It's simple. The future of just about every species of fish we pursue is seriously threatened. How? The same lazy and complacent thinking that calls Independence Day the FourthOfJuly let us elect an Administration and a majority in both Houses of Congress that care nothing for letting us, the public, have first priority in the use and preservation of our public resources. In particular, we, the public, deserve clean air (no acid rain), watershed protection, protection against de-watering of our rivers by powerful economic interests, and protection of wild fish and game, for our benefit. This lazy and complacent thinking has also let us stand by while a majority of Federal Judges were appointed who will not rule in favor of public interest over private economic interests (if they're big enough). And this lazy and complacent thinking let us stand by while our formerly free press, who once would have hollered long and loud at these government actions against the public interest, got bought up by a small number of media giants. These media giants, also powerful economic interests, would be foolish to let the press generate sympathy for the public interest, because it would necessarily restrict the power of all powerful economic interests, including themselves.
So we're stuck. The checks and balances the three branches of the Federal Government are supposed to have don't do any checking or balancing because they are all dominated by the same party, who care nothing for the public (yours and mine) interest. And the watchdog of last resort, the press, is also effectively silenced. And we let it happen. AND IT DIRECTLY AFFECTS THE FUTURE SURVIVAL OF TROUT, SALMON, STEELHEAD, STRIPED BASS AND OTHER GAMEFISH IN CALIFORNIA. That's what it has to do with our fly fishing club.
This month, both the Program and a Conservation Chairman contribution to Reel News address the consequences of what we let happen. In Reel News, there's a plea for volunteers to help with some local efforts to counteract things we've let happen. And the conservation column (Catchy Releases) talks about methods to help slow the spread of an alien aquatic animal that is potentially more destructive to our fisheries than whirling disease or mitten crabs. We must support these efforts. Volunteering for the Coastal Watershed Council stream monitoring and carefully disinfecting our gear after exposure to the New Zealand mud snail are essential steps. Unfortunately, they're only band-aids. Maybe enough band-aids will reduce the hemorrhage of our (public) resources enough that some will survive for the benefit of our children,
Maybe.