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Greetings,

Unless you have been hiding under a rock you are aware that the new Tournament rules have been passed.  While they do not include provisions for Culling they are on the whole much better than we could have anticipated a year ago when we showed up in force to the Hearing in Madison. 

Our actions at that hearing were in large part the catalyst that caused the removal of many of the anti-tournament, anti-kids and right forfeiting parts of the original legislation.  All who participated, including the letter writers and e-mailers should take a moment to pat themselves on the back.

Now we can put this behind us and just go fishing….WRONG.

It took us a great deal of time and effort to assemble the skills to fight for ourselves.  This episode was not the first and it will definitely not be the last. In the past when we “took on” the DNR we only looked at the issue that was immediately at hand. We use our resources to gear up for a fight, fought the fight out and disappeared after the issue was resolved.

It is time that we as bass fishermen be it tournament, club or recreational become involved in the process instead of reaction to it.  We need to have an opinion on all aspects of the legislative and DNR rules making process.  That would include all hunting, fishing and environmental issues.

To be successful at this it is necessary that we all take responsibility towards moving it forward.  In many cases issues and problems are local.  We have to identify them and make them statewide or national issues.  The skills that we learned during the Tournament regulation fight can be put to good use.

We need to make sure that our legislatures know who we are.  We need to make contact with them, as one of the people that elected them, to let them know what we expect them to do.  None of us has the time to do this alone. We can however take on this opportunity as a group and be successful.

I ask that you think about three things and brainstorm on them.

One….What groups should we be supporting and asking support from?

Two….What are the hot issues that we should be pushing?

Three….How can we broadcast views and information that counteract the WDNR’s current lock on press releases and rules summaries?

Stay active!  Please feel free to email any ideas to me at brovarney@hotmail.com

Sincerely,

Dan Brovarney
WBFN Conservation Director