All Politics Is (NOT?) Local

EXCEPT WHEN IT COMES TO STREAM ACCESS ??

I know that I promised to leave the keyboard alone for a few days, but on my Bloglines page I noticed that Trout Unlimited is not going to fight stream access battles – or, some of the tweedy types – in some far off places – are trying to make it so.

Hal Herring, (love the name,) in NEW WEST has the whole story.

It seems that the official Trout Unlimited philosophy leaves this sort of thing out of their weltanschauung. It goes like this: “If we take care of the fish, then the fishing will take care of itself.”

Perhaps, but if there is no access, there is no fishing & they might as well preserve their fish in a pickle barrel.

And, a couple of local Montana boys have got their ire up. As quoted in the New West article:

“We understand here (in Montana) that TU is involved in numerous issues that are extremely important, and that access is only one of them,” says Marshall Bloom, a longtime TU advocate in the Bitterroot Valley. “But in the West, in the heart of America’s trout fishing, access is inextricably linked to every other element of the TU agenda. You cannot divorce access from any of them.”

“This decision was made in the shadows by a bunch of East Coast city slickers who caved in to some rich landowners.” Bloom says, “What’s the point of this decision, anyway? Let’s say that Plum Creek Timber was going to give TU $70 million, and then a Plum Creek executive said, “Well, TU’s advocacy in timber issues is detrimental to our timber harvest plans….would TU then stop advocating for forest plans that don’t harm trout or fisheries?”

The Chairman of Montana Trout Unlimited, Tom Anacker of Bozeman, is more measured in his response, but no less adamant. “We do not agree with this proposal. What brings people to TU is the experience of fishing our streams and rivers, and that experience is what inspires me to do the work that I do. Montana’s stream access law is part and parcel of who we are.” Anacker adds that, in Montana, unlike other states, access is guaranteed by the law. “We want to continue to protect those legal rights,” he said.

Remember this: if the local battles are lost and you visit Montana and can’t fish the Ruby River it’s because TU ran away from a fight that involved upholding the law.

“A fence crosses the Ruby River in southwestern Montana. The Ruby is another Montana waterway where public access debates have escalated. Photo by Jonathan Weber” (from New West.)

DAMN, – a day late as usual!

“WIMMEN’S ISSUES ARE EVERYONE’S ISSUES”

Just to let you know that I completely forgot!

But it was on my mind. Yesterday produced two almost exactly the same posts.

1.) “This One Goes Out To All The Ladies,” in GRIST. By Kate Sheppard.

2.) “Blog Against Sexism Day,” in TAKING PLACE.

One topic that was / is  amazingly visible in the many posts that I read was that “Sex & Sexism sells.”

It is one of those ultimate truisms that will not fall to rational argument. And it works for both genders, and in most cultures.

I believe it’s true, and in the spirit of the day, (yesterday,) here’s my contribution.

I just love caviar!

Let’s see if this sells this post.

Love Is Candy In A Box

THE VALENTINE CONUNDRUM

Cupid & Psyche

Well, I suppose it takes all kinds to celebrate a commercial holiday with candy, flowers, and heart-shaped boxes of chocolates. There are, some interesting takes on the event, and other news as well.

An interesting piece on “Hugs & Dry Humping” appeared in The Huffington Post. Authored by Carol Hoenig, it brings pathos to the outsider. Incomplete without her male?

Moldy Chum steps forward with a video about girls grabbing catfish for their fun. Of course, I encourage you to visit Four Eyed Bat and The Seven Deadly Sinners for some contemporary takes on the Valentine, and for vintage views try Vintage Valentines.

Wolves are making news again. The Casper Star Tribune relates how the Feds and Wyoming have split the blanket and decided to go their separate ways on the wolf question. High Country News brings us up to date on the controversy – and gives us a brief philosophical insight into the situation. The Juneau Empire addresses the concerns of management from the perspective of wolves that have never been re-introduced. And from a readers forum at the BYU News Net comes an interesting note about the fear of wolves – written by an Idaho resident.

Oceanus has a couple of articles that address the role of the oceans in global warming: Sunspots, Sea Changes, and Climate Shifts – and – How Long Can the Oceans Slow Global Warming?

From Vinography comes a note about the good health benifits of Red Wine, and a suggestion to visit the Litmus Feature about the same. The opening quote from the Litmus piece:

“If wine is so good for you, why do I feel like shit this morning?” asked a visiting college friend.

 

“Because you drank a bottle and a half by yourself and then ate two chalupas,” I responded, “and I’m pretty sure that none of the studies evaluating the health benefits of red wine have ever included slamming three-buck-Chuck and Taco Bell, but I could be wrong.”

And certainly it’s must reading during the valentine season, if you intend to give your sweetie a car, – try “The Prius Snob Strikes Back“ for some insight into the real costs of being green., (thanks to GRIST.)

P.S. Happy day to Thomas.

Just “HOLLA BACK”

THE PATHETIC STATE OF AMERICAN MALES

It’s everywhere and it’s growing. Men have become far more sexist and denigrating than in recent memory. I see it in the fly-fishing blogs on a daily basis. I hear about it on a daily basis from some of my staff. It’s also rampant among the dog packs of surly park rangers and cops in West Yellowstone.

It’s a fact of life that these rutting males have to make their base attitudes public. It assuages their small egos and other parts. It helps them grow in their small minds. Well, girlfriend; Just “HOLLA BACK.”

Visit the San Francisco Chronicle to see an article about how to use your cell phone to really advertise these creeps. Go to the New York City HOLLA BACK site to see how it works. As they say: ” . . . you have the right to feel safe, confident, and sexy, without being the object of some turd’s fantasy.”

The city of Boston has some really smutty men and some terrible, (& smutty,) stories are related on the HOLLA BACK BOSTON site.

Gwen Stefani lyrics:
“I heard that you were talking shit. And you didn’t think that I would hear it. People hear you talking like that, getting everybody fired up So I’m ready to attack, gonna lead the pack. . . . ‘Cause I ain’t no hollaback girl, I ain’t no hollaback girl”

Cutthroat Get Idaho’s Attention

THEY’RE HURTING EVERYWHERE

Yellowstone National Park has a plan, Montana has a plan, Wyoming has a plan, and now Idaho is planning a plan.

 

From The ISU Bengal

The Idaho Fish and Game Commission approved a 30-day public review period for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game’s management plan for Yellowstone cutthroat trout. Yellowstone cutthroat trout are one of three types of cutthroat trout in Idaho, and like their relatives the Bonneville and Westslope cutthroat trout, they have declined in abundance across the state. Yellowstone cutthroat trout are found in drainages in south-central and eastern Idaho including the South Fork Snake River which supports an important sport fishery that generates over 8 million dollars annually for local economies.

There are a number of factors affecting the health of Yellowstone cutthroat trout populations including hybridization with non-native trout, water management, and habitat degradation. The Department’s management plan describes actions that will increase the range and enhance the population health of Yellowstone cutthroat trout in Idaho. The Department will work with other agencies, private landowners, irrigators, and fish conservation organizations to improve fish habitat.

The Department is interested in your opinions on our Yellowstone cutthroat trout plan. Please provide us with your thoughts. They will be reviewed and considered before the plan is finalized and taken to our Fish and Game Commission for final approval.

For more information on the plan, as well as to make your comments, log onto the Idaho Department of Fish & Game Page.

The planned plan is available in PDF format HERE.

ISU Genetic Introgression Research.

ISU FISH ECOLOGY LABORATORY.

How I Got Sucked Into The Monitor

IT WAS A BLISSFUL JOURNEY

After a brief and cold jog around town, and after a hearty breakfast I plopped in front of the computer and promised myself that the draft summary report would be completed by this evening.

Ahhhh the best laid . . . just a quick look at my Bloglines page, a couple of innocent clicks, BAM! What a site!

GO SOLAR – the home page hints at little that is most fascinating at this location. In fact there is no mention of the beauty on the page. Stealth led me to some photographs. For me, the fascination was first awakened on that page: a beautiful thunderhead cloud viewed from the air.

Then, there it was, the most amazing photos of flies: real, faux, decorative, artistic, and flying, and battling, and I was hooked. If you are at all interested in fantastic creativity visit the Photography and Fly pages of Graham Owen. {CLICK ON THE PHOTOS – IT’S WORTH IT!}

Some of the flies fool flies. An epic battle is illustrated between dragonflies. The faux fly, just anchored to the twig, is mercilessly pounded by the soaring bug, — I was sucked in.

The real dragonfly even attacked a faux fly to remove an imitation fly for food – survival of the most aggressive. I was sucked even deeper into the monitor.

Then I discovered my favorite picture, a 21″ Brook Trout. And a beautiful place: “Kirman Lake, California.” There is not a hint that the fish came from the lake, but it’s on my ‘mysteries to decipher’ list.

I clicked on every page and every photo. It didn’t hurt in the least. My eyes finally let me know that I had crept closer to the monitor than was sane or healthy.

Damn the report; just one more click.

Not So Super Sunday

GRIM NEWS FOR BEARS FANS

Too many people listen to Rush Limbaugh. How do I know that? He’s still on the air! And once again he’s proven his idiocy. In his idiotic effort to deny global warming he has stated the the pictures of stranded polar bears, published by the UK Daily Mail, are not of stranded bears.

According to Think Progress, Limbaugh said: “. . . They’re just out there playing around.” Rush aside, the two articles contain excellent information about the current plight of the bears. The Daily Mail also has a pop-up gallery of 4 pictures of the bears.

The most interesting of all is the comments section of both articles.

Bears fans going to the Super Bowl Web Site, (no link provided,) will have their computer attacked by the Trojan File << w1c.exe >> and its MD5 is ad3da9674080a9edbf9e084c10e80516, as reported by George Ou at ZD NET. George also reports about the flaw in Windows Vista‘s speech recognition component.

For those of you more interested in fly fishing than football there is a new web site that is the herald of things to come in the blog pond. Blogging for money is the current trend, and many blogs are littered with so many advertisements that it’s hard to digest the content. These blogs represent the bears in the blog market.

The Fly Fishing Insider takes the trend one step farther: pay for access. The site is run by folks that believe visitors will pay to access their site and will pay for their reviews of fishing stuff. A poor attempt to imitate Consumers Union.

Interested? Visit the about us page to see just who these entrepreneurs are. Want to see what you get? Visit the “FFI Member AREA.” Want to pay? There is a sliding scale: $5/day, $11/month, $19/quarter, $59/year. Sign up here. The market will just have to decide without my nickle.

The weather has warmed up to the point that I can join the polar bear club. It’s the perfect opportunity to try my new Fur Bikini. For similar stunts you can visit keytv.com and see how the world views ice fishing.

At And Above Treeline

The Beartooths Are Calling

I just stumbled across a wonderful site that makes me want to hasten spring a bit. The Beartooth Mountains have always held the hiker-fisher in their thrall, (me too.) I was there once and only spent a single night under the cold clear sky. Next year, I shall get there again.

The site: Fishing The Beartooths is astonishing in it’s completeness and is very ambitious. From kids fishing to a reader’s forum, this site, (I think it’s brand new,) bears watching. There are sections on where to fish, GPS information, a gear section and contests.

The site was listed in the Outdoor Section of the Billings Gazette, and is run by Jesse Roberts, the office manager at Big Bear Sporting Goods. This quote from the introduction outlines ithe agenda:

“. . . It won’t be an easy task for the office manager at the Billings Big Bear sporting goods store. The Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness Area encompasses 930,000 acres and has more area above 10,000 feet in elevation than any other in the United States, according to the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Narrowing his research is the fact that although the mountain range contains more than 900 lakes, 600 of them are barren of fish. Undaunted, Roberts has already outlined his summer vacation schedule – hiking trips to 52 lakes.”

Energy abounds!