Sportsmen Owe the Bundys a Thank You (Field & Stream)
February 12, 2016
by Bob Marshall
As the last of the armed occupiers left the Malheur Wildlife Refuge in Oregon this week, many of their supporters said the fight would go on. And thats the biggest lesson to be learned from this crisis for sportsmen and all Americans who understand the importance of the public lands we own. Were in a long-term fight.
If anything, we should thank the Bundy Family and the other misguided souls ... Their outrageous acts uncovered just how deep support for their goals is anchored in a dangerous quarter: elected officials who are in a position to steal our property ...
Now that the Bundys are in jail, its time to focus more on the politicians and fat cat industry executives bent on stealing our public lands ... These are the people licking their chops, looking at ways to steal our public lands so they can exploit them for their own profit. Thats the danger this really exposed.
Those industries include the usual suspectsoil, gas coal, timber, big agriculturethat typically spend tens of millions annually trying weaken the environmental regulations that protect wildlife habitat on public lands and waters. They also pour millions into the campaigns of politicians we elect to protect our property ...
http://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/the-conservationist/sportsmen-owe-the-bundys-a-thank-you
enough
(13,262 posts)people starting to realize how real is the threat of the push for privatization of public lands, and what it would mean.
struggle4progress
(118,330 posts)of intelligent coalition building -- and its important for people who regard themselves as serious environmentalists not to overlook hunters and fishermen as part of the coalition that preserves wild spaces