Having
a “Fisherman’s Friend” in the White House is vital. “Nature… It’s good for people’s souls and minds…”
─ George W. Bush
WASHINGTON, D.C. –
(September 20,2000) – The 50 million fishermen and hunters in the
country will be called upon November 7th to cast their votes to
elect the next President of the United States and chart the direction of
the new millennium and the future course of the outdoors.
Fishermen, hunters and
outdoorsmen have valid concerns about the fate of their recreational
sports. The next
administration will decide key issues about mounting gun control
legislation, lawsuits against legal sporting arms manufacturers,
stewardship over the sportsmen’s Pittman-Robertson and Wallop-Breaux
funds and widespread use of chemical herbicides that destroy aquatic
vegetation and fishing habitat.
“Having a fisherman’s
friend – an outdoorsman – in the White House is vital to the
understanding of the outdoors and conservation concerns,” says Ray
Scott, founder of the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society (B.A.S.S.), a 600,000
member fishing and conservation organization.
Scott of Pintlala, Alabama,
a 67-year old life-long fisherman and hunter, is eagerly anticipating a
fishing friend in the oval office in the person of presidential candidate
Governor George W. Bush of Texas.
“George W. is a bona fide
bassin’ man – a lifetime member of B.A.S.S. – and understands
outdoorsmen. He’s
personally dedicated to preserving our wildlife resources and the
environment he, too, enjoys so much,” Scott claims.
Scott says the unchecked
use of chemical poisons and herbicides in an all out “War on Weeds” is
destroying the aquatic vegetation in lakes all across the country.
“This is one of the biggest challenges to quality bass fishing in
the future,” believes Scott, who was named by Field & Stream magazine
as one of the “top twenty persons to influence the outdoors sports in
the past century.”
“I know George W.
Bush,” adds Scott, “and he knows the problem.”
As far as Scott is concerned the Texas governor showed his mettle
during the “Battle of Bastrop” – a popular bass fishing impoundment
near Austin – two years ago.
Scott explains, “Bastrop
was on the hit list for chemical herbicides to wipe out aquatic
vegetation, a total destruction of the fish-holding habitat.
A similar fate that befell Alabama’s Lake Guntersville, the
Santee-Cooper lakes in South Carolina, and the Harris Chain in central
Florida.
“On behalf of a lot of
agitated Texas fishermen and B.A.S.S. members, I asked Governor Bush to
help get a reprieve because we knew such action would kill the bass
fishing in Lake Bastrop. But,
more importantly,” continues Scott, “the bass fishermen knew the
vegetation could be controlled and managed by using a mechanical
harvester. Our group asked
for the opportunity to prove it.”
Scott was delighted with
Governor Bush’s response. “He
understood the issue and was open to ecology-friendly alternatives to
herbicides,” notes Scott.
Bush obtained a cease-fire
from the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA), who agreed to delay
poisoning Bastrop until a mechanical harvester could be demonstrated as an
alternative solution.
Governor Bush was not only
present for the demonstration, along with Scott, but operated the
mechanical weed harvester, showing its grass-clearing capabilities.
Texas fishermen and other out-of-state anglers contributed the
needed monies to transport the mechanical weed harvester, borrowed from
the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in Tennessee.
Two important events, for
fishermen, happened in the wake of the Bastrop showdown.
The LCRA placed an order for a $200,000 state-of-the-art weed
harvester, and the outdoor coalition SMART, calling for “Sensible
Management of Aquatic Resources Team”, organized to halt the use of
widespread chemical spraying.
“As Governor Bush
observed,” Scott notes, “it’s time for new thinking. Poisoning our fishing and drinking waters is absolute
lunacy,” opines Scott. “There’s
a pro-chemical
bureaucracy taking charge of our public fishing waters and sportsmen need
to challenge their methods.”
Scott urges sportsmen to be
S.M.A.R.T. voters. “Our
position on the issue is simple: Chemical poison herbicides should not be
used to control and manage aquatic vegetation in public waters until, or
unless, every non-toxic mechanical or manual method has been completely
exhausted,” vows Scott.
During the Bastrop crisis,
Scott had the opportunity to hear Governor Bush’s views on other issues
facing sportsmen in the new century.
“I was impressed with his thoughts…he’s got more than a sound
bite on the six o’clock news.
“George W. Bush
understands the real meaning of fishing…that it’s more than
competition, angling skill or the thrill of catching a trophy bass,”
asserts Scott. “He knows what it is to be in Nature.”
“As he confirmed in a
recent press interview, ‘It’s good for people’s souls and
minds,’” points out Scott. “Fishing clears the mind and connects you
to the Creator. It’s not
complicated nor too sophisticated, but personally I welcome the leadership
of a President who understands that.”
Scott has, also, been
assured by Bush that as President he will guard the funds that fishermen
contribute yearly to state fisheries through the self-imposed federal
excise taxes on fishing and boating equipment.
Scott, himself, worked for seven years alongside American Fisheries
Society and sportsmen to help pass the amendments to the Sport Fishing
Restoration Act (Wallop-Breaux bill).
With its passage through
the help of then Vice-President George Bush, the Wallop-Breaux monies
increased from $35 million to $102 million yearly.
This has been a lunker-size benefit for every angler and allowed
states to better protect and improve their fisheries, Scott declares.
“But all is not well,”
continues Scott. “It is a
scandal how the funds have been spent and misspent under the current
administration.”
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service (USFWS) and director Jamie Rappaport Clark have been called to
answer such claims by the General Accounting Office and legislators.
Pittman-Robertson funds collected on sporting arms, ammunition and
equipment is also under the USFWS duties to appropriate monies to state
fish and game departments for programs that benefit hunters.
“It’s a mess,” says
Scott. “Millions of dollars
are unaccounted for in slipshod accounting and funds have been spent on
highly questionable projects that have
nothing to do with improving hunting and fishing.
On the contrary, there’s reason to believe animal-right groups
are hijacking the sportsmen’s funds.
As a fact, anti-hunting and fishing sentiment has steadily grown
during the Clinton-Gore administration.”
Some $500 million in
special-earmarked taxes are passed from sportsmen’s pockets through the
U.S. Treasury and deposited with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
annually.
Scott claims the funds
“have always been ripe for raiding.”
He says, “The lesson is that as sportsmen we’ve got to be
constantly vigilant and on-guard.”
As Scott relates during
George Bush’s days in the White House, a move was undertaken to dip into
the Wallop-Breaux monies. “Fishermen
were ready to riot and contacted myself and B.A.S.S. to ask for help.
I talked with President George Bush and the political pressure on
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ended.
He protected the sportsmen’s welfare.”
So, it is not so surprising
how Ray Scott comes down on the side of hunters and fishermen in the
upcoming election. “It is
self-assuring to have a President in charge who understands and supports
the intended use of our sportsmen’s funds.
“I know George W. Bush
– as did President Bush before him – will be a strong steward and
guardian of our outdoors and the environment.
There’s rarely been a more critical time when having a
fisherman’s friend in the White House than our immediate future,”
concludes Scott.
(Editors Note: Additional
photos of Texas Gov. George Bush operating the mechanical weed harvester
at Lake Bastrop are available on the Ray Scott Outdoor™ web site at www.rayscott.net.
To view the Bush photos click on Business, News Release, Current
News Releases and Sportsmen’s Stake in Election To Challenge Outdoor’s
Future.
