A Christmas Miracle

[Maurice]

Anybody else get the PA Angler & Boater Today? How many read or will read the Exec Dir., Dr. Austins message? I was so moved by it I felt compelled to compliment his courage and class toward addressing this issue of stream stewardship.

Often times we criticize and through the selfishness of entitlement, expect the F&BC to do it all for us. Well, the challenge is set forth for us to give a little...and I mean a little...back to the resource.

I requested the article for publish here, (I could'nt find it on their site). Here is a copy of my email to the F&BC website.

I received the PA Angler and Boater today. I am excited to see E.D. Dr. Austin address and encourage stewardship of Pennsylvanias water resources. As a member of Trout Unlimited I understand very well the need for stream stewardship. Our Chapter is very active toward landowner relations within our home watershed with riparrian buffer plantings, habitat improvement and general stream clean up as well as with our Chapter sponsored Co-op Nursery stockings.

As I read the issue during Christmas break I realized the number of waters closed this year to landowner posting exceeded the number of waters added by a few miles. Without stream stewardship this trend will surely grow at an exponential rate each year.

I feel the message to "tithe" a percentage of time spent on the water toward stewardship is spot-on. I would like to echo Dr. Austin's stewardship challenge. If 10% of time spent on the water seems too much for some to give, maybe just a flat "one day" or eight hours over the year would be more realistic toward a good start. A start that would be easily accomplished by contacting a local Trout Unlimited Chapter, Watershed Association or other conservation organization within an anglers local watershed.

I also would like to request to have Dr' Austin's article from the PA Angler & Boater for publishing or hot-linking to a popular PA flyfishing website and would encourage other website owners to publish the same article as many PA anglers do not receive or read the PA Angler & Boater magazine.

Kudos to Dr Austin for his class toward addressing this very sensitive and Pandoric issue. Well Done.

Respectfully,
Maurice Chioda
Muddy Creek Trout Unlimited #575
York PA

I am hoping to get the article for publish here at PAFlyfish.com on the home page and challenge those who can to contribute some of their free time toward conservation this year. Kind of a New Years Resolution of sorts. I can promise you the rewards of time spent will be satisfying to your soul and appreciated by the watershed group and above all the riparian landowners.

If anyone doesn't know where to start, don't be shy about asking here. Every corner of the state is represented here. And many of us are active in conservation groups.

Thanks for listening and stay tuned for the full article once it is green-lighted for publish here.

Maurice

 

[Padraic]

Maurice,

I saw the article and enjoyed it also. It represents a radial departure from the "Recreation First" motto of recent years. I hope for (and have been told to expect) more of the same from Dr. Austin.

I just wanted add that those of us who aren't in a position to roll rock and plant trees aren't off the hook. There's plenty of time to be put in organizing those kinds of events. And if you don't see yourself doing that, handing out the garbage bags and work gloves, or manning the coffee station at a stream cleanup is good work too. I may not do the sorts of volunteer activities I have been doing in past years, but I intend to tie up a few dozen flies for Casting for Recovery and TU's Conservation School. That should get me started.

 

[Chaz]

As a former Chapter President and current President of Perkiomen Valley Trout Unlimited I hear too often things like; what can 1 person do? I don't have the time, even what's in it for me? All trout anglers owe it to their sport to contribute back to the sport in some manner, all of the TU chapters in the State need your help, and the situation is probably the same for the sportsman’s clubs.
Make a resolution this year to give 8 hours to the local efforts to improve our streams and our relationships with landowners; it's not too much to ask.
The SE chapters will be meeting on January 6 at Valley Forge National Park to elect a new Regional VP, and to review what can be done to improve access in the SE Region. Any TU member may attend, I invite your input. I know what my chapter is going to be doing over the course of the next 24 months, there are several projects in the works already for this year and a big project is being started up for next year. We'll need help as I'm sure the other chapters in the region will.

 

[afishinado]

Here is the link to the PDF of the article that Maurice spoke of.....now we don't have the leadership of the PFBC to bash....oh well, we still have Donny Beaver.

http://sites.state.pa.us/PA_Exec/Fish_Boat/anglerboater/2006/06novdec/reg1pce.pdf

 

[afishinado]

I Posted it wihout reading.......it appears to be an article about AMD in the Nov - Dec Issue. Perhaps the lastest article from PA B&A is not yet available. The AMD article still is worth reading.

 

[JackM]

Finally, Dr. Auten's letter is available on line:

http://sites.state.pa.us/PA_Exec/Fish_Boat/anglerboater/2007/01janfeb/reg1pce.pdf