Environmentalists and the West Policy Issues

One of the specific policy areas that Western Democrats have been able to use well has been environmentalism. Not the sort of beaucratic, top down, East Coast federal agency, "we're coming in here to tell you what to do" sort. That environmentalism is dead and gave rise to the Sagebrush rebellions that left the Democrats in the wilderness for decades here.

Rather, an old style conservation environmentalism that attracts the Bullets and Bait crowd has always had a place in the West:

Is the hook and bullet crowd comprised mostly of NRA members who buy the argument—which frankly I find incredibly paranoid—that the government is about to come and confiscate our shotguns and hunting rifles or is it compromised of a wide cross section of society that believes loss of habitat and loss of exposing kids to the joys of hunting and fishing are the greatest threats to hunting and fishing, not gun control?

Safeguarding prairie potholes etched into the northern Great Plains by retreating glaciers millennia ago makes sense if you recognize the connection between stable waterfowl populations and the presence of breeding habitat for ducks.

It's not rocket science. Yet as moronic as it might seem, some people apparently can't put it together in their minds.

Akin to DU, western elk hunters and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation are keenly aware of parallel considerations for wapiti. The same holds for dues-paying devotees of Trout Unlimited. Pick your own species. It has its own organized constituency. I'm willing to suggest here that to imply members of these groups are motivated only by rational self interest of putting meat in the freezer, or to committing acts of blood lust, or to indulging their love of recreation selfishly, is naive.

The reason most people go afield isn't simple; it's wonderfully complex and for the majority, it's forward looking. How can you think about your kid's world and not be?

That was taken by a great essay at New West that brings into focus the idea of Western conservation groups fighting the good fight, especially on the impact of exploding gas leases in the West.

Decades ago Republicans were able to paint Democrats into the corner with both gun control and the absent landlord environmentalism that East Coast liberals tended to enjoy. This left little room for home grown conservationists to roam.

Emmett O'Connell | December 18, 2006 | Comment on This Post (0 so far) Permalink: Environmentalists and the West Policy Issues

E-mail to a Friend
Your Name: Your Personal Note:	Your Email: Friends' Emails*: * Separate addresses with commas, semicolons, tabs, or line breaks.