FEATURE

Industry Updates

Despite the vigorous opposition of sixteen national outdoor organizations, thousands of phone calls and letters of opposition and a last-ditch effort to have the nomination placed on hold, the United States Senate voted last night to end debate on the nomination of Cass Sunstein, an outspoken anti-hunter, and anti-Second Amendment, and animal rights proponent, to serve as the head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA).

In what might be described as a perfect example of saying one thing and then doing another, twenty two Senators were members of the Congressional Sportsman's Caucus. That's forty-two percent of the membership.

"We are disappointed with the outcome of tonight's vote, especially that so many members of the Senate claiming to be pro-sportsman voted in favor of a nominee who has expressed that recreational hunting could be banned," stated U.S. Sportsman's Alliance President and CEO Bud Pidgeon. "Nonetheless, the USSA and our partners had an obligation to fight this appointment. Sportsmen all across America will clearly be able to see which senators, along with Sen. Isakson, were willing to stand up for them."

The following are the twenty-two Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus members who voted for moving Sunstein's nomination forward: Baucus (D-MT), Begich (D-AK), Bennett (R-UT), Casey (D-PA), Collins (R-ME), Conrad (D-ND), Dorgan (D-ND), Durbin (D-IL), Feingold (D-WI), Gillibrand (D-NY), Gregg (R-NH), Harkin (D-IA), Hatch (R-UT), Johnson (D-SD), Landrieu (D-LA), Nelson (D-NE), Rockefeller (D-WV), Sanders (I-VT), Stabenow (D-MI), Tester (D-MT), Udall (D-CO), and Udall (D-NM).

Ranchers had no problem expressing their position on wolves during the Missoula hearings. Photo courtesy Steve Wagner

A federal judge has ruled that wolf management via "closely regulated hunting" can proceed in Idaho and Montana. In denying an emergency injunction requested by several animal rights groups, U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy said the plaintiff's key arguments against the hunt on August 31 were "unpersuasive".

In his ruling, Molloy wrote, "The defendants have offered scientific evidence that no irreparable harm will occur if the 2009 wolf hunts occur in Idaho and Montana. Plaintiffs have failed to offer any contrary evidence."

Environmental groups argued wolf populations would be irreparably harmed by the loss of any individual wolf. But, Molloy wrote, the purpose of the Endangered Species Act is "to prevent species endangerment and extinction" saying "with this purpose in mind, the measure of irreparable harm is taken in relation to the health of the overall species rather than individual members."

Wolf hunting began September 1 in Idaho and begins September 15 in Montana. A harvest quota of 330 wolves would lower the population across the two states by twenty percent, well inside the threshold of sustainability for the populations. Wolf populations in the northern Rockies are expanding at the same twenty percent rate per year.

The animal rights groups promise, as was expected, an appeal to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Yesterday, we told you that a short statement had been released to Freedom Group senior managers, telling them that last Friday, Paul A. Miller had resigned his position as Chairman of the Board. It didn't say anything beyond that, thanking Miller for his service and his leaving to "pursue new operational business opportunities."

Freedom Group is the umbrella ownership group for Remington, Marlin, Harrington & Richardson, New England Firearms, L.C. Smith, Parker, Bushmaster, DPMS/Panther Arms, Dakota Arms, EOTAC, and INTC, making it one of the major forces in the firearms industry.

Today, word that, effective September 8, Miller's position now belongs to Walter (Wally) McLallen. McLallen has been a Freedom Group board member since May 2007. You can read the release above.

And tomorrow is a day when each of us should set aside a few minutes for reflection and consideration. 9/11 will live forever in our memories, but it seems many Americans have willingly turned what happened into a distant memory. Some have tried their hardest to forget it ever happened - or avoid mentioning it rather than risk "offending" certain people groups.

Sadly, some who still call themselves Americans seem determined to change our country from what it was on 9/11 into some sort of worker's paradise where we're expected to trade in our dreams and aspirations so we can share in a collective misery under strict governmental controls. Sorry, but my country is fundamentally different from that. Something so fundamentally different that religious extremists and despots still feel it must be destroyed.

Today, many of the same men and women who stood on the Capitol steps and sang a patriotic hymn of defiance after 9/11 have set about turning a strong nation into a sort of welfare paradise where we all share in a collective misery.

Sorry, that's not what causes a lump to rise in my throat when I see our flag flying or hear our national anthem and the Pledge of Allegiance.

Guess that makes me a right-wing, Bible clinging, gun-loving extremist. If that's the case, it's fine by me. I was always taught that a man who wouldn't stand up for something, would lie down for anything.

And that's why my flag will be flying tomorrow - as it has on every national holiday for many years. I plan on that flag flying for many years to come, and hope that you, too, will fly your flag tomorrow.

Fly it for two reasons. One, because you will never forget what tomorrow symbolizes. The other because you're not going to let that flag lose its meaning through a gradual erosion of our values - and our rights.

--Jim Shepherd

Sep 11-14	QDMA Deer Steward II Union City, Pennsylvania
Sep 17-20	Biennial Midwest Birding Symposium Lakeside, Ohio
Sep 18-19	Recycled Fish 24 Hour Fish-A-Thon National Locations
Sep 19	Florida Boater's Safety Course IGFA Fishing Hall of Fame & Museum, Dania Beach, Florida
Sep 19	Mercury Family Fishing Clinic IGFA Museum and Hall of Fame, Dania Beach, Florida
Sep 23-26	IDPA National Championships Tulsa, OK
Sep 24-26	2009 Bassmaster Northern Open Event Lake Erie, Sandusky, Ohio
Sep 25-27	Gun Rights Policy Conference Airport Renaissance, St. Louis, Missouri
Sep 25-27	2009 Firearms Civil Rights Conference Sheraton Long Island Hotel, 110 Vanderbilt Motor Parkway, Smithtown, NY
Sep 26	National Hunting and Fishing Day Nationwide

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