SADLER: Climate change and conservation

SADLER: Climate change and conservation

Tom Sadler

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By Tom Sadler
Published: October 22, 2008

A couple of weeks ago, I had an opportunity to give a speech at the Colorado Conservation Summit in Keystone, Col. My speech was about the impacts global climate change would have on hunting and fishing. One of the side benefits of giving a speech in Colorado was the opportunity to do some fishing with my stepson Matt who lives in Montrose, Col.

Montrose reminds me of Waynesboro. It is a great town if you enjoy fly-fishing. Like the South River in Waynesboro, the Uncompahgre River flows right through downtown. And like our own Constitution Park, Montrose’s Baldridge Park provides easy access to the river.

I fished there the first afternoon I got to town. Using a hopper pattern with a nymph dropper, I caught rainbow and brown trout in pocket water all afternoon.

Hopefully over the next few years we will see our own South River continue to improve as a fishery. Thanks to the good works of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, TU and the Fly-Fishing Festival that hope gets closer to reality every day.

I also had a chance to fish for a day on the Gunnison River in the Black Canyon. The East Portal is less than an hour from Montrose. The Gunnison flows along the bottom of the canyon and provides not only outstanding fishing but also sensational views. You can drive right down to the river wade along the banks.

We did some sight fishing for big Browns and Rainbows. Using the same hopper and dropper combination we managed to land a few in the 16-inch range. I landed a nice 17-inch cutthroat trout, which according to my pal Jim Bartschi is pretty rare.

So back to my real reason for going to Colorado.

For the last year or so I have been involved in the issue of global climate change not as a scientific expert but as an observer and an advocate. My focus was on dealing with the consequences of climate change on fish, wildlife and their habitat.

We are fortunate in this country to enjoy a diversity of fish and game habitat, much of it on public land. These resources and the actions of hunting and fishing conservation organizations have given us plentiful amounts of fish and game here in the Valley and spread out across this great country.

It is something many of us have taken for granted. We pat ourselves on the back for the good works we have done over the last 100 years. And hunters and anglers have done a great job when it comes to conservation.

We have been outstanding stewards of the resource given to us by the actions of our forefathers. We have fostered an economic engine that provides jobs right here in the Valley and funds much of the critical conservation work done here and across America.

I am sure there are folks reading this who are not convinced that climate change is a problem. They don’t think that humans are the cause. They believe it is a natural cycle and that those of us concerned about the impacts of climate change are, at best, wasting our time and at worst a bunch of kooks. To them I say you may be right.

But let me also say this, what if you are wrong?

What harm is done if we put time, energy and funding in protecting fish and wildlife habitat so future generations can enjoy what we enjoy today? Something we should be doing in any event.

How we address the challenge will be part of our legacy. All the good efforts of the past may be for nothing if we do not do as our forefathers did and look to preserve those resources for future generations.

What do those changes mean to hunters and anglers? A report produced by the Bipartisan Policy Center and edited by the Wildlife Management Institute gives us a look. The report, titled “Season’s End”, presents information from leading hunting and fishing organizations such as Trout Unlimited, Pheasants Forever, The Izaak Walton League and Ducks Unlimited.

The report points out that as the climate changes, recreational hunting and fishing opportunities will change. We will have to find fish and game in new places. As populations of fish and wildlife decline we will see shorter seasons and smaller bag limits.

There is one other consequence. The way we tackle the issue of climate change will have a major role in whether future generations have the recreational opportunities we enjoy today.

Today it is becoming increasingly more difficult for children to connect to nature. If we hope to pass along the traditions of hunting and fishing and the appreciation of the joys in the natural world we all love so dearly then we can’t ignore the threat posed by our inattention, or worse, inaction.

If you are not sure about the whole climate change thing then take some time to read the Season’s End report. You can download it from the Web at http://www.seasonsend.org. I think you will find it informative and thought provoking.

Hunters and anglers are the original conservationists and the sentinels for change. We are well advised to heed the warning from Theodore Roosevelt who said in 1916, “Our duty to the whole, including the unborn generations, bids us restrain an unprincipled present-day minority from wasting the heritage of these unborn generations. The movement for the conservation of wildlife and the larger movement for the conservation of all our natural resources are essentially democratic in spirit, purpose and method.”

Like all good hunters and anglers we need to start paying attention to what we see in the fields and in our rivers. It comes down to this, no resource, no recreation.

Editor’s Note: Tom Sadler is an avid fly-fisherman, guide and instructor and founder of The Middle River Group, an organization that provides diverse business expertise to the conservation and wildlife management community and the hunting, fishing and shooting sports industry.

Previously he worked in Washington with several conservation groups including the Izaak Walton League and the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation.

You can contact Tom Sadler by e-mail at

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