RUPP
01-25-2000, 06:39 PM
As a teenager, I was associated with TU. I thought I understood what they stood for. I figured they were a grassroots organization
whose mission was to further the wonderful sport of trout fishing along with the pursuit and enjoyment of our great outdoors. Having been born and raised in Colorado, I was quite accustomed to hearing lawsuit after lawsuit filed by such radical Wilderness Advocacy Groups (WAGs we call them) as "Earth First", "Sierra Club", "Humane Society of the United States", "National Wildlife Federation","Old Broads for Wilderness","Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance", "PETA" etc. The lawsuits are all the result of a failure to legally ban/prevent/limit/prohibit some sort of activity, so the WAGs sue to try and impose their elitest views. I don't need to explain to anyone how these WAG's philosiphies differ from ours as ture sportsman, but I do need to bring to everyone's attention who has joined their ranks. A Utah chapter of Trout Unlimited has joined the ranks of these WAGs in a huge lawsuit against Bruce Babbitt and the Dept. of Interior. In a nutshell, the WAGs failed to legally ban/prohibit/limit public use/access to 9.1 million acres in the Grand Staircase Escalante region of Utah. The limits that would have been imposed would have been devestating to local residents, mountainbikers, jeepers, sightseers and basically everyone but Bill Clinton and the rare reserves of high grade coal in the region (that's another story). I think it's sad to see TU taking this step to the far left. If you are like me, and believe in the notion that "you are the company you keep", than TU has definitely betrayed me in joining these WAGs. If you would like more info. on this topic please look it up on the "Blue Ribbon Coalition", "People for the West" and "Utah Shared Access Alliance" sites.
[This message has been edited by RUPP (edited 01-25-2000).]
[This message has been edited by RUPP (edited 01-27-2000).]
whose mission was to further the wonderful sport of trout fishing along with the pursuit and enjoyment of our great outdoors. Having been born and raised in Colorado, I was quite accustomed to hearing lawsuit after lawsuit filed by such radical Wilderness Advocacy Groups (WAGs we call them) as "Earth First", "Sierra Club", "Humane Society of the United States", "National Wildlife Federation","Old Broads for Wilderness","Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance", "PETA" etc. The lawsuits are all the result of a failure to legally ban/prevent/limit/prohibit some sort of activity, so the WAGs sue to try and impose their elitest views. I don't need to explain to anyone how these WAG's philosiphies differ from ours as ture sportsman, but I do need to bring to everyone's attention who has joined their ranks. A Utah chapter of Trout Unlimited has joined the ranks of these WAGs in a huge lawsuit against Bruce Babbitt and the Dept. of Interior. In a nutshell, the WAGs failed to legally ban/prohibit/limit public use/access to 9.1 million acres in the Grand Staircase Escalante region of Utah. The limits that would have been imposed would have been devestating to local residents, mountainbikers, jeepers, sightseers and basically everyone but Bill Clinton and the rare reserves of high grade coal in the region (that's another story). I think it's sad to see TU taking this step to the far left. If you are like me, and believe in the notion that "you are the company you keep", than TU has definitely betrayed me in joining these WAGs. If you would like more info. on this topic please look it up on the "Blue Ribbon Coalition", "People for the West" and "Utah Shared Access Alliance" sites.
[This message has been edited by RUPP (edited 01-25-2000).]
[This message has been edited by RUPP (edited 01-27-2000).]