This post isn’t exactly related to my daily accounts of clean energy goings-on, but since I’ve been hunting since I was 12 (don’t ask about my record), it caught my eye.

The impacts of global warming are starting to hit home for a lot of us, and those out in nature see some of the earliest effects. In Culebra Creek, Colorado, locals are reporting very early run-off from the mountains. This means less water in the summer and fall, according to Jack Williams, a scientist with the conservation group Trout Unlimited. Fish like trout need cold water and become stressed on hot summer days. He told Reuters:

"We are finding a lot of concern among anglers and hunters about climate change. These people value traditions and their family and it will affect their children and their ability to enjoy these kinds of outdoor experiences.”

Goose hunting is another sport that’s been affected by a warmer climate. One guide on the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island estimated that hunters only bagged about 40 percent of the geese they normally get. Warmer temps allow the birds to stay longer in coastal areas that used to freeze up, and allow for an earlier grain harvest. That means there’s less food in the fields to attract the birds when the hunting season begins in the fall.

According to the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), more than 40 million Americans hunt or fish and they spend $70 billion a year on licenses, equipment, and supplies. That sort of participation and money, of course, leads to political influence. In fact, anglers and hunters played an important role in securing congressional protection from oil and gas drilling last year for the Valle Vidal area in New Mexico and the Rocky Mountain Front in Montana.

Eighty percent of anglers and hunters surveyed by the NWF said they believe the U.S. isn’t doing enough to fight global warming, especially our addiction to oil. Their lawmakers had better be listening. In particular, the Republican Party – which counts on sportsmen and women for a strong base of support - has often been reluctant to move decisively on global warming in the past. Anglers and hunters have a great opportunity to reel in their sluggish elected officials on this issue.

National Wildlife Federation
Reuters, via Planet Ark
targetglobalwarming.org