The Difference Between An Enviromentalist and a Conservationist

The difference between Conservationists and Environmentalists...
Albert A Rasch and
The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles™
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"The term environmentalist has been adopted by groups who don't believe that we can use natural resources and still have them available for the future."

I happened upon this interesting exchange between a young lady and Dr. James Earl Kennamer, Director of Conservation Programs for the National Wild Turkey Federation:

"Q:  I've always been very concerned about the environment and pollution. I told a friend of mine that I'm an environmentalist, but my dad, who's been a member of the NWTF for years and years, said that I'm not an environmentalist, I'm a conservationist. What's the difference?

Anna Cromer, 16
Newtown, Ct.

A: Well, 50 years ago, there wasn't much of a difference between an environmentalist and a conservationist. People who wanted to do good things for the environment and wildlife understood that it was important to focus on the managed use of the world's natural resources, which is the definition of conservation. Hunters and non-hunters worked together to create laws to protect specific resources that were being depleted and ensured people could use renewable resources wisely and sparingly.

For example, at the turn of the 20th century, many wildlife species were in danger of becoming extinct. They were over hunted by a growing nation without game laws, and their habitat was disappearing as people needed more space. In the 1930s, hunters and anglers saw that the United States would soon be without many of the animals they enjoyed. So, they asked the government to tax them, believe it or not, so that the money they spent on firearms, ammunition, fishing gear and licenses could be used to help wildlife rebound. This was proposed as the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act, also called the Pittman-Robertson Act.
Since its adoption as law in 1937, the Pittman-Robertson Act has raised and spent more than $3.95 billion toward wildlife and habitat projects, solely funded by America's hunters and shooters. This great conservation effort has resulted in the amazing comeback of many of North America's wild species including white-tailed deer and wild turkeys.

Even though the success of this model has been proven over and over, today, there is a polarization in the outdoors. The term environmentalist has been adopted by groups who don't believe that we can use natural resources and still have them available for the future. They don't want people to hunt animals, they don't want foresters to use timber, they don't want people to have access to the rich wilderness areas of our continent.

This protectionist view is scientifically flawed for several reasons. Without human management, wildlife species become overpopulated and disease ridden, which eventually leads to plummeting populations. The same is true for forests and trees. Left unmanaged, ground litter builds up and can fuel wildfires that destroy thousands of acres of wildlife habitat. With active management, such as timber thinning, prescribed burning, legal hunting and fishing and other management tools, people can enjoy the use of our natural resources and provide the conditions for a healthier environment.

Dr. James Earl Kennamer"

Thats the answer I have been looking for!

Best Regards,
Albert A Rasch
Member:  Qalat City Tent Club
Member: Hunting Sportsmen of the United States HSUS (Let 'em sue me.)
The Hunt Continues...

Though he spends most of his time writing and keeping the world safe for democracy, Albert was actually a student of biology. Really. But after a stint as a lab tech performing repetitious and mind-numbing processes that a trained Capuchin monkey could do better, he never returned to the field. Rather he became a bartender. As he once said, "Hell, I was feeding mice all sorts of concoctions. At the club I did the same thing; except I got paid a lot better, and the rats where bigger." He has followed the science of QDM for many years, and fancies himself an aficionado. If you have any questions, or just want to get more information, reach him via TheRaschOutdoorChronicles(at)MSN(dot)com.

Go Read This!

In these difficult times we need all the help we can get.

Mr Othmar Vohringer, of British Columbia Canada, is a fellow hunter, outdoor philosopher, and writer. His main web site is "Outdoors With Othmar Vohringer." In addition he publishes sister sites that include a forum, "SHS Hunting Chat Forum", a whitetail deer hunting blog, "Whitetail Deer Passion", a turkey hunting blog, "Wild Turkey Fever", and finally an opinion-editorial blog appropriately named, "My Stand."

This week on "My Stand" Othmar writes about the economic impact that we sportsmen have on the acquisition, management, and funding of natural assets, and most importantly, on wildlife conservation.

The Economics of Hunting

I highly encourage you to take the time to read his article. Then take some more time and consider what you can do to spread the word and take back the spotlight.

Regards,
Albert A Rasch
The Hunt Continues...

Hogs and Dogs

Hunting Trophy Florida Wild Boar with a handgun and dogs!
© 2009-2011 Albert A Rasch and
The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles™
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(Editors Note: This occurred several years ago. Unfortunately I have no pictures of this adventure. I do have the skull of the boar; it is one of my most treasured trophies. My attempts to reunite with Jim and Mike have been, so far unsuccessful…)

It was bound to happen sooner or later...

When you hunt as I like to, at close quarters, purposely putting your life in danger, you are assured to have a hair graying, shave a few years off your life, bladder weakening experience.

It had started, innocently enough, with a half-breed Russian boar that was given to me by, a good ol' boy who was cousin, to the sister of the wife, of the guy who fixes my friend Big Duke's car. At least that's how I understood it. Big Duke is a free association type of guy, with an endless stream of consciousness conversation that anesthetizes you as it washes over you. Somewhere out of that particular current that morning, I picked up "mean old hog" and "cutters the size of butcher's knives". My interest piqued, I listen more intently but he had gone on to the "Butcher of Seville" which must had been a sequel to the "Barber of Seville", which, I am glad to say, I must have missed when it came through town. Interrupting and dragging him back to the hog part of the conversation, I found out that someone, somewhere wanted to get rid of a particularly nasty boar hog that they had somehow acquired.

Blake's Fishin' Adventure

© 2009, 2010 Albert A Rasch and
The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles™
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Boy did we have a ball!

Blake, Mom, and I, went to the beach yesterday. Jordan (The Bear), had to work, so he was stuck dealing with elderly customers, all of whom suffer from assorted and indescribable ailments, and who have absolutely nothing better to do than to tell him about said ailments in nauseating detail, while he tries to explain complicated electronics to them. (We get all sorts of compliments on him all the time! They just love his patience and attentiveness.) All the while we cavorted in the surf and kicked up the sand.

Casperson Beach near Venice is one of our favorite beaches in Florida. Not only does it have great picnic areas, it also has Native American burial mounds, sharks teeth galore, shells, and to top it all off, great fishing.

We went to our favorite picnic table and set out our usual array of accouterments, while Blake looked for something to start a fire with. We won't use lighter fluid. We're kinda borderline on the matches business, but I haven't made a bow and drill yet, nor do we have a flint an steel set... It didn't take him long to get a good ball of palm fuzz and a handful of twigs. Before Mom and I had the table set, he had the tinder set up and the lump charcoal ready. A quick strike of a match and presto, fire started!

While we waited for the charcoal to ash over, we wandered around the mangrove estuaries to see what was to be seen. Occasionally we find an interesting shell or even a good shark's tooth. A juvenile armadillo made his presence known by rooting around as they do looking for the odd grub or ant in the leaf litter. A few egrets were resting and a couple of squirrels jumped from tree to tree, scolding us for intruding.

We headed back to the picnic area and Blake took the cast iron pot and set it over the fire. Mom popped the cooler open and served us a couple of ice cold IBC Cream Sodas to bolster our spirits, while I opened a can of refried beans, put a half stick of butter in the pot, and took the cooked garlic out of the cooler. (Here's a neat idea: The night before, boil a head of garlic for about twenty minutes. If you make soups regularly you can boil an extra one or two while making the soup. It softens the garlic and takes the bite out of it. When it cools, take the paper off the cloves and put them in a small plastic container or some aluminum foil.) The beans went into the pot along with the garlic. I stirred them occasionally to keep them from burning. In the meantime Mom had pulled the flank steak out of the cooler. We prepared it the previous night and had left it marinating in a large ziploc bag. Olive oil, onion, garlic, salt and pepper, and of course, white wine makes up the marinade.

When the grill got good and hot, I slapped the steak on it and let it sizzle. A couple of flips and a few minutes later the steak was done. Mom produced the cutting board, a sharp knife, and I sliced that beautiful cut of meat across the grain. Tortillas were heated right where the steak was, a little bit of butter rubbed on the warmed flour circle. With refried beans spooned on, steak slivers, and shredded cheese to top it off, no king ever ate better!

With bellies full we picked up our fishing gear and headed to the surf line.

Bubby (as I call Blake) throws a pretty good cast net and managed to catch us a couple of dozen shad. We baited our hooks and cast them out. I hooked a couple of small Jack Crevalles almost immediately. After an hour or so, Blake gets a good hit. Rod bent and drag squealing, he held the rod high and let it do the work. The thrilled look on his face was unforgettable! He had to work that fish a good hundred yards down the beach, and there were a couple of times that I thought he might get spooled. But the drag and good rod handling finally wore that fish down!

When it was all said and done he beached a 21 inch bluefish. I warned Bubby not to put his fingers anywhere near that fish's chompers! Blues have been known to bite people's fingers off.

After the requisite pictures he hit the water again and before long had hooked another fish. This time after a much shorter fight, he brought in an 18 1/2 inch speckled trout!



We all had a great time. There's nothing like watching a boy enjoying the great outdoors, and all it has to offer!

Regards,
Albert A Rasch
The Hunt Continues...

Bee Bounty!

Good Morning to All!

As many of you know, I keep European Honey Bees. This weekend Bubby and I started to harvest some of our crop. We only had time to work one hive and drew eight frames of honey. The yield was forty-one pounds of delicious honey. There are another eight frames to harvest from that hive, but after a couple of stings, and the disturbance I cause when I'm in the hive, I thought I would let them rest until next week. This summer was not the best though; I lost two major colonies, and two nucleus colonies. As soon as we're done harvesting honey I'll be splitting up the colonies and raising new queens.

Regards,
Albert A Rasch
The Hunt Continues...