I hope you don’t mind *too* much, but can I side-step the issue entriely and ask what the furry orange line running through the rings above the BWO in your photo is? Is it a furled leader?

Back on topic, I do like the enviro side, and you have fired me up enough to sign up to several petitions (from back here in the UK, but as someone who looks forward one day to visiting with rod). But I think you’re right, the balance is important. If only because some of us are logging on to the site each day looking for a happier window of life-by-a-river in order to forget the bloodbath of life in a London Bank… If I want to stare down the barrel at the end of the world, I have a floor to ceiling window to do it from. (They’ve sensibly locked them shut to stop us jumping).

Suffice to say, I enjoy the escapism, but I also value the education.

James

But I’m Weird…

Re: environmentalism, conservationism and politics – Something I’ve never really understood is the association between sportsmen and the Republican Party. I don’t want to ruffle any feathers, but many of the people I know who are avid hunters and anglers are very much Republican. In fact, the person that really got me into fly fishing is/was a staunch McCain supporter. And despite their love for the outdoors, they’ve supported an administration who has trampled all over endangered species and protected lands. I know this probably doesn’t apply to all Republicans, but I wonder if other personal priorities (gun control – though that ties back, more or less, to sporting which ties back to conservationsim – right-to-life, marriage/gay rights, “smaller government,” etc.) take precedent? I know my No. 1 top political priority is the environment, so I will always support candidates with a strong environmental record – which probably means I will vote Democratic or Green for the foreseeable future. It just always astonishes me that the party of my outdoor-loving friends and the environment aren’t better bedfellows.

Meanwhile, we here in Missouri are clutching to our guns …

Always the pessimist, day to day operations more closely resemble efforts minimize the effects, not preventing them altogether.