In a heavily researched post, Moldy Chum rains fire and brimstone down on AFFTA for awarding their "Jim Range Legislator Of The Year" award to Senator Mike Enzi, whose environmental record shines about as brightly as the dark side of the moon.



AFFTA responded, and the Chumsters took issue with what appeared to be some dissembling on the part of AAFTA, debunking Enzi's supposed "cred" on the small business side of things.

In other words, Moldy points out that AFFTA's rationale for giving Enzi the award) is damned thin:

Here is one example of legislation sited as proof of Enzi's pro business cred.

The Save our Small and Seasonal Business Act if passed would, Amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to extend for three years after the date of enactment of this Act the annual cap exemption for returning H-2B aliens (temporary nonagricultural worker).

This legislation was so critical to small businesses that the following "trade organizations" registered overwhelming support for that bill.

American Horse Council
American Nursery && Landscape Association
Professional Landcare Network
Save Small Business
The Association of Pool and Spa Professionals

So exactly how does this act benefit the fly fishing trade.... other than making it easier to hire someone to mow the lawn and clean the casting pool?

Now, let's balance the record of Mr. Enzi, champion of small business and kid's health, with his environmental record.

Here is his evironmental voting scorecard for his entire tenure in the US Senate.

110th Congress: 15%

109th Congress: 7%

108th Congress: 0%

107th Congress: 0%

106th Congress: 0%

Hey, at least it's improving!

In years past, I chewed on AFFTA for a series of horrendous decisions, though the "new" AFFTA -- which at least communicates better than before -- seemed like it was settling into a nice, quiet, hassle-free existence.

Guess not.

Read the deeply researched Moldy piece here, and let Moldy (and AFFTA) know what you think.

The Blog Thing

You don't have to look far past Moldy's posts to see the growing role fly fishing's blogs are playing in the sport and the industry.

During the Siskiyou County land use furball; the McCloud Hydro mess, my prior AFFTA stuff; the recent stream access and mining issues in Montana; Moldy hammering AFFTA's choices -- and plenty of other times -- fly fishing blogs created and led the party.

Meanwhile, "traditional" media -- and much of the industry at large -- wouldn't (or couldn't) do much of anything.

It's tight-knit industry -- one that's largely used to escaping any kind of organized criticism -- and it's hard not to suggest those days may be in the past, especially with the proliferation of non-industry-tied blogs.

And a quick glance at the recent Montana Stream Access issue -- where several Montana blogs provided their own original reporting in addition to references to local news outlets -- suggests blogs are playing a larger role than before on the environmental front, where I've long suggested few magazines have pulled their weight.

See you online, Tom Chandler