The AMFF is probably hoping you’ve forgotten, but in what appears to be a naked money grab, the AMFF has finally announced Cheney’s appearance at a Washington D.C. fundraiser (via busterwantstofish):

Please join the AMFF on Thursday, November 12, 2009, for our Anglers All Presentation in Washington, DC.

The evening will also include an address by former Vice President Dick Cheney. Festivities begin at the Hilton in Washington, DC, at 6 p.m., and will include appetizers, wine, and dinner.

According to Buster’s Smithhammer, the cheap seats are $500; $10,000 gets you close enough to glimpse the cloven hooves.

The AMFF is free to do whatever it wants – including justifying Cheney’s appearance in some twisted manner – but then again, we’re free to suggest the AMFF has made a huge fucking mistake, and that it’s now clear the organization’s goals are separate from ours.

See you anywhere but Washington D.C., Tom Chandler.

One even included a link to the Trout Underground, which forces us to question his sanity.

ABC News posted a short piece (which referenced the 40Rivers blog); Alan Gregory of the Standard Speaker weighed in; and in a Daily News story, we learn that one AMFF Board Member has resigned in protest, and that another – a noted podiatrist (congratulate me on my podiatry-joke related temperance here) – hints at the real reason Cheney got the invite:

Gary Sherman, a New York podiatrist on the museum’s board of trustees, called Cheney “a fine speaker” and “a man who has the ability to help us raise money.”

It’s possible both are true, though the Underground’s Historical Division would like to point out the fact that Cheney’s “fine” auditory qualities are accompanied by the stench of tens of thousands of dead salmon, courtesy the Klamath fish kill.

Perhaps podiatrists are good at making money in the face of strong odors, but we’ll reiterate: Inviting Cheney to their fall fundraiser is a little like inviting Joe Camel to an American Lung Association meeting, and then wondering why all the noise.

Instead of suiting up to chase the BWO hatch I stumbled on last week, I’m stuck in the vise-like grip of the Keystone Cops of the Insulation Contractor World, who are here now – doing a job that should have been finished last week.

So who’s enjoying the benefit of all my ire?

I’m staring at an irritating story on the Ted Williams Blog about the American Fly Fishing Museum, who have apparently been asleep the last eight years while the rest of us fought tooth and nail to protect our remaining wild places from the likes of thankfully-soon-to-be-EX-VP Dick Cheney.

In a move I’d graciously label as “neuron-challenged” they’ve invited Darth Dick Cheney to be the guest of honor at their Spring meeting.

We can argue about Cheney’s politics all day long, but it’s damned difficult to defend his dismal environmental record, which included interfering with scientists doing their jobs, and singlehandedly engineering water policies which directly resulted in the largest salmon kill in recent history.

While I often reject the notion of an “old guard” vs “new guard” schism in fly fishing, this has all the earmarks of an awkward, tweedy, fly-fishing-as-old-money-and-we’re-all-tweedy-buddies feel to it.

Screw that.

Given his record (and without his fistloads of cash) Cheney would never get within a country mile of any group invested in maintaining a little wilderness filled with cold, clean water.

Invest a minute of your day on the Intertubes: contact the American Museum of Fly Fishing at this address (ccomar@amff.com, and be nice, but firm), and let them know that the salmon-killing Cheney isn’t your idea of a model fly fisherman.

As always, don’t be abusive; simply state firmly and unequivocally you think Cheney’s the wrong choice to speak.

Ms. Comar’s email is here: ccomar@amff.com. Remeber, be firm, but nice. Here’s what I wrote:

Ms. Comar:

I was distressed to hear that Dick Cheney was being considered for the museum’s Guest of Honor for the spring meeting.

As one of the fly fishermen who fought tooth and nail the last eight years to protect our coldwater fisheries from Mr. Cheney’s dismal environmental policies, I fail to grasp the logic of featuring him at an AMFF event.

Yes, he fishes, but his environmental policies have been hugely damaging to our fishing and hunting heritage, and after donating so much time and effort to fighting those policies, I feel his appearance is a slap in the face to fly fishermen all across America.

Sincerely,
Tom Chandler

See you on the Intertubes, Tom Chandler.