It’s BWO weather, and I clearly need to get out.
Damnit.
The Underground’s been awash in not-so-great environmental news lately, and while I normally try to sneak a little of the green stuff in around the fishing posts and outright entertainment – much like adding a little sugar to make the cough syrup go down a little easier – the tsunami of environmental news hasn’t made that possible.
CalTrout says coldwater species are in trouble, the Klamath Dam Removal agreement raises more eyebrows than hopes (Friends of the River thinks it kinda stinks; Klamblog’s not in love, and the Eureka Times-Standard thinks it won’t happen).
Then there’s PG&E’s oddly chilling attempts to alter the region’s weather patterns for fun and profit.
And Moldy Chum’s post about the Bush administration trying to give away as much public land as possible before they’re finally run out of town (Administration opens Bristol Bay headwaters to drilling, mining).
And then there are a couple local stories I didn’t even have the heart to hammer the Undergrounders with, including Fish & Game’s attempts to continue ignoring salmon & steelhead protections on the Scott and Shasta Rivers (they’ve been allowing some grievous things to happen there, and plan to continue doing so, and this promises to be one hell of a fight).
And yes, I spent the better part of an hour on the phone last night, talking to one of fly fishing’s better known writers about what he feels is a devious, extractive-industry plan to do away with steelhead protection on some of BC’s best rivers (this one’s headed our way soon, and yes, it’s going to be a barn burner).
I could go on, but those who know me well realize too much of this stuff turns me toward the dark side – that restless, irritated, apocalyptic state where I start making calls and writing letters that probably aren’t nearly as constructive as they are cathartic.
In truth, the enviro stuff is important to fly fishers – it’s likely our fisheries are facing more threats now than ever – but too much Mad Max in one sitting simply isn’t healthy, and yes, too many environmental posts send the Underground’s traffic numbers plummeting.
I once thought the solution was a separate, fly fishing-oriented “enviro” site, but couldn’t round up any real support among those I approached with the idea, and the idea died quietly.
Maybe if I swore less.
And yes, we all want to have a little fun too, which is why I’m just saying “the hell with everybody else” and heading out in the rain to look for some BWOs, who pretty much exist just to exist, largely untroubled by thoughts of the impending clean water apocalypse or those assholes at BLM or that sleazy group of smiling, well-funded predators at Nestle.
See you on the river (where there is no news), Tom Chandler.
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