Buck - you're right on target as usual.

I am thinking back to the Sept 8th CAC meeting, when a small group got together after the meeting to discuss how devastating the fee increase would be and to figure out what, if anything, could we do about it? This certainly was a low point for sportsmen. We called Cabelas to set up the first meeting and didn't think anyone would show up, because sportsmen(myself included) have historically been an apathetic constituency. Once the wider sportsmen's audience became aware of the impacts, and they began to understand that "hand to hand combat" was needed to win, we gained momentum. To me, the shift from whining about the fees to doing something about it was key: WRITING LETTERS, MAKING PHONE CALLS, ATTENDING THE PUBLIC HEARING ON SB207, SHOWING UP AT THE CAPITAL ON SPORTSMEN'S DAY.....these things mattered.

Even those legislators who didn't believe us or care about the issue couldn't deny that we were visible. This made the lobbyists jobs easier.....and it also brought about surprising changes in behavior from some legislators, such as Rep Urban, who, though strongly opposed to hunting, LED the initiative to REINSTATE the DUCK STAMP PROGRAM based on the conservation arguments put forth by DU, CWA and other interested parties. That was nothing short of a miracle!

So, for me, it showed that we have to be at the table to win, or even keep our share. This problem ain't over...one look at next year's yawning budget gap tells me if we're not paying attention, someone else will try to eat our lunch.

But for now, enough of this budget stuff. Time to catch fish and train retrievers.