brownietroop.freeforums.org

September 2, 2010

Dear Cabela's Customer:

Occasionally, an issue of such importance arises we feel it necessary to contact our loyal customers. With our fishing rights at stake, this is such an issue.

On August 23, 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was petitioned by the Center for Biological Diversity and others to ban lead from ammunition and fishing tackle, including sinkers, jigs, weighted fly lines and components containing lead, such as brass and ballast in lures, spinners, stick baits and other fishing products.

On August 27, the EPA denied the petition regarding ammunition, but let stand the petition to ban lead in fishing tackle and has opened a short period for taking public comment.

Such a ban would cause prices of fishing products to skyrocket. Alternative metals can cost from six to 15 times more than lead, and most do not perform as well. For many, fishing would no longer be the affordable sport it is now.

Please join Cabela's and Keep America Fishing in opposing this ban by submitting your comments to the EPA no later than September 15, 2010. You can easily do so by clicking here.

It is a fast and easy way to assure your opinion is heard.

Cabela's is working in conjunction with the American Sportfishing Association and Keep America Fishing to protect our tradition and heritage of fishing.

http://capwiz.com/keepamericafishing...9&ctb=16355526

not fair that the ammunition ban was denied, but we still might not be able to use lead tackle! wtf

Good looking out Captain, everyone needs to sign this shit!
We'll manage our fisheries from the State level thanks, we already do...
http://www.capwiz.com/keepamericafishing/issues/alert/?alertid=16355526

(no doubt Moth, nice of the NRA to fuck all of there fishin' buddies and leave us to battle the EPA on this one)

Thanks for the heads up. just sent out my email/letter.

I got the same email a few days ago and promptly responded to my lame as senators!

The link in Zippy's post greatly simplifies the process of contacting your respective, if not respectable, representatives.
Once again here it is:

http://www.capwiz.com/keepamericafishing/issues/alert/?alertid=16355526

Stand up, stand out, vote Libertarian.

I sent a note to both of my no-good senators too.

Ok... I am sure that my opinion will not be popular, but I will just interject my 2 cents here, and maybe the strong feelings and reasons that a lot of people obviously have on this issue will educate me.

This is probably a bunch of politicians knee-jerk reactions which are not based on sound science, BUT....

From an ecological standpoint, lead has adverse affects on animals and people. If there are emprirically sound studies documenting substantial negative impacts on fish, animal, or bird populations, lead use should be reduced. The legislations that prohibit use of lead shot have been instrumental in bringing the California Condor back from the brink of extinction, for example.

I am not saying that personally know of any sound scientific studies that show such negative impacts from the use of lead fishing tackle, but I am not particularly afraid that IF such a study had such findings, and lead was banned from use, that the elevated cost of tackle would have a severe affect on the vitality of fishing as a pasttime... I just can't drink the kool aid on that rhetoric.

While those who depend on recreational fishing as a livelihood would be impacted by increased tackle costs, if there was a compelling reason to avoid lead I tend to be less sympathetic to the scale of the financial bump of overcoming lead tackle dependency. I am far from wealthy, and have been avoiding lead whenever possible for personal reasons other than ecological ones as much as possible for years. It's not that hard. Yes I know that jig heads, spinners, swivels, and hundreds of lures and other products contain lead, but the industry has alternative materials that it could resort to without the price hike that currently exists for the "luxury" non- lead alternatives currently on the market.

As far as weights, alternatives to lead are easy to find, often for free.
IN THE EVENT THAT there was a good reason to avoid lead, and I am not saying there is, I have no reason to feel that the sport of fishing is threatened. Anyone deterred from fishing by this cost hike didn't like fishing that much, anyway, and is just impacting fish populations less as a result, thus resulting in better fishing conditions for the rest of us that would only stop fishing when their rods are pried from their cold dead hands.

Again, this opinion is not intended as an attack on anybody whose opinion varies... just my gut reaction perspective on this issue. If I am way off base, let me know why. I like to be educated.

You won't get any arguments from me about reducing the amount of lead in the environment.
but...
The petition was presented with the aim of reducing bird deaths caused by the ingestion of lead sinkers and jigheads; however, a study conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found that less than one percent of all waterfowl and other birds such as eagles are killed by lead sinker ingestion.

So why can't I use a lead-core sinking fly-line? Have birds acquired a taste for it? I have never left any in a lake or river anyway...

I feel this should be handle on a local and State level. For instance Yellowstone National Park does not allow lead weights or lead weighted flies. Cool, I get it but a national ban on lead in any fishing tackle is an over-reach at best...

Agreed.

There are certain tackle applications that couldn't possibly find their way into the food chain. A laws that proposes a sweeping ban on lead use in ALL tackle is clearly based on ignorance and should be fought against.

.9 or .7 or .01 percent of all susceptible species is still a shitload of birds, and worth a change in our habits, however that change comes, in my opinion.