The Georgia Wildlife Federation is the largest sportsmen group in Georgia, yet ironically, their leaders have done more to limit wildlife management and opportunity for hunters and fisherman than any other group supposedly representing sportsmen. They have repeatedly taken sides with ForestWatch, the coalition of preservation groups (Sierra Club, Wilderness Society, etc.), in opposing timber harvesting on National Forest and other public lands, even when DNR and other wildlife scientists strongly supported such measures. Early successional habitat (young regenerating vegetative conditions), created by timber harvesting, is necessary in order to insure good populations of both game and nongame wildlife. With the Federation’s support for the timber harvesting program, to help offset opposition by the preservation groups, there would likely have been at least some opportunity in the recent past for creating such habitat. Instead, there have been virtually no timber harvesting on the Chattahoochee National Forest Forest during the past 10-12 years, due to opposition by the preservation groups, resulting in only a fraction of one percent of the National Forest acreage currently in these young age classes, with the total diminishing each year as existing stands grow older.

Furthermore, the Federation has been in lockstep with the Sierra Club and other preservation groups in promoting tying up significant acreage of the National Forests in Wilderness, Scenic, and other designations that severely limit wildlife management activities and access for all Forest users.

Just recently, the Federation has jumped into a major political battle that affects our entire population. They have taken sides with the preservationists again, in opposing the proposed oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). During their recent Fisherama event, they gathered signatures for a petition opposing drilling in ANWR, and then carried the petition to Washington, presenting it as the views of Georgia sportsmen!

I’m sure that a lot of sportsmen who signed that petition did so with the misconception that drilling for oil would deplete the caribou herd and other wildlife values of the Refuge. These same arguments were used in opposing the Alaska pipeline during the seventies. None of that scare mongering came to pass. There are significantly greater numbers of caribou now than during that period, with some documentation that the caribou cows tend to drop their new calves near the pipeline due to the slight amount of heat generated.

ANWR includes almost twenty million acres. The proposed drilling encompasses a miniscule two thousand acres of coastal tundra, not even close to the Brooks Mountain Range, with its scenic vistas and streams. Doesn’t it seem a little far out that activity on such a small tract, would adversely impact overall values of a twenty million acre Refuge? Opposing groups, grasping at straws, claim that particular two thousand acre area is the only location in ANWR that caribou will drop their calves. You don’t have to be a scientist to realize that such a claim is bogus. Even if there are a certain number of animals using the area at present, doesn’t mean that they won’t use it if drilling rigs are present. All you have to do is get on the internet to find pictures of large herds of caribou grazing contentedly among the oil rigs at Prudhoe Bay!

I am a biologist, and spent a career working in the interests of sportsmen. The Federation, in this case, is not only misrepresenting the impacts to a Wildlife Refuge, they are possibly affecting the security of the Nation in our quest for independence from foreign oil sources. That, to me, is a serious step, especially when there is absolutely no basis for the unwarranted predictions of adverse impacts to ANWR.

I suggest you sportsmen take a closer look at the actions of the Federation, and see if they are really representing your interests. I know the Buckarama, Fisherama, and other similar social events they sponsor are popular with a lot of people, but I suggest you also take a look at what they are doing or not doing for wildlife and their habitats. A junket to Washington, lobbying to oppose oil drilling, financed by Fisherama funds, is not my idea of helping wildlife or the country in general.

Georgia Outdoor News (GON) has scheduled their Outdoor Blast in Macon next month. If you plan to attend, you may want to sign their petition, which will give you the option of voting for or against drilling in ANWR.

MONTE E. SEEHORN
Gainesville, GA 30506
Certified Wildlife Biologist
Certified Fishery Scientist