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W.J. McCabe Chapter Izaak Walton League of America

I've hunted and fished across the Midwest for four decades, long enough to form opinions. Good fishing depends on good water quality. Good nesting cover and water on the prairies mean more deer or sharp-tailed grouse. It's habitat, and if it's in place, you'll find game and birds and fish.

I've spent time in legislative halls, tramped stream banks, and launched my boat on countless lakes and reservoirs. Fishing may be better today than it has been at any point in my lifetime. Hunting? Well, I'm realistic. Without the federal Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), we'd have far fewer ducks and pheasants. And though I spend most of my time afield toting a rod or gun, I enjoy the lilting melody of the meadowlarks that herald the start of spring on the prairie.

I'm getting older. My business is successful, and I suspect part of it is because I've always worked hard at seeking the truth and reporting to my viewers, listeners, and readers. I hope my age and experience have given me the ability to spot a phony.

One of the phoniest groups ever to travel our trails is one few have heard of. They call themselves the "Wise Use Movement" and yes, that is an oxymoron. I'm saddened that some hunters and anglers have bought their story.

They pose as just folks, grassroots groups, claiming to be our friends. They aren't. No matter what they call themselves, they're financially backed by extractive industries looking to exploit things from the outdoors that the rest of us cherish. They're against wetland protection, the Clean Water Act, setting aside any wilderness areas, and the protection of wild and scenic rivers. Instead, especially in the West, their goal is simple. They want to protect industrial and agricultural access to public lands and water at bargain-basement rates. They see nothing wrong with clear-cutting steep hillsides along trout streams or mining in critical areas. They spout scare tactics about powerful environmental interests that want to public lands locked up. But it is they who want to lock things up.

On public lands, they talk multiple use but push legislation that would make grazing a dominant use. They talk about property rights and county supremacy and come up with bizarre interpretations of our constitution and laws. They pose as defenders of free enterprise while they work the system to circumvent it.

These free enterprise masqueraders have friends in high places, even in the halls of Congress. While they call themselves conservatives, they're first in line to suck the federal nipple. They'll tell you how much they hate regulation but never mention how much they spend trying to get government to regulate in their favor.

They seize on emotional local issues, send in their professional rabble-rousers to fire up the folks, and then disappear into the darkness. They pack public hearings and bully those who oppose them. Their lifestyle is mean, ugly, and divisive.

Two decades ago, they might have gotten away with it. However, times have changed and access to the Internet allows anyone to inform themselves. Do some surfing. Use any major surf engine and type in "wise use movement." You'll be directed to a whole host of sites for groups such as People for the USA, Alliance for America, Heritage Foundation, Wetlands Coalition, and others. Don't be misled by the quaint names. For the most part they are backed by a bunch of "suits" representing major timber, mining, and agricultural organizations that are out to change America. They changes they seek won't be in the interest of fish and wildlife, or those who care about them.

I'm a lifelong, conservative Republican whose favorite President was Teddy Roosevelt. The old Rough Rider never had a problem spotting a phony, and he'd have pegged this bunch in a Badlands minute.

So I hope that, if you care as much about the outdoors as I do, you'll take the time to do a bit of Internet research. While you're at it, dial up another site: www.ewg.org. That's the Environmental Working Group. They're pretty good at spotting phonies too. Read what they have to say.

Then make up you're own mind.

© Tony Dean

(Tony Dean, from Pierre, South Dakota, is an award winning journalist and the host of "Tony Dean Outdoors" radio and television programs.)