Norman D. Dicks: “I received a letter from the American Fisheries Society, the American Fly Fishing Trade Association, the Sportfishing…”

“I received a letter from the American Fisheries Society, the American Fly Fishing Trade Association, the Sportfishing Association, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers. I think these are very important groups. As a westerner, I pay attention to these people. It says: March 30, 2012. Dear Representative: As sportsman-conservation organizations representing millions of hunters, boaters, and anglers nationwide, we ask you to oppose any legislation that would block the administration's very deliberate and vital action to clarify and restore long-standing Clean Water Act protections for streams and wetlands across the country. We reaffirm our support for Clean Water Act guidance currently being reviewed and finalized in an interagency process coordinated by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Sportsmen rely on clean water to ensure the opportunity to enjoy hunting, angling, and other outdoor-based recreation (and business) in the great outdoors. When wetlands are drained and filled and streams are polluted, sportsmen are often the first to be directly impacted. Consequently, hunters, boaters, and anglers have consistently advocated for conserving our nation's waters. Since 2001, U.S. Supreme Court decisions in SWANCC (2001) and Rapanos (2006), along with 2003 and 2008 agency guidance that is inconsistent with those decisions and the related science, have combined to erode long-standing Clean Water Act safeguards for headwater streams and critical wetlands.…”