heroes blog

The annual White House Easter Egg Roll took place yesterday, and in addition to kids having fun with hard-boiled eggs, rocking out to the Jonas Brothers, and listening to Troy Aikman read stories, everyone participated in the theme of the day: Ocean Conservation.

"We want to remind you that we're dedicating today's Easter Egg Roll to our clean oceans. And there's a booth here where you can find out how you can contribute to make sure that we're environmentally sound stewards of our oceans. Ocean conservation is a important aspect of good public service," said President George W. Bush.

Labels: News

Conservation groups in the Great Lakes region are "celebrating" a very big anniversary: zebra mussels were discovered 20 years ago in Lake St. Claire. Zebra mussels have become the poster invasive species, drowning out native mussels and clinging to pretty much anything that stays underwater for more than 20 minutes.

While zebra mussels get the press, there are more invasive species choking out our native wildlife and destroying ecosystems. What do you think the most dangerous invasive species is?

Labels: Discussion Topics

The Ontario Federation of Hunters and Anglers (O.F.H.A.) recently awarded $6,000 to three Canadian postgraduate students to help fund their research projects on various conservation topics. Those topics are ones that we've all been hearing and talking about: invasive species, wetlands, and threats to freshwater stressors.

For those non-Canucks, O.F.H.A. is one of the largest conservation organizations in Canada and is "the voice of hunters and anglers" in our neighbor to the north.

What issue do you think needs a research grant the most?

Labels: Discussion Topics

The fine balance between releasing enough water from hydroelectric dams to meet the needs of fish and providing enough electricity has been a battle between conservation groups and electric companies across the nation for years.

On Tuesday, the Department of Interior held a 60-hour release from the Glen Canyon Dam on the Colorado River to increase the flow of in the Grand Canyon to help the endangered humpback chub. The well publicized event has been drawing some fire from local groups, saying that this is one of the few instances the DOI has actually thought of fish over power.

“This experiment, this celebration, is a charade,” said Nikolai Lash, senior program director of the Grand Canyon Trust, a private environmental group. “It was a glamorous event staged for the media that shows the Bureau of Reclamation is doing something for the environment, when in fact there’s a lot more to do.”

Click here for the full story

So, should sportsmen be caring about dam releases? If so, what can be done to make sure the Department of Interior has fish populations best interests in mind.

Labels: Discussion Topics