OldBlackDog
Well-Known Member
Reflections of an Unsung Warrior
You get to meet and interact with a lot of people in the world of fish advocacy and politics. Naturally, there’s a broad spectrum of passion and commitment evident among them. Most are rememb…
steelheadvoices.com
You get to meet and interact with a lot of people in the world of fish advocacy and politics. Naturally, there’s a broad spectrum of passion and commitment evident among them. Most are remembered more for their appearances and performances in well publicized forums but there’s the occasional one that works quietly and with much forethought and vision to craft strategies and messaging that could actually make a difference to what has become a steady diet of process and status quo. It has been my pleasure and much to my benefit to be associated with one such individual. Earlier today he sent me a message that is all too descriptive of what a very short list of participants in the same arenas over a comparable period have come to appreciate. His words are enormously important and deserve to be shared. I’ll preface them with the note that the author never intended them to appear here and I didn’t seek prior approval. I’m willing to accept any consequences on the basis their significance outweighs any cost associated with their broader dissemination.
“We all make choices, some good and some bad, some that need reflection and some that should be reconsidered.
For a long time, maybe too long, I’ve fought with myself. I recognized that my time as an active and driving force in fishery advocacy could not be maintained, and the energy necessary along with health necessary to carry on was no longer present. But, like many things I’ve done I continued to press on, despite all angst, the frustration with others, the lack of critical action by like minded groups and individuals , etc. I’d hoped that others would lead the charge to be more assertive, press government for change and use constructive and consequential methods. But, now it seems that isn’t the case. Once again government and procedural processes that counter real action have won the day. One can hope that it will not take too long for some to realize that governmental change will not come unless there is a dramatic and existential force driving that process. The problem is that some things don’t have that time, like IFS.
To sway the viewpoints tied to actions from one point to another take a lot of energy, even when the interests are similar. Being part of that struggle is useless if you aren’t totally committed.
So, I had only one choice, really. I’m no longer a force for transformational change that I once was, nor can I be. And the politics of change require too much time and energy of a man of my vintage, especially when the life that remains has a greater interest and value. Thus my choice to step aside.
I’ve never liked giving up on something. I’d like to keep informed of things, but I will not enter the fray in any capacity as a formal advisor to a group, and can’t imagine do so again.”
