MARCH 2009
Editor: Brian Labowsky (Lumpy)
Newsletter of the Naugatuck-Pomperaug
Chapter of Trout Unlimited
www.tunaugpomp.org
Date |
Upcoming
Events |
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| Note: NEW DATE and LOCATION. The March 5 meeting is on Thursday and will be held at the Southbury Library. It's located at 100 Poverty Road a short distance from the traffic light at Main Street and Poverty Road. The program will start promptly at 7:00 PM. The public is invited free-of-charge. For further information call Dom Falcone at 860-274-4103 or dafalcone@snet.net or visit www.tunaugpomp.org. |
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NWCSC Alert: Serious
Legislative Threat to Sportsmen.
The Governor's Bill No. 6371, An Act Concerning Funding for The Department
of Environmental Protection poses the most significant threat to Sportsmen's
interests in a decade.
The Bill, as written will transfer all fiscal and program management
authority from DEP to the Executive and Legislative branches of government.
The bill; as I have downloaded it, is 85 pages in length and difficult
to interpret and understand. It will take some time to realize the full
implications of this bill if enacted as is. Rather than attempt to comment
on all aspects of the bill, I want to give sportsmen and women some key
features of the bill to focus on when they talk to the Governor’s
Office and their Legislators.
Key provisions of the bill include the elimination of the heretofore dedicated
Environmental Conservation Fund. This is the fund that receives all of
your license, permit, boating, park fees etc, etc., used to fund DEP operations
and programs. The governor’s Bill will transfer all of these fees
to the General Fund and force DEP to submit annual budget requests for
programs and operations to the Executive Branch of Government, with oversight
and approval required by the Legislative Branch. If enacted as is, there
will no longer be strong representation of sportsmen’s interest
in determining what programs and operations will be funded. Political
patronage and lobbyists representing every conceivable environmental agenda
will be put into play. Sportsmen will have no voice in determining how
their money is spent.
The NWCSC rejects the proposal to eliminate the Environmental
Conservation Fund and the corresponding transfer of all Conservation Funds
to the General Fund.
The bill also provides for a doubling of all sport licenses and permits; in some cases even more than doubling. The fee increases also extend to boating registrations, park fees, field trials, you name it, the list goes on. We had a fee increase just 5 years ago. We all know that DEP has never been adequately funded by the State of CT; but this increase is totally ludicrous and represents nothing less than a luxury tax on our sporting heritage. It must be understood that these provisions were not requested by DEP, they come directly from the Governor’s Office and OPM. The bureaucrats who wrote this proposal have no idea, nor do they care about how many sportsmen will opt out of some or all CT sporting activities. The 40% increase in license and permit fees 5 years ago resulted in a 5 to 8% reduction in license sales. The proposed 100% increase will result in much greater losses to the sporting community.
The NWCSC rejects all proposals for license and fee increases that are not the result of DEP recommendations in consultation with the sporting community.
The Governor’s Bill also eliminates the DEP Pheasant Program. DEP did not request elimination of this program. The Pheasant Program is entirely funded by pheasant hunters in CT. There are no State funds used to support the program. Therefore; there is no rational or financial reason to eliminate the program. In fact, elimination of the pheasant program will result in a further diminishing of license and permit sales.NWCSC rejects any proposal to eliminate the CT DEP Pheasant Program.
There is much more that could be said; but for now, we need action while this bill is just a proposal. Sportsmen must make their concerns known. Please start by calling and/or writing the Governor’s Office, (800 406-1527) and ask that this bill be recalled. We all know that the State is facing major fiscal problems. If the Governor needs Agency cutbacks, we want her to give DEP a targeted percentage reduction and let DEP decide what should be cut.
*We do not want sportsmen’s funds to go to
the General Fund. Period!
*We want the Environmental Conservation Fund restored with DEP management
of the fund.
*We want the Pheasant Program restored.
*We reject all license and fee increases that are not proposed by DEP.
Feel free to add your own comments and observations. Be polite and respectful,
but don’t be afraid to point out the impact this bill will have
on your culture and heritage. We are fighting for our very survival in
this battle. Please don’t wait for someone else to do it for you.
Numbers are what counts to politicians and they better hear from us loud
and clear.
Regards
Chris Marino
Secretary: NWCSC
TYPES OF POLLUTION
VISUAL – paper, Styrofoam and plastic bags, cups and containers, tin and steel products, glass bottles, shopping carts furniture, newspapers, car parts, etc.
Litter Longevity:
Item Outdoor life span
Cotton rags & paper Four weeks
Wooden stakes Four years
Wax paper cup Fives years
Cigarette filters 15 years
Styrofoam cup 10 to 20 years
Plastic containers 50 to 70 years
Tin or steel cans 100 years
Glass containers Forever
Rubber products Forever
Chemical Pollution – a variety of chemicals and decaying metal objects
Biological Pollution – human and animal waste products; decayed matter
Siltation Pollution – sand and soil run-off into waterways can build up in river bottoms and kill plant and aquatic life
Thermal Pollution – low water levels and high temperatures raise water temperatures into the 80’s which can kill aquatic life.
Information provided by:
Naugatuck River Watershed Association Box 122 Middlebury, CT 06762
Reported by Bob Gregorski with data from Tim Wildman (DEP Fisheries Biologist)
Kinneytown Fishway on the Naugatuck River in Seymour passed: 2 Atlantic
salmon (broodstock, 1 American shad,0 alewife, 1 blueback herring, 19
gizzard shad, 1 American eel, 157 sea lamprey, 56 sea-run brown trout,
3 striped bass, 0 brook trout, 55 brown trout, 4 common carp, 0 lepomis
(sunfish), 34 smallmouth bass, 2 walleye, 1 channel catfish, 467 white
sucker and 0 tiger trout.
Note: In 2008 there were 163 shad transplanted into the Naugatuck River.
Connecticut Trout Unlimited Website
(www.cttrout.org)
Our Connecticut Trout Unlimited council has launched a website aimed
at helping bring our chapters together statewide. The web site has a large
amount of information
and links to each chapter in the state. Take a look, it is well worth
it..
Trout Unlimited's Philosophy
We believe that trout and salmon fishing isn't just fishing for trout and salmon. It's fishing for sport rather than for food, where the true enjoyment of the sport lies in the challenge, the lore and the battle of wits, not necessarily the full creel. It's the feeling of satisfaction that comes from limiting your kill instead of killing your limit. It’s communing with nature where the chief reward is a refreshed body and a contented soul, where a license is a permit to use--not abuse--to enjoy--not destroys our cold water fishery. It’s subscribing to the proposition that what's good for trout and salmon is good for the fishermen and that managing trout and salmon for themselves rather than the for the fishermen is fundamental to the solution of our trout and salmon problems. It's appreciating our fishery resource, respecting fellow anglers and giving serious thought to tomorrow.
submitted by Dom Falcone
Chapter “logo” hats are now available for $15.00
Choice of colors Forest green or Safari tan.
Can be purchased at monthly meeting
Emails:
If you would like to be added to or removed from the e-mail list for
the Naugatuck Pomperaug Newsletter please email bobflybox@sbcglobal.net.
Trout Unlimited's Mission
To
conserve, protect and restore North America's trout and salmon fisheries
and their watershed.