ok, here goes. Sierra club..educate me.

[pointysticks]

man..i feel like i am staring down a loaded gun barrel

i dated a sierra club girl..HOT!! at the time, that was enough. she let me hunt, without any debate. being young and dumb..i didnt really ask her much about it.

here is the Sierra Club's mission statement:

Mission Statement:

To explore, enjoy, and protect the wild places of the earth;
To practice and promote the responsible use of the earth's ecosystems and resources;
To educate and enlist humanity to protect and restore the quality of the natural and human environment; and to use all lawful means to carry out these objectives.

i seem to remember this girl telling me(man, i cannot remember her name!!) that they promote sustainable use of the land..and that legal hunting qualified.
that mission statement is pretty benign..

now before you ban me..i only ask because i dont know..they donate money to PETA?

[pointysticks]

KATHY!! her name was kathy.

phew. thought my memory was gone.

[Freebird134]

I don't know if they give money to PETA. That would surprise me. They do support hunting, but also have a lot of wiggle room in their mission statement. I recall reading about them opposing hound hunting bears in California. Then again, I know a lot of die hard hunters that oppose hound and bait hunting.

There's a huge gradient in the views and opinions of members in any group. Slim's comment on REI definitely got me thinking, and I'll check into Sierra Club and REI more closely. But I can only speak from my personal experiences with people from both groups, and I've had no problems. I encounter more hunters that trash-talk environmentalists than I do environmentalists that trash-talk hunters. And I spend a lot of time around environmentalists that don't hunt, at some of the most liberal, stereotypically "anti" towns and universities you can imagine (e.g., Madison, WI and Yale). It's absolutely BLOWN my mind how supportive non-hunter environmentalists are of those of us that hunt. I've come to the conclusion that the difference is education. Environmentalists that are uneducated and base their views on their fluffy feelings are the anti-hunters. But, most environmentalists I know that are educated and passionate about protecting wildlands and wildlife are actually supportive of hunters. They recognize the benefits of hunting: conservation funds, land protection, herd management, and a healthy and environmentally friendly source of meat. And they also recognize that any negative effects of hunting pale in comparison to other conservation threats: invasive species, habitat loss, climate change, urban sprawl, etc.

I cringe every time I hear a hunter make a blanket statement about "environmentalists" being anti-hunters. First, as a hunter you should be an environmentalist. We were the first environmentalists, all the important leaders of early environmental movements were hunters, and we cherish the environment on a level that non-hunters cannot appreciate. Second, a lot of those "environmentalists" are non-hunters....they are not yet anti-hunters. The difference is big and we need to do what we can to make sure they stay non-hunters (or become hunters! It is possible--I converted 2 vegetarians into bowhunters when living in New Haven, CT). Finally, anti-hunters can be turned around too. Educate yourself on the benefits of hunting from a economic, social, conservation, and health point of view and convert some of those damn anti's into "non's"!!! I've done this too!!!

Sorry to go a little off topic. But you can probably tell I'm pretty passionate about this!

[JohnFitzgerald]

Thanks Freebird, what you said makes good sense. Very wise statements!

[>>>---WW---->]

Wow! If she was that HOT, who cares! LOL!

[Freebird134]

Wow! If she was that HOT, who cares! LOL!

Now that's a wise statement!

[Swede]

There are what I consider "rabid" environmentalists and thoughtful ones. I consider most Sierra Club people as more thoughtful. As a Forest Service employee, managing a timber program, I found them reasonable, even though we often did not agree on some projects. I certainly did not object to dealing with them. Some people's only objective was just to throw a monkey wrench into the timber program. The Sierra Club folks I dealt with had goals and well thought out objectives.

[bullrub]

I don't know if they give money to PETA. That would surprise me. They do support hunting, but also have a lot of wiggle room in their mission statement. I recall reading about them opposing hound hunting bears in California. Then again, I know a lot of die hard hunters that oppose hound and bait hunting.

There's a huge gradient in the views and opinions of members in any group. Slim's comment on REI definitely got me thinking, and I'll check into Sierra Club and REI more closely. But I can only speak from my personal experiences with people from both groups, and I've had no problems. I encounter more hunters that trash-talk environmentalists than I do environmentalists that trash-talk hunters. And I spend a lot of time around environmentalists that don't hunt, at some of the most liberal, stereotypically "anti" towns and universities you can imagine (e.g., Madison, WI and Yale). It's absolutely BLOWN my mind how supportive non-hunter environmentalists are of those of us that hunt. I've come to the conclusion that the difference is education. Environmentalists that are uneducated and base their views on their fluffy feelings are the anti-hunters. But, most environmentalists I know that are educated and passionate about protecting wildlands and wildlife are actually supportive of hunters. They recognize the benefits of hunting: conservation funds, land protection, herd management, and a healthy and environmentally friendly source of meat. And they also recognize that any negative effects of hunting pale in comparison to other conservation threats: invasive species, habitat loss, climate change, urban sprawl, etc.

I cringe every time I hear a hunter make a blanket statement about "environmentalists" being anti-hunters. First, as a hunter you should be an environmentalist. We were the first environmentalists, all the important leaders of early environmental movements were hunters, and we cherish the environment on a level that non-hunters cannot appreciate. Second, a lot of those "environmentalists" are non-hunters....they are not yet anti-hunters. The difference is big and we need to do what we can to make sure they stay non-hunters (or become hunters! It is possible--I converted 2 vegetarians into bowhunters when living in New Haven, CT). Finally, anti-hunters can be turned around too. Educate yourself on the benefits of hunting from a economic, social, conservation, and health point of view and convert some of those damn anti's into "non's"!!! I've done this too!!!

Sorry to go a little off topic. But you can probably tell I'm pretty passionate about this!

Freebird, I apologize for the blanket statement that i had made earlier about REI. You are absolutely right we as hunters should educate and not throw stones. Thank you for giving me a good slap

[Freebird134]

Freebird, I apologize for the blanket statement that i had made earlier about REI. You are absolutely right we as hunters should educate and not throw stones. Thank you for giving me a good slap

Hey, no need to appologize to me and I wasn't directing anything at you either! It's all good discussion. But I'm glad what I wrote was meaningful! 'Cause most of what I write is nonsense...

[Vanish]

Phew, good thing, cause I have a Sierra Club sticker on my car. They must have sent it in the mail I liked the looks of it, it has an elk and mountains!