 An old-line hunting and fishing organization decays into anti-industry zealotry National Wildlife Federation kicks out Pennsylvania affiliate for failure to believe that people are the sole cause of global warming Don’t let the door hit you by John C. Street There aren’t many things that can get me giddy with excitement anymore but as I prepare this weekly missive, I’m giddy with excitement. In a letter dated September 5, 2008, the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) notified the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs (PFSC) that they intended to “terminate” their “affiliate relationship … “ While this scribe’s initial reaction to this unexpected – but long hoped for - news was euphoria (immediately followed by an urge to send the NWF’s executive director a letter advising, “Don’t let the door hit you in the butt on the way out”), he would also confess, upon reflection, to experiencing sorrow as well. There was a time, and not all that long ago, when the NWF was a good and trusted friend of every man, woman and child who owned a hunting firearm, ran a trap line or cast a lure into the Commonwealth’s waters. But that has changed. Drastically. And irreparably. Back in the mid 1990s, the NWF migrated into the high grass real estate surrounding Washington, DC, and their concern for sportsmen and sportsmen’s issues began to wane. Money, big money and lots of it became their primary objective. The paltry sums provided by the membership fees of state affiliates (made up of thousands of individuals who belonged to hundreds of individual clubs) could no longer keep the bill collectors from their door. In order to survive in the high-calorie intake world of elite not-for profits, the NWF had to learn to feed at the trough of the makers of the “Golden Rule.” Unfortunately, the big foundations that were making the rules – and dispensing the gold – had agendas that didn’t jibe with the historical role of the NWF; trusted friend of the nation’s hunters trappers and anglers. That many of these well endowed foundations were closely aligned with the New World Order agenda of the United Nations (an agenda that includes the “Wildlands Project,” strict population control, removal of 2nd Amendment rights and, of course, a scheme to redistribute the world’s wealth through the scam of “global warming”) seemed to trouble the management of the NWF not a whit. Worse, as many of their “affiliate organizations” soon discovered, the NWF wasn’t above parlaying their historical relationship with sportsmen to keep the gold flowing. For these shekels of betrayal (that add up to a $100,000,000 annual budget), the NWF covertly attempted to indenture their affiliates – America’s hunters, trappers and anglers - to an agenda that none would have accepted had they understood the apocalypse being perpetrated with their unwitting acceptance. The NWF’s true objective became glaringly – albeit unintentionally? – apparent in their September 5, 2008, letter of disaffiliation with the PFSC. “As the Chair of our credentials committee wrote in a letter dated May 28, 2008,” Tom Gonzales revealed, “the NWF needs the help of all our affiliates to meet the 21st century challenges of global warming, habitat loss and a growing disconnect between children and the natural world.” Perhaps Tom, who is the Chairman of the NWF Board of Directors, didn’t realize how squarely he had just stepped on a very sensitive body part when he signed that letter. Had the NWF done a little homework – or still been a trusted friend of Pennsylvania’s sportsmen – they would have known that the only “21st century challenge” not on the day-to-day agenda of the PFSC was “global warming.” Because its membership was divided on the legitimacy of this United Nations sponsored tripe, the PFSC had simply – and correctly – voted not to take a position. As to the “challenges” of “habitat loss” and “a growing disconnect between children and the natural world,” it’s hard to imagine, given the PFSC’s sponsorship and active participation in an exhaustive list of programs and initiatives (which will be detailed in next week’s column), what more the NWF could want in an affiliate. While the NWF rakes in millions and millions of foundation dollars annually to deal with “habitat loss” and “a growing disconnect between children and the natural world,” Pennsylvania has seen nary a dime for either of these “challenges” … but has seen oodles of dimes spent trying to shove the apocalyptic ideology of global warming through the clenched teeth of Pennsylvania’s sportsmen. Arguably, then, the only “21st century challenge” the NWF really cares about is having their affiliates’ unquestioning allegiance to the only “challenge” that makes them money; “global warming.” Theories abound as to why the NWF finally threw in the towel. Some speculate, and there is ample evidence supporting them, that the departure of large county affiliates (like Luzerne County which has 800 members) over the global warming debacle was leading to a showdown the NWF knew it couldn’t win. Others theorize that the NWF was prescient in seeing the September 2008 election of Bernie Spozio (a long-time, vocal opponent of the anthropogenic position of the NWF) to the office of President of the PFSC. And some have opined that a certain outdoor writer had finally gotten the message across; global warming is a scam and the organizations, specifically the NWF, who support this scam are no friends of hunters, trappers and anglers. And, just in the event this later theory is correct, perhaps that same outdoor writer could be forgiven for closing with … “Don’t let the door hit you in the butt on your way out Mr. Schweiger.” John C. Street is a columnist for the Clarion County, Pennsylvania Clarion News. |
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