Clean Water

Thankfully, there is an organization that is advocating for clean water. All of our guides are members and fully support this organization.  As I’ve come to learn lately and much to my dismay, there are a considerable amount of water ways in the west, even in the Rocky Mountains, that are being polluted from various sources and we all need to recognize this fact and clean up the sources of the pollution immediately. Here’s a letter they wrote and I signed in support of their work.

May 15, 2015

Dear President Obama:

As members of the independent American Fly Fishing Trade Association (AFFTA), we write to express our strong support of your Administration’s Clean Water Rule. AFFTA is the sole trade and advocacy organization for the fly-fishing industry and our mission is to promote the sustained growth of our industry. We cannot achieve our mission without clean water.
According to the 2011 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, America’s anglers spent over $41 billion in fishing-related expenses in 2011, and according to a 2013 report by the American Sportfishing Association titled “Sportfishing in America: An Economic Force for Conservation,” anglers contributed about $115 billion in economic output in 2011. These economic contributions from recreational fishing have continued to grow over the past several decades.
Our industry relies on clean water to thrive. Thankfully, the new rule reduces confusion about the Clean Water Act by clarifying the types of waters covered under the Act. Knowing which waters are covered is a significant step to ensuring our members clean water and healthy fish populations by protecting headwater streams that provide vital spawning and rearing habitat for trout and salmon. Moreover, the waters protected by the new rule are sources of clean water for downstream communities and industries like ours.

Reinstating these protections, especially after events like the dead zones discovered in the Gulf of Mexico and the Chesapeake Bay last year, will bring about healthier ecosystems that will benefit fish and wildlife, allow the American people places to recreate and our industry to conduct business.

On behalf of our industry, we thank you and your Administration for your commitment to clean water.

Sincerely,

Rhett J. Bain

cc: The Honorable Penny Pritzker, Secretary of Commerce
The Honorable Gina McCarthy, Administrator, U.S. EPA
The Honorable Maria Contreras-Sweet, Administrator, U.S. SBA
Ms. Christy Goldfuss, Acting Chair, CEQ
Members of the Senate EPW Committee
Members of the House T&I Committee
Members of the Senate Appropriations Committee
Members of the House Appropriations Committee