Spearing Ban

[Paul Schlagel]

There is a proposal to lift the spearing ban on Cass, and maybe other lakes as well. Rather than describe the issue from scratch, I urge you to take a few minutes to learn more about this by visiting a couple other message boards. These other boards already have a lot of discussion posted. Back out one level to "Minnesota Fishing Reports, Tips & Discussions", then select the message board "Cass Lake Area - w/ Brian Jones, First Choice Guide Service". Check out his post titled, "Spearing Ban". Read that thread to get the background information about the issue. Note that AWH has already contributed a list of important contacts. Kevin Cochran's message board (Bemidji and Cass Lake Area w/ Kevin Cochran Guide Service) also has a lot of useful information.

Please (please, please, please, pretty please) take a few minutes to do something to help. It takes very little time to send an e-mail and make a difference. It's important to contact the appropriate political officials and make yourself heard. This is one of those times when you have to get off your butt for about 10 minutes to send an e-mail or make a couple calls. Do it. Seriously, do it.

[Paul Schlagel]

OK, so I'm compelling you to contact the appropriate local and state politicians. Here is some help for you to make your letter, phone call, or e-mail as effective as possible. I did a little homework on the most effective way to contact politicians and this is what I found:

1) Be respectful - name-calling or an emotional tirade will get you nowhere. Polite and respectful language like Sir and Madam go a long way.
2) State who you are and why your're writing or calling. Anonymous letters are useless.
3) Be focused and stick to only one issue. This isn't the time to bitch about how the roads are being plowed, your local taxes, or that fact that your school is under-funded. Limit your discussion to spearing.
4) Clearly state your position. In this case your position is that you oppose the lifting of the spearing ban on Cass Lake, or the lifting of a spearing ban anywhere, for that matter.
5) Explain your position. This is your chance to present information to support your position. In this case it's important to describe the negative impact that spearing would have on the large pike of Cass. There is a Bemidji study on Kevin Cochran's board that provides scientific evidence to support this. It's worth worth mentioning that there are very few lakes in the state that have a respectable population of big pike, so lakes like Cass are a very limited resource and are worth protecting to maintain that resource. It's also worth mentioning that lakes with a spearing ban are rare and spearers have plenty of opportunity to pursue their activity on any of the thousands of lakes without a ban. It's very worth mentioning the economic impact of the big pike. The the hook-and-line anglers, both summer and winter, have a far, far greater positive benefit to the state and local economy than a handful of spearers. Furthermore, big pike, if protected, drive sustainable fishing activity and therefore sustained spending by the fisherman. Wiping out the big pike by spearing will limit or end the spending. Politicians care more about spending and money more than slimy pike, so I think the economic benefits to state and local governments are important to stress.
6) Clearly state what you want done or provide a recommended action. In this case, you want the person you're contacting to oppose lifting the ban, keep the ban as it is.
7) A good, old-fashioned letter is more effective than e-mail. From the politician's point of view, if a person must really care to write a letter and put it in the mail. A combination of a phone call and an e-mail is also better than e-mail alone, and doesn't take much more time.

For more information about how to effectively contact a politician, just do a Google search like: "How to write a politician", or something like that. It doesn't really matter if your search result is for writing a senator, congressman, or whatever - the basic principles are the same. Here are a few search results I found that I thought were helpful, take a few minutes to read them:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1474988/how_to_write_a_letter_to_your_us_senator.html

http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/uscongress/a/letterscongress.htm

http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Letter-to-Your-United-States-Senator

Now get going!

[Paul Schlagel]

Here's an article recently posted by Kevin Cochran. Thanks to Kevin for all you've done so far to stop the lifting of the spearing ban. He's done a lot through direct involvement and also just by raising awareness with his posts on his message board and on MuskieFirst. Thanks also to Shawn Kellet. If you haven't yet contacted the appropriate officials, get off you butt and do it. Here's the article:

http://www.casslaketimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1427:muskie-inc-says-qkeep-spearing-closedq&catid=27:other-top-news

[AWH]

Thanks for posting this, Paul. And very good information you provided. We found out last night that the hearing for this bill with the Environmental Committee is on Monday, March 1st. So the time is now to act. Phone calls will be even better than emails. But anything is better than nothing. They need to hear from all of us. The more I hear on this issue and the possible domino effect down the road, the more concerned I become. It's far more than just a Cass Lake issue.

Aaron

[Paul Schlagel]

Check Kevin Cochran's message board again for an update on this important issue. In summary, a bill is moving through the State House and Senate and it's crucial that everyone act right away. Instructions to Kevin's board are given in an earlier post on this thread. Thanks to Kevin for all he's done to stay on top of this issue, to raise awareness, and to get people to act.