Sportsmen, environmentalists are united to save Minnesota's great outdoors

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Article stolen from the Pope County Tribune Website...

Sportsmen, environmentalists are united to save Minnesota's great outdoors
By Marie Zellar and Gary Botzek

The news media often portrays Minnesota's environmentalists as perpetually at war with hunters and anglers. But the fact is our two groups are much more similar than different, and are especially united around the issue of our lifetime, the urgent need to save Minnesota's lakes, rivers and natural areas.

From a hunter's and angler's perspective, conserving Minnesota's natural assets is a no-brainer. Without clean lakes and rivers, fish disappear. Without preserved forests, prairies and wetlands, wildlife disappears. And when fish and wildlife are degraded, we will no longer be able to pass on our cherished outdoors traditions to future generations of Minnesotans.

From an environmentalist's perspective, this is the most important issue of our lifetime. Lakes, rivers, wetlands, forests, and native prairies are remarkably delicate and interrelated. The destruction of these unique gifts is happening quickly, and has a dangerous ripple effect on all living things, including humans.

We may state the benefits and problem in different ways, but we recommend the same solution: develop a long-term financing plan for saving Minnesota's lakes, rivers and natural areas.

Environmentalist and sportspeople are not separate and distinct camps. For example, many environmentalists hunt and/or fish. Many members of environmental groups sport blaze orange, fishing vests and camouflage too. Similarly, many hunters and fisherman recycle, plant native species, battle invasive species and support environmental protection legislation. The stereotypes that are used to drive a wedge between us are frankly simplistic.

From both a sportspersons' and environmentalists' perspectives, Minnesota faces a crisis that requires urgent attention. In the next 20 years, 1.2 million new Minnesotans will be converting about 1 million acres of natural areas and farmland into developed land. That's an area equivalent to all of the land in Hennepin, Ramsey, Dakota and Carver counties.

And a surprising amount of that development will be outside the metro area. Increasingly, development is happening in more remote areas of Greater Minnesota, which threatens previously undeveloped shallow lakes, prairies, and forests.

Think Minnesota's natural resources are too vast and resilient to be impacted by these pressures? Think again. Of the small number of lakes and rivers tested so far by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, more than 40 percent have been found to be contaminated with human and animal waste, mercury or other pollutants. We've already destroyed 99 percent of central Minnesota's "Big Woods" and 80 percent of our native prairie wetlands.

With the new wave of development on the horizon, we can make room for our new neighbors while still preserving the thing that makes Minnesota special, our waters, parks and wildlife. But it will take planning, and it most definitely will take a long-term source of funding.

When it comes to land conservation, we currently invest half what Wisconsin does, just five dollars per person annually. Florida spends five times more than we spend. While we have more natural assets than many states and more development pressure than at any point in our entire history, Minnesota's investment in land conservation is at a thirty year low.

Working together, sportspeople and environmentalists are a powerful voice. After all, 82% of Minnesotans consider outdoor recreation to be either very important or moderately important to their quality of life. But we won't be heard unless we speak out.

For the good of all future generations of Minnesotans, we stand united on the urgent need to save our Minnesota's Great Outdoors.

Marie Zellar is the State Director for the Clean Water Action Alliance. Gary Botzek is the Executive Director for the Minnesota Conservation Federation.