The Great Divide
The Barbie pole has made an appearance back here in Illinois.
Conditions were not outstanding, but the daughter and I managed a few dinks from the creek bank. A good time was had by all. We'll be back at it again when the weather settles down.
On another note, I see that there is trouble brewing in the fishing world. Apparently some of it pertains to me.
A group called "Smallmouth Unlimited" has started up recently. I don't know anything about this group outside what I found on their website. I have yet to speak with their leadership. Certainly anyone interested in conservation done the right way represents something positive. Since Smallmouth Unlimited has adopted the template of the Illinois Smallmouth Alliance philosophies as their mission statement, they must be such a group. I wish them well.
I also wish the story ended there.
Unfotunately, it seems the Illinois Smallmouth Alliance has taken umbrage that Smallmouth Unlimited borrowed text from the ISA Conservation Philosophies. Since I wrote virtually all of the ISA document (the ISA leadership added one article and subtracted one), it seems I have a stake in this issue.
Let's bring things back down to earth.
The ISA Conservation Philosophies were intentionally never copyrighted. They were never intended to become the "property" of any one group. To the contrary, the Philosophies were specifically written as a template for general use among conservation angling groups. They are ideas and ideas can't be owned. The use of those ideas and even their wording by Smallmouth Unlimited is appropriate, legal, and encouraging.
The promotion of those ideas, and not the ownership of those ideas, should be the central concern of the ISA. The fact that another group would promote those ideas should be seen as an opportunity and a compliment, not a threat. The apparent friction here illustrates my deepest longstanding disappointments with the conservation establishment at large.
It hardly seems fair to pick on the ISA, given that this issue extends to academicians, administrators, non-governmental organizations, governmental organizations, conservation professionals, sporting goods companies, and individual anglers. This is a basic human failure, (probably the most fundamental of human moral failures). It is a failure just the same.
Conservationists, if they are conservationists, promote the interests of the resource ahead of themselves. Once a group places their own interests ahead of the resource they are not so much "conservationists" as "territorialists".
Unfortunately, in many, many cases, territorialism seems to be the dominant approach to natural resources. When priorities are selfish, protecting a research niche, funding source, group prestige, professional salary or mission statement very quickly over-rides the needs of the resource. I could list innumerable cases where the resource was harmed or put at disadvantage because of a group or individual's desire to promote themselves, often by attacking or undermining other groups or individuals who had legitimate contributions to make.
Certainly competition for territory has a long history in human events. Struggles over turf are a basic part of animal behavior. In a pursuit as laid back as sport fishing, I would have hoped that kind of thing could have been set aside. Clearly that is not the case so far.
Seriously, people, what is really at stake here?
More on this soon. There are SO many stories to tell here. I'll see which ones become appropriate.
Conditions were not outstanding, but the daughter and I managed a few dinks from the creek bank. A good time was had by all. We'll be back at it again when the weather settles down.
On another note, I see that there is trouble brewing in the fishing world. Apparently some of it pertains to me.
A group called "Smallmouth Unlimited" has started up recently. I don't know anything about this group outside what I found on their website. I have yet to speak with their leadership. Certainly anyone interested in conservation done the right way represents something positive. Since Smallmouth Unlimited has adopted the template of the Illinois Smallmouth Alliance philosophies as their mission statement, they must be such a group. I wish them well.
I also wish the story ended there.
Unfotunately, it seems the Illinois Smallmouth Alliance has taken umbrage that Smallmouth Unlimited borrowed text from the ISA Conservation Philosophies. Since I wrote virtually all of the ISA document (the ISA leadership added one article and subtracted one), it seems I have a stake in this issue.
Let's bring things back down to earth.
The ISA Conservation Philosophies were intentionally never copyrighted. They were never intended to become the "property" of any one group. To the contrary, the Philosophies were specifically written as a template for general use among conservation angling groups. They are ideas and ideas can't be owned. The use of those ideas and even their wording by Smallmouth Unlimited is appropriate, legal, and encouraging.
The promotion of those ideas, and not the ownership of those ideas, should be the central concern of the ISA. The fact that another group would promote those ideas should be seen as an opportunity and a compliment, not a threat. The apparent friction here illustrates my deepest longstanding disappointments with the conservation establishment at large.
It hardly seems fair to pick on the ISA, given that this issue extends to academicians, administrators, non-governmental organizations, governmental organizations, conservation professionals, sporting goods companies, and individual anglers. This is a basic human failure, (probably the most fundamental of human moral failures). It is a failure just the same.
Conservationists, if they are conservationists, promote the interests of the resource ahead of themselves. Once a group places their own interests ahead of the resource they are not so much "conservationists" as "territorialists".
Unfortunately, in many, many cases, territorialism seems to be the dominant approach to natural resources. When priorities are selfish, protecting a research niche, funding source, group prestige, professional salary or mission statement very quickly over-rides the needs of the resource. I could list innumerable cases where the resource was harmed or put at disadvantage because of a group or individual's desire to promote themselves, often by attacking or undermining other groups or individuals who had legitimate contributions to make.
Certainly competition for territory has a long history in human events. Struggles over turf are a basic part of animal behavior. In a pursuit as laid back as sport fishing, I would have hoped that kind of thing could have been set aside. Clearly that is not the case so far.
Seriously, people, what is really at stake here?
More on this soon. There are SO many stories to tell here. I'll see which ones become appropriate.
posted by T. Brook Smith at 7:00 AM
2 Comments:
If they want to take your philosophy statements verbatim, it must mean they endorse them, which is good news.
Will you be in town for long? Hopefully we can do a trip soon.
Hi Jeff.
Yes, I'll be around for a while. Maybe we can try a trip next week?
I agree the Smallmouth Unlimited approach is good news. I emailed them today and got a very polite response. They were apologetic about the conflict and seemed like decent people. Hopefully they and the ISA will sort things out peacefully and for the greater good...
...and I won't have to say anything else about this topic.
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