MIKE BRAUN Outdoors lovers should be vigilant

Ya snooze, ya lose.
There's no easy, relaxed, downtime when it comes to keeping a bead on your right to hunt, fish, trap, watch birds, canoe or however you choose to use the outdoors.
Ohio outdoorsmen and women know this all too well as evidenced by the recent attempt to hijack outdoors funds on the state level. Had they not been warned, and had they not mobilized, the damage would have been done.
Nationwide issue
But it is not just an issue for the Buckeye State outdoors set. The issue cuts across the entire country.
The days when you could take it for granted that hunting, fishing and related outdoors pursuits were allowed in a wide-ranging area are long gone. And there are people out there who's sole goal in life is to make those types of activities difficult -- indeed, to make them impossible -- around the world.
The Pope and Young Club recently held a summit in Springfield, Mo., specifically on that topic. The club was established in 1932 as a nonprofit North American conservation and bow-hunting organization.
P & amp;Y officials were concerned about the recent combining of forces of the Humane Society of the United States and the Fund for Animals. It is largely a given that this collaboration of the "anti" forces will target bowhunting.
The HSUS and FFA merged to become a mega anti-hunting organization on Jan. 1. The organization, which will continue to be known as the Humane Society of the United States, will have more than $95 million to spend on efforts to end outdoor sports, and it has specifically named bowhunting as a primary target.
Who was represented
Those gathered at the P & amp;Y summit represented 32 bowhunting organizations, and they were updated on the scope of anti-bow activities and just what is being done to combat the movement.
"Many of the issues that individual states and provinces face are being experienced, or have been experienced, in other parts of the country," said Mike Foust, president of the United Bowhunters of Pennsylvania and a summit attendee. "The summit provided the opportunity to address many of those issues and put in place the means to accomplish effective follow-on networking."
There will be another such summit in August at P & amp;Y's club headquarters in Chatfield, Minn. Further information on the club and details on the August summit can be found at www.pope-young.org.
Another group that is marshaling it's power and members to help fight the antis is the Ohio-based U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance.
Coalition created
Earlier this year the USSA began organizing the bowhunting fight with the creation of the Bowhunter Rights Coalition.
"The BRC will build a grassroots network capable of defending against attacks in the courts, in legislatures or on the ballot," Rick Story, vice president of the USSA said at that time. "These allies will help to distribute issue alerts, urge sportsmen to contact lawmakers regarding hunting-related legislation and dilute the burden of legal fees in defense of bowhunting."
Story and the USSA pointed to information showing that aside from previous plans to target bowhunting, the HSUS is preparing a ballot campaign to ban Michigan's dove season.
In the meantime, you can't just ignore the future of any of these sports.
Ohio and Pennsylvania sportsmen and women need to be ever-vigilant to any assault on the outdoors, no matter from what quarter it comes.
braun@vindy.com