Group surveys outdoor types
Many sportsmen expressed concerns over the future of their pastimes.
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
LAKE CHARLES, La. -- An overwhelming percentage of hunters and fishermen say they are concerned about global warming based on personal experience, according to the results of a nationwide survey taken in March and April.
In what was described as the first nationwide sampling to focus solely on outdoorsmen with hunting and fishing licenses, the poll conducted by Responsive Management of Harrisonburg, Va., under the auspices of the National Wildlife Federation, showed that the outlook of outdoorsmen has progressed far beyond the issue of whether global warming exists.
There is no agreement on global warming. There are scientists on both sides of the issue and the Bush administration has not concluded that global warming is a dire problem.
Yet according to the survey, even hunters and fishermen who voted for Bush think it threatens the future of their passions. Slightly more than 70 percent of the 1,031 sportsmen interviewed in April from 35 states said they either were very concerned or somewhat concerned that in the areas they hunt and fish there will be significant decreases, or even disappearances of species within 10 years.
"Those are scary numbers," said Mark Duda, executive director of Responsive Management, an organization that has conducted polling on more than 500 outdoors- or natural resources-related issues.
The outdoorsmen were not asked to name specific species they thought would decline in the coming years. Regardless of scientific evidence for or against, 37 percent of the outdoorsmen said in their experience there have been earlier springs, 32 percent believe there have been earlier bloom times, 39 percent believe there have been hotter summers and 54 percent feel winters are warmer or shorter.
The poll was discussed at a recent national conference of outdoors writers in this southwestern Louisiana city.
Much-debated issue
Global warming appears to be in the eye of the beholder. I believe global warming exists; it definitely feels milder to me in the Chicago area. Yet one of my colleagues pointed out his electric bill for this month shows it was cooler this year than for the corresponding month a year ago.
It is interesting that these outdoorsmen surveyed voted for President Bush by a 2-to-1 margin in 2004 over Sen. John Kerry (D.-Mass.), given that the Bush administration has done little in response to global warming. When experts sound gloom and doom warnings about the future (Florida condos underwater and the like) because they believe global temperatures will rise 1 degree, it is difficult for average Joes like us to react with alarm.
If the northern Alaska village of Shishmaref is being threatened with relocation, we can begin to comprehend change, but are still unlikely to panic. But when the weather seems to create change in our back yard, we can relate much better.
Questions and answers
Among questions hunters and fishermen were asked:
Have you experienced warmer or shorter winters? 54 percent yes. Have you experienced hotter summers? 39 percent yes.
Have you experienced less snow? 36 percent yes. Do you believe that [the above] is the result of global warming? 54 percent yes.
Do you think this is because of a rise in the Earth's temperature? 47 percent strongly agree; 29 percent somewhat agree.
Is global warming a threat to fish and wildlife? 44 percent strongly agree; 27 percent somewhat agree. Is global warming an urgent problem requiring immediate action? 67 percent agree.
Should the United States be the world leader? 80 percent agree. However, on a scale of 0 to 10, the respondents indicated the country's government has performed at a level of 4.
"Sportsmen see the impact of global warming where they live," Duda said. "They consider it an urgent issue with action needed. The issue is not a partisan divide. A lot of this surprised me."
Of the respondents surveyed, 75 percent were male, 37 percent lived in rural areas, 14 percent in urban areas and the rest in suburbia. The average age was 53.
The survey also checked the pulse of hunters and fishermen on energy use and how it relates to global warming.
When asked if they thought pollution and fossil fuel use was to blame, 56 percent said yes. Slightly more than 80 percent said the U.S. is addicted to oil and 69 percent indicated the nation is not doing the right things to meet energy needs.