Dear Editor:
Has hunting and fishing become Montanans’ God?
Recently, I was walking doors during a campaign for a friend. I encountered a guy who was concerned about the candidate’s views on hunting and fishing rights. It became obvious that he was a single-issue voter; he did not care about jobs, the size of government, taxes, ethical issues, etc. All he cared about was making sure his recreation was unrestricted.
This man’s priorities are not unusual – this mindset is all too common. For a growing segment of our society — their passion and how they want to spend their time is oriented around hunting, fishing or their amusement. If you ask them about concerns that would relate to the kind of issues I mentioned above — they are clueless. Even my suggestion that this frame of mind is a bit irresponsible would ruffle their feathers.
While I love hunting and fishing, one of the dangers I see is how easily these issues are used to manipulate elections. You can talk about the issue of the federal government’s control of lands vs. state control. You can talk about environmentalists’ use of endangered species to regulate land use. You can talk about the accusation that Greg Gianforte restricted fishermen from crossing their land — and most of these folks are uninformed. You can use these issues to muddy the waters — painting a picture that channels people’s thinking in about any way you wish, making the case that it will affect their hunting and fishing. Few will make the effort to research the facts of the Gianforte situation or go to a seminar that discusses federal vs. state land control. They are putty in the hands of skilled manipulators.
In reality, 99 percent of Democrats and Republicans support fishing and hunting rights. But these issues are used to play on our ignorance like a well-tuned violin. My question is — if this mentality persists in Montana — will our adult children continue to have to buy out-of-state licenses to hunt and fish with us because of job shortages in Montana, or do we even care?
Dick Pence
Billings
