| by Andy McDaniels
It has been a long week for the crew of Vanishing Paradise but we are darn proud of what we accomplished. We started off the first half of our week by giving outdoor media tours of Coastal Louisiana to see the oil spill damage and the areas of opportunity to restore the wetlands. There should be some downright amazing articles over the next few months in a variety of outdoor magazines so let us know if you spot them. We also held a sportsmen’s rally at the Venice Marina to demonstrate that sportsmen support restoration of Coastal Louisiana. The food was tasty and the people were amazing. I’m grateful to everyone who showed up to show that sportsmen are true conservationists. By the end of the week we were all working our tails off to make sure the Melancon Amendment to the CLEAR Act would pass in the House. Our Vanishing Paradise supporters proved to themselves to be great friends as they quickly leaped to sign-on the Melancon letter and personally call their Representatives. With your help, the U.S. House of Representatives took historic action and passed an oil response bill that provide $1 billion in Gulf Coast restoration. This money is a good start in establishing dedicated funding for restoration projects in Coastal Louisiana. Though the week is done and I’m worn out, I am proud of all that has been done by our crew with the assistance of the sportsmen and women like you who care about the largest wetland complex in the lower 48 states. Now on to the Senate… |
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Andy McDaniels is the National Sportsmen Outreach Coordinator for NWF’s Coastal Louisiana Restoration program. Andy grew up hunting and fishing and was immersed in conservation activism at an early age. His grandfather started the Oklahoma Outdoor Council in 1950 which became the Oklahoma Wildlife Federation. In 2002, Andy accepted the position of Executive Director of the Oklahoma Wildlife Federation. In addition, he started the Conservation Coalition of Oklahoma, which included the Sierra Club, the Nature Conservancy, the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma, Quail Unlimited, the National Wild Turkey Federation and others.
