Bird Camp Diaries: March 2009

Bird Camp Diaries are nothing more than whimsical monthly musings. We hope you find them entertaining, and sometimes thought provoking.

Bob St.Pierre
Director of Marketing & Public Relations
Pheasants Forever, Inc.
(651) 209-4931
stpete@pheasantsforever.org

Help Save an Endangered Species: The Outdoor Writer

Pheasants Forever Urges Support for Newspaper Coverage of the Outdoors

Bird Camp Diaries: March 2009 When it comes to America's natural resources and our outdoor heritage, there's one group that often goes unrecognized - your local newspaper's outdoor writer. Their stories inspire us to go afield or get involved in an issue. They are the watchdogs in the halls of government and corporate board rooms. They are our eyes, our ears, and sometimes our conscience. And they are disappearing across America.

It's no secret there's been a long-term decline in newspaper subscriptions. People are getting their news from different medium, particularly through the Internet. Compound the loss of subscriptions with the dramatic drop in advertising revenue generated by newspapers these last few months, and it's easy to see why every local newspaper around the country is making cuts in staff. Unfortunately, publishers have targeted outdoor writers and outdoors sections with their calculators for these cuts. Even places long on outdoor coverage traditions and passionate constituencies like Des Moines, Chicago and Omaha have already lost in this fight. So, before other outdoor writers go extinct, it's time for all of us that care about wildlife, natural resources and conservation issues to speak up in defense of our outdoors allies.

Today, I'm asking for every hunter, every angler, every member of a conservation organization, every PFer, every QFer and every person passionate about our natural resources to grab their keyboard, pick up a pen or dial a phone and let their local newspaper know they value consistent and professional outdoors coverage in their local newspaper. Let your paper's editor know how important the outdoors page is to your subscription renewal or your online news consumption.

If you have story ideas, dog photos, pre-1980 hunting photos and requests for future On The Wing consideration, please send correspondence to ahauck@pheasantsforever.org.

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