In this episode of We Love Outdoors with Rich Davenport, your humble host offers a year in review, reflecting on the many changes seen in hunting, fishing, environmental and energy changes that 2021 brought.
NY hunters saw the Holiday Deer Hunt created, proposals to let counties opt out that got shelved mid-December. Hunters saw the deer hunting age with firearms lowered to age 12, standardizing the hunting age in NY, at least through 12/31/2023, but counties had to opt in to allow parents to decide whether their son or daughter was ready to join them in the deer stand. Of course, Erie County's executive decided to veto the local law, and Rockland county didn't even consider their own measure. The rest of the state passed their local laws by end of June.
The new deer plan was adopted, and to carry out that plan, several regulatory changes occurred, including expanding the hunting hours for big game to 1/2 hour before sunrise, to 1/2 hour after sunset. Hunters in pursuit of big game with a firearm, or accompanying one hunting big game with a firearm saw mandatory safety orange or pink rules for the first time ever.
Fishing changes in 2021 included the adoption of the new Inland Stream Trout Management Plan, changes in trout stocking strategies, proposed changes to sunfish and crappie rules, as well as a litany of end of year proposals meant to reduce confusing regulations while moving certain season openings to a hard date vs. a Saturday opener. 2021 was also the year of fishing records being set, with 7 new freshwater records and 5 new marine records set across the fruited plain.
We saw many changes on the environmental front, with NY passing the Environmental Rights Act, a vague and dangerous proposal, while the US passed the 30x30 conservation legislation, which seems good, but could allow government to shut down access to public lands if they deem our activities are causing global warming. More attention was focused on emerging contaminants, PFAS, with new drinking water standards, a drinking water restoration plan for Hoosick Falls, Maine implementing a do not eat advisory for deer in the Fairfield area of ME due to PFAS contamination, and proposals to update the NYS Super Fund regulations to account for PFOS and PFOA contamination. Locally, two Super Fund settlements were reached, one with Tecumseh affecting 500 acres near Smoke's Creek, and Honeywell affecting areas of the Buffalo River, which will include preserving 70 acres of undeveloped stretches along the Buffalo River for fishing and recreational purposes, forever.
2021 also brought perhaps the worst energy year for the United States since Jimmy Carter and the OPEC oil embargo, with bad policy resulting in skyrocketing gas and diesel costs, astronomical freight costs and resulting inflation across the board. NY got well on the way back to 1825 with the move to ban use of natural gas in NYC, while the state pursues wind and solar energy that never delivers anything but the lifestyles of the Amish, without the farms and forests.
Happy New Year, everyone! May 2022 bring less covid, less stupid, and more enjoyment and may true science see a big come back, as the junk science used currently is serving no one but the tyrants.
