By Montana Wildlife Federation Ambassador Mike Mershon.
How I became interested in Montana Wildlife Federation’s Legislative Action Team is really a story of my childhood upbringing. From an early age, I have been fortunate to have had mentors in my life who shared their passion for the outdoors with me. I was shown the endless treasures that our public lands hold, taught how to hunt our public wildlife, and enjoyed our liberal stream access.
Some of my earliest memories are of pack trips into the Absaroka Beartooth Wilderness with my grandfather and uncle, backpacking trips with my father in the San Juans of Colorado, and hunting squirrels and fishing streams with my brothers on the surrounding open spaces of our childhood home. As I outgrew the mentors who introduced me to the concepts of advocacy and had instilled a deep respect for our rich heritage I continued on my own to develop my passion for open spaces and the wildlife found within them. I further developed an appreciation for the work that is required to create, maintain and protect these commodities.
One of my early trips into the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness was on a pack trip into East Rosebud drainage with my grandfather and uncle.
As an adult, like most, time becomes an increasingly precious commodity. I still dedicate as much time as possible to being out and enjoying the outdoors. However, I am only capable of dedicating so much time to my passions and have limited bandwidth to absorb all the information presented to me. With the changing of times I was seeing the unprecedented onslaught of changes coming down the line. I had noticed subtle changes on the public lands that I had spent so many days of my youth and childhood on. Access to certain trails was limited or denied. The ways our wildlife populations were being managed had shifted. I had growing concerns and questions, and I had begun feeling frustrated that I wasn’t being an effective advocate on my own, that my concerns were often not being heard, or more commonly, I didn’t even know who the correct persons were to voice my concerns to. Simply put, I wanted a better understanding of how these changes had come about.
This is when I found Montana Wildlife Federation’s Legislative Action Team (LAT). The LAT provides an easily digestible breakdown of the major concerns facing the conservation community and lays out the most effective actions needed from its members to counter these concerns. Not only does being a LAT member provide me with access to experts in the conservation world who can help answer questions, provide from-the-source data, and share insider information on upcoming legislation. I am also engaged in a diverse community of like-minded individuals because to be the most effective conservationist requires concentrated planning expressed as unified voices.
When I joined the LAT I gained an improved understanding of the legislative process along with how our fish and game committee works. I now know who is responsible for the decisions that are being made which affect our hunting, wildlife management and public lands. I have been given the tools and shown how to use them in a manner that allows me to effectively spend my time to impart the most impact on the process.
I have been incredibly fortunate to mature as a sportsman in such a wonderful time, enjoying plentiful opportunities in the game with access to seemingly endless tracts of public lands. Now, spending time hunting with my young nephew and helping him to harvest his first big game has shown me it is time that I concentrate on ensuring that the sportsmen and women of the future can enjoy the same opportunities that I have enjoyed. The LAT has equipped me with the necessary toolkit to continue our conservation legacy.
The next generation of conservation advocates, with his first bull elk taken on public lands.
