Willi writes:

I DON'T want our public lands run on the basis of "best and highest use"
(which means - how they can be used to generate the most possible income).
I DON'T want our public lands sold off to the highest bidder. I DON'T want
our National Parks run by corporations whose goal is solely to make as much
money as possible out of them. etc etc etc

Willi

I doubt you will see any of the above in your lifetime. There have been "pay
and fish" places for as long as I can remember. My parents joined one in the
50s. I joined one in the 90s (and resigned after catching 100 pounds of brook
trout in two hours). There are two places in Georgia that I know of, and one
of them is state stocked.

We should be more concerned with the crowding than anything else. I intend to
have good fishing until I die, and if I have to go out of my way for it, so be
it. I do so now because of the crowding. Every river I've fished in the west,
south, New England, and to some extent, Alaska, has been crowded. Certain
streams in Alaska are worse than anywhere else.

Our population is growing in leaps and bounds, and more and more people have
more and more disposable income. Go to any airport in Montana, Idaho, Alaska,
wherever, and you will see all kinds of folks carrying fly rods. The camp that
I went to in Labrador from 97 - 00 is closing because the river is now crowded
with locals who come in with water jet craft, and they don't fly fish either.

The same thing is slowly happening in Alaska. We parked our Beaver in a sink
hole pond, only to return 4 hours later and see 4 more Beavers parked next to
us. Some lodges have switched to Otters so that they can saturate a river with
their own guests.

I'm not worried about any politician taking away my fly fishing. I *am*
worried about more and more people joining in the fun. A side note: The
commute that I used to drive 14 years ago before I retired required 20 - 25
minutes. That same commute now takes almost an hour because of so many cars on
the road. Too many people; not enough resources.