Guess what? Sportsmen are not obstructionists. We just want our public lands managed in a responsible way – which means we’re not opposed to energy development on property we own, we just demand that it be done by giving a priority to a clean environment and protecting fish and wildlife values. That’s the major finding in the latest nationwide survey of hunters and anglers released by the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership.

Now, if you hunt and fish - especially on public lands - none of that is news. It’s been a part of your personal moral code since shortly after you pulled your first trigger and set your first hook. If you’re a sportsmen, you have been one of America’s most dedicated environmentalists, something most other Americans are not aware of. You cherish the natural world because it is a real part of your life, not something you see on the Discovery channel. You’re not a viewer, you’re a participant, which means you have a very strong stake in keeping America green.

This green ethic has been highlighted in various other surveys and polls over the years, but it’s always good for the exercise to be up-dated because politicians of a certain stripe – an oil-and-gas stripe to be exact – often try to use us hunters and anglers to cover their dirty tracks. They like to claim we don’t agree with all those green groups out there shouting about the damage being done to public land, water and air to give higher profits to oil and gas companies. Makes them seem more reasonable and the greenies like a bunch of crazies.

But when someone sits down and asks the catch-and-kill crowd how they feel about what the Bush Administration is doing to our public property – as a nation public opinion firm did for the TRCP - turns out sportsmen are green at heart. Sensibly green.

The TRCP poll, which concentrated on issues affecting the Rocky Mountains, could turn up only 29 percent of hunters and anglers who thought energy development should be the top priority for public lands. Meanwhile, 79 percent opposed unlimited energy development and 85 percent felt federal agencies should take more steps to protect fish and wildlife on public lands leased for energy development.

According to the TRCP:

“The survey asked sportsmen directly about potential land management and legislative changes that could help strike the balance between energy development and fish and wildlife. The respondents strongly supported congressional action as well as policy changes in the land management agencies. These include:

1. 91% support (with 72% strongly supporting) legislation to require that a portion of the revenues generated from leasing public lands for energy development be used for fish and wildlife conservation.

2. 89% support (75% strongly support) requiring companies applying for an energy development permit to provide conservation plans showing how they will minimize the impacts of energy development on fish and wildlife.

3. 90% support (72% strongly support) requiring energy developers to adjust and adapt the energy development process to reduce negative impacts on fish and wildlife.”

You can read the entire survey here (pdf).