John Edwards and Hunting

John Edwards has made the curious decision to release a Hunting and Fishing Bill of Rights and Responsibilities. It's curious because I'm not sure what he's trying to gain out of such a move, but the ideas are pretty good.

Edwards builds on the long tradition of hunters as environmentalists for this. Conservation was a hunting-propelled movement during its early years. The reasons for this have some disturbing racial and gendered components, but the long term effects of this movement has protected both land and wildlife populations. In recent years, despite the efforts of some hunters, the hunting movement has supported the Republicans fairly overwhelmingly, including damaging environmental legislation.

Nonetheless, Edwards lists such key points as:

Provide more paths into the wilderness
Form partnerships to provide local input on public access issues
Protect the Tradition of Responsible Gun Ownership
Clean up America's lakes, streams and oceans
Protect America from invasive species
Help private landowners with conservation
Involve sportspeople in wildlife management

All of these ideas are good. He claims a politically sound position on guns while painting himself as the kind of smart environmentalist I can support.

Right now, Edwards is my candidate (though Dodd is increasingly appealing). Policies like this only help cement my support.

Via Left in the West