New West Network

My Page: Bill Schneider

IT'S TOUGH BEING GREEN, BUT WE CAN DO IT

Anybody who follows the endlessly volatile wolf issue--and it's hard not to follow it with all the news coverage--knows the greens won a big victory last week. Judge Donald Molloy of the U.S. District Court sided with Earthjustice and 12 conservation organizations and essentially relisted, albeit temporarily, the wolf as an endangered species.

So, what now? That's the question I've been asking people on both sides of the debate this week, and I might have the answer, a way to quickly get the wolf debate behind us. Does that sound good? [more]

MICROBREW MONTANA

Carter's Brewing of Billings is on the rails, right out the back door, in fact.

At Carter's, one of Montana's newest breweries, it's not only about making craft beer, but also about railroads and trains. If you're into railway culture and history, and happen to enjoy great microbrew, add this taproom to your pub crawl. [more]

MORE FISHING TOURNAMENTS SPAWN MORE FISHING FOR ALL

If you've been reading the outdoor section of NewWest.Net over the past week, you'll know I've been writing about the experience of being in my first fishing tournament, the Governor's Cup Walleye Tournament on Fort Peck Reservoir.

One reason I haven't been in a tournament long ago is some false impressions I had about competitive fishing, mainly my concern that it had a negative impact on fishery. Based on my limited experience, it seems that the opposite is true. Now, I believe more tournaments would mean more fishing and bigger fish for all anglers. [more]

GOVERNOR'S cUP wALLEYE tOURNAMENT

They say you get older and wiser. Well, of late, I've seen a lot of older, but not much wiser--except Bud-weiser, of course.

That's how it was on the second and final day of my first fishing tournament, the Governor's Cup Walleye Tournament on Fort Peck Reservoir.

Case in point. When I decided to enter the tournament, I had a plan. Unlike my younger, more competitive days when I tried to beat everybody in any event I entered, my plan for my first fishing tournament was to beat somebody.

Then, unexpectedly, after a respectable 12th-place showing after the first day, I started to develop a new plan--beating a lot of veteran tournament anglers and perhaps even pulling the big upset and getting, as they say, "in the money," which means the top 16 places out of 80 teams.

Let's just say, bad idea, Bill. [more]

GOVERNOR'S CUP WALLEYE TOURNAMENT

This was the first day of the rest of my fishing tournament life. It was supposed to be yesterday, but Mother Nature stepped in and called a "wind day."

Today, the wind was slightly less severe, so the good folks in charge of the Governor's Cup Walleye Tournament decided to go ahead. Now, that the day is over, and I'm back at the historic Fort Peck Hotel writing, it feels like a good decision. But when I was out there on that massive Fort Peck Reservoir "riding the bull" I wasn't so sure. [more]

GOVERNOR'S CUP WALLEYE TOURNAMENT

It's 9 am Friday, and I'm supposed to be two hours deep into my first fishing tournament, but instead I'm sitting in my room at the Fort Peck Hotel typing this update.

Today, like every day, Mother Nature had her way. It's a "wind day." [more]

GOVERNOR'S cUP wALLEYE tOURNAMENT

I've been fishing for more than fifty years, but I've never been prefishing. That's because I, like most other anglers, have never entered a fishing tournament.

Are you one of the millions of anglers who have watched tournaments on television or read articles about them and wondered what it would be like? If so, please stay tuned for the next three days while I report on my first-ever fishing tournament. [more]

VOTE FOR HUNTING AND WILDLIFE, NOT THE NRA

Has anybody heard that we have a big election coming up? And that in the wake of the historic Scalia opinion in the D.C. v. Heller case, gun rights might be a big issue in the campaign, especially in key western "swing states" such as Colorado, Montana and New Mexico?

Republicans obviously believe they can win these and other western states on the gun issue alone. But I think most hunters can see beyond the end of their gun barrels. [more]

WHERE IS THE HOUSE BILL?

On June 18, finally, Congress started seriously looking into the runaway recreational fee charging policy of federal agencies, primarily the U.S. Forest Service (FS), but it's still just talk. We've had enough of that, so let's just spike this pay-for-play policy, which is at best an extreme stretch of the legal authority given agencies by Congress--"given," sort of, I should say, since our elected leaders never even debated it or voted on it.

Even though it's moving at glacier speed, we at least have the Baucus-Crapo Bill, S. 2438, introduced in the Senate to spike the Recreation Access Tax. This is clearly a bipartisan issue, ripe for election-year politics. Now, we need a sponsor for a similar bill in the House. [more]

SOUTH DAKOTA'S WALLEYE FISHING DESERVES ITS REPUTATION

If you like to fish for walleyes--often called "eyes" because they need such big ones to gather as much light as possible down at the bottom of the lake where they almost always dwell--you're probably like me and dream about fishing South Dakota's Oahe Reservoir.

I finally had my chance last week, and now, I'm already trying to figure out how to get back there for more. [more]