bp-Outdoors :  The AuCoin Report News Briefs from the Great Outdoors!  Covering Boating, Hunting, Fishing, Camping, Hiking and more. Topics include: New products, environmental news, conservation, legal issues, gun ownership, celebrity news and industry alerts.

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• Sharks feeding in shallow water killed two Atlantic seaboard vacationers, one wading the surf of North Carolina's Outer Banks and the other, a 10-year-old, swimming near Virginia Beach, Virginia. 

• Colorado sued Coors Brewing Co. for reimbursement for 50,000 fish – bass, perch, sunfish and other species – killed a year ago when 77,000 gallons of beer, essentially untreated, emptied into Clear Creek. Colorado Division of Wildlife placed the value of the fish at $35 each. 

• Four climbers roped together fell into a crevasse on the western flank of 11,000-foot Mount Baker in Washington. Three with broken bones were rescued in an operation involving 40 volunteer climbers. The fourth climber, Glyn Ewen of New Westminster, BC, died.

• Picking up on studies that show manatee populations stable and perhaps increasing, the government relations office of the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) is "nudging" the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to downlist, not delist, the big mammal as an endangered species.

• A new report from the University of Wisconsin confirmed that particles in the smoke from residential fireplaces and from recreational camper fires pollute the Great Lakes.

• AuCoin Report Salute: Michael Lannoo, PhD, receives The Field Museum's Parker/Gentry Award Sept. 12 for his study of pollution's effects on frogs, especially in the Upper Midwest. Frogs are like the canary in a coal mine, said Lannoo. "In death and disfigurement, frogs are teaching us a lesson about how to conduct ourselves as human beings and members of society."

• Patience Wales is stepping down as editor of SAIL after 13 years. The publisher has selected Peter Nielsen as her successor. Nielsen was editor of the British publication, Yachting Monthly.

• A dead alligator wearing a game warden's jacket was found hanging from a tree near Melbourne, Florida. A spokesman for the Florida Game and Freshwater Fish Commission (GFC) said this is only the latest in a series of such retributions from, presumably, game poachers. Heads of dead deer and other animals have been put in game officers' driveways. One individual put the name of a game warden on a coffin and drove the coffin around town in the back of his pickup truck.

 

The AuCoin Report is suspended this week due to Tuesday's Attack on America.

Last week The AuCoin Report asked readers to comment about Tuesday's Attack on America. We asked the business leaders and journalists who serve outdoor recreation what was the appropriate business posture? Should we adjust our businesses and communications in any way? How will it affect the outdoor recreation industry?

Thanks to all who took the time to write their perspectives. Here are excerpts from your comments:

• I think that businesses should be positioning themselves to weather some recessionary storms. We have been in an economic slowdown and the horrible events of last week will push us over the brink into a real recession. I realize that we cannot ignore the future threats that have been implicitly pushed in our collective faces, but panic and disruption are what the terrorists want. This is a strong industry in the world's strongest economy and country. We certainly have a future. It is my feeling that the disruption to this industry will be in the short-term. As we return to what will be normalcy in the future, I believe people will give a greater importance to the very real benefits of outdoor recreation. It always takes some rain to make a rainbow. Rip Cunningham, Publisher & Editor In Chief, Salt Water Sportsman

• I don't know about the long term effects of the crisis, but for the immediate short term-my phone hasn't rang nor have I had any sales. It seems to be more than a simple slowing of business. I'm taking off today and going fishing. David Kinser, President, Oxygenation Systems of Texas, Anahuac, Texas

• I have pulled all search terms from GOTO.com and other advertising as I feel that business will be very slow for the time being and because I feel fishing is not that important right now. People need to concentrate on giving blood and helping New York and Washington recover and I feel we as an industry for a time are irrelevant. On the other hand I feel people as a way of fighting back need to do normal things like fishing so I have mixed emotions about all this. I hope that some of our brohers in fishing in the New York area are helping and that maybe we need to help them to pay for their time and fuel so they do not take the brunt of the expense on themselves. Jim Dicken, fishing.com

• I wrote a piece about it in my regular outdoor column in the newspaper. Writing about any outdoor stuff on this day just seemed too trivial for me. Locally, a fishing seminar held by a magazine was cancelled out of respect and mourning for those who died. Wayne Nester, Managing Editor, Suffolk Life Newspapers, Central Islip, NY

• The horrendous attack against America on September 11 re-enforces the idea that many American hold that removing guns from the public would be a tremendously serious mistake. The attack demonstrates without a question of doubt, that civilization harbors madmen at every level that must be defended against. An armed public appears to be one of the true safeguards against such inhuman acts. The actions against America on September 11 could possibly occur in our own home on any given day. Surely, we must not put ourselves in a position where such actions against us would go completely undefended. Soc Clay, freelance outdoor writer, South Shore, KY

• On the surface, our fishing and hunting business seems like a trivial pursuit in light of the tragedy. … I was raised in the outdoors. My dad & grandpas had me in the woods and on the water at every opportunity they could. I learned respect for wildlife, nature, landowners and for life itself in the outdoors. … I always found myself more civil when I returned home from the wilds. I also observed that the relationships with folks with whom I shared my outdoor experiences almost always were deepened and enriched in our times together. … The outdoors is an oasis in a troubled world, a place where relationships can be strengthened and reborn. In fact, we are engaged in a noble calling to help people realize what is good and right and important…. In fact, I believe that we must redouble our efforts to enlighten the world of the healing power the outdoors offers. Donny Beaver, Paradise Outfitters, Bellwood, PA

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The AuCoin Report is a service of AuCoin & Associates, Inc. 

Communications for the Great Outdoors, St. Petersburg, Fla. 

A&A specializes in marketing, corporate and public policy communications for boating, sport-fishing and outdoor recreation organizations. 

Contact Bill AuCoin at: wmaucoin@tampabay.rr.com