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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• Three U.S. senators introduced legislation for a 10-day, national sales tax holiday to boost consumer spending. States would be reimbursed for the lost revenue. National Retail Federation estimates this would save consumers $6.5 billion representing $100 billion spending.

• Florida's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission voted to look at changing the listing of manatee populations from endangered to just threatened. Their federal counterparts are said to be in synch with the change. Boating and conservation interests are squared off on the manatee issue.

• Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), following through on initiatives by outgoing chair and Clinton-appointee Ann Brown, voted to recall some Daisy air rifles. Gun ownership proponents claimed the recall was motivated less by concern for safety than to cause problems for companies that introduce shooting sports to young people.

• Chesapeake Bay Foundation's annual State of the Bay Report says the bay's health is still poor, primarily because of excess nitrogen and phosphorus which prevents the growth of sea grasses and the return of crabs, oysters and other sea life.

• According to WWF, a conservation organization, governments around the world subsidize their commercial fishing initiatives for about 20 percent of the landings, but acknowledge much less, in violation of World Trade Organization (WTO) rules.

• French skier Regine Cavagnoud died and German coach Markus Anwander has critical injuries after an 80-mile per hour collision on an Austrian glacier.

• Germany's illbruck Challenge won the first leg of the Volvo Ocean Race from Southampton to Cape Town. The starting gun on the next leg, Sydney, sounds Nov. 11. Then, to Auckland, Rio, Fort Lauderdale, Baltimore, La Rochelle, Gothenburg and Kiel. ETA: June.

• According to the AP, Craig McCaw, the telecom tycoon, is suing a former employee for allegedly trying to sell secrets – sailboat speed secrets – to Oracle's Larry Ellison. Both McCaw and Ellison, in addition to deep pockets, have a love for world-class sailboat racing.

• Police sprayed animal rights activists with pepper spray Monday when they tried to cross a barricade set up by police in front of a life sciences research facility in Little Rock. 

• Brian Robinson of San Jose took a leave as a systems engineer at Compaq and, in one 12 month period, hiked three National Scenic Trails – Pacific Crest Trail, Continental Divide Trail, and Appalachian Trail. He finished Saturday.

• Gary Morgenstern was named executive director of ESPN Outdoors with responsibility for fishing, hunting and outdoors programming. He reports to Michael Rooney, GM.

• President George W. Bush signed a $4.1 billion appropriation bill for Department of Interior and related agencies. It includes $80 million in state wildlife grants. The Forest Service gets an extra $25 million to restore buildings, fix roads, and improve the agency's infrastructure and a $15 million increase for recreation, heritage and wilderness programs. 

• September 11 attitude shift. Seventy percent of people in the U. S. plan outdoor activities this winter holiday season, according to a survey of 1,000 households. Hiking and skiing scored highest in this R. T. Nielsen survey, commissioned by REI, the outdoor retailer.

• One of those undisclosed locations visited by Vice President Dick Cheney is a pheasant field near Gettysburg, South Dakota.

• Thinking he saw a coyote about to attack his sheep, a farmer in north-central Missouri shot and killed a timber (gray) wolf. The Missouri Department of Conservation said the wolf, probably intent on setting up his own hunting territory, had roamed approximately 500 miles from the Ironwood area in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

• The U.S. Justice Department reported from 1991 to 1997 criminals were more likely to use a gun to commit crimes, plus an increasing number got their guns from friends and family, not stores, which require background checks.

• Voters in West Yellowstone narrowly turned down a proposal to ban snowmobiles from midnight to morning. Snowmobiles groups are important to the local economy in the winter, though many complain about the noise. Industry officials say quieter machines are on the way.

• Voters in the New Jersey borough of Peapack-Gladstone voted $100,000 to thin the residential area deer herd, but they're going to let the council decide how to do it. Mayor Vincent Girardy said professional sharpshooters would probably be hired. The deer have been blamed for environmental and traffic problems.

• The $52 million American National Fish and Wildlife Museum opened in Springfield, Mo. next door to Bass Pro Shops' Outdoor World.

• National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA) gave KVH Industries two "Best Product" awards for the KVH TracVision4 Satellite TV system and KVH Tracphone 25 for voice, fax and data. C-Map won top honors in the electronic charts category.

• Fishing Hall of Famer Ken Schultz announced the publication of North American Fishing, a sportfishing reference with color artwork.

• In Norway, as far as commercial fishermen are concerned, there are too many seals. Seals eat fish. They get tangled in nets. So Fisheries Minister Svein Ludvigsen has proposed that tourists come and hunt seals, just like they hunt moose and other game. 

• Leaves on the ground fueled wildfires in the East. Appalachian areas were especially affected. Cars used headlamps on mountain roads, thick with smoke. More than 12 individuals were arrested on arson charges. 

• Warm weather kept most Colorado ski resorts closed or open only for limited skiing. Marketers say, when the snow flies, they will target mountain-area skiers who don't have to fly to Denver or other airports.

• Oil dropped to $18 a barrel and headed toward $14, according to some analysts. OPEC members wanted to limit production, but not if Russia, Mexico and other non-members continue to pump.

• The next big bulge of consumers – 70 million-plus – are under 18. A new report from the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association (SGMA) describes sports and outdoor trends. For teens, angling is the most preferred outdoor activity.

• A squall broke the mast of Team New Zealand's America's Cup vessel, calling into question the structural integrity of its high-tech design.

• U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton (D-Minn.) put a "hold" on two key executive-branch appointments. Dayton and his Midwest counterparts protest the Fish and Wildlife Service plan to extend the duck hunting season in southern states.

• Complaints by its members that apparel designers don't know much about the outdoors prompted the Fashion Institute Program (FIT) of New York University to create a new curriculum, announced this week, to teach clothing designers how to create clothes for outdoor activities.

• Apparel textile manufacturer Burlington Industries filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Burlington will accelerate plans to develop its "Nano-Tex" products for use in outdoor clothing.

• Boating's bounce from the bottom? Strong attendance and sales reports came in from the Newport International Boat Show, Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, and Sail Expo-St. Petersburg.

• Brunswick Corporation (Mercury, Sea Ray, Hatteras, Boston Whaler) said it may expand into financial services. Gilles P. Neurice was named VP and GM of financial services.

• American Honda said it would sell four-stroke "AquaTrax" personal watercraft, starting in Florida, California, Michigan and Texas. 

• If Miami metro doesn't build a new airport at the old Homestead Air Force Base, destroyed by Hurricane Andrew, the county's economic development agency recommends "Destination Everglades," an ecological research center and hotel.

• U.S. Customs at the Miami airport asked Carlos Rodriquez Avila to raise his pants. They found 44 melodious finches but no paperwork. The songbirds, from Cuba, are said to fetch $350 each in the U.S.

• U.S. Supreme Court refused to take a case challenging New Jersey's ban on semiautomatic assault weapons, a victory for gun control advocates. Opponents say the law defining outlawed weapons is vague and that it will not disarm criminals. 

• A team of scientists from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver say that world commercial fish catches have been decreasing, not increasing as was thought, because China has been reporting larger-than-actual landings.

• The U.S. Forest Service was telling Congress that one billion people visit national forests yearly. Turns out it's more like 209 million people. A story in the Oregonian reported that the Forest Service changed its counting methods after realizing it had been counting the same visitors four and five times. It is now correcting the record.

• Game managers set up a replica of a white tailed buck deer on the side of the road in the Black Hills National Forest. Stats: 76 vehicles drove by, 18 vehicles were stopped, 24 people shot at the decoy, 31 citations and 10 warnings were issued. 

• National Geographic magazine has licensed Italy's Bailo Co. to design and produce a collection of functional outdoor clothing -- jackets, parkas and mid-layer apparel for sale through outdoor specialty shops.

• Swiss Army Brands opened a 3500-square-foot store in Manhattan's Soho district. 

• Employees at Daisy Outdoor Products have created the American Spirit, a BB/pellet rifle. It features an Old Glory flag pattern on the stock and forearm. Daisy is earmarking some of the proceeds to the United Way's September 11 Fund.

• Hooked on Fishing International issued its last call for adult groups to order the all-in-one kit to put on a Kids All American Fishing Derby next year. Go to www.kids-fishing.com

• Billboards on the sea: A Los Angeles media company, OnSail Advertising, will create an ad for your firm and place it on the sails of vessels moored just beyond the surf. 

• Détente has arrived. During off time, Endeavor astronaut Daniel Bursch will read books, Carl Walz will strum his guitar, and Yuri Onufrienko, an avid outdoorsman, will tie flies. 

• Factoid: There are five million wild turkeys in the United States today, compared with only 1.3 million in 1973. Source: National Wild Turkey Federation.

• Producers of a reality-based outdoor competition TV program called Worst Case Scenario Face Off are said to be having trouble finding people with outdoor experience and skills to handle survival crises. 

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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