My Campaign Movement
From digmovements
The campaign of my movement “Politics and Fish Movements," is to make people more aware of the problems that are bringing our wild salmon and steelhead to the brink of extinction. These problems are: habitat destruction, hydroelectric dams, outdated hatchery programs, both commercial and tribal gill netting, and politics.
The goal of the movement I belong to is to bring back a viable populations of wild Steelhead and Salmon. In a perfect world, we would do away with logging and other practices that damage habitat, tear down all the hydroelectric dams that block fish passage and cover up prime spawning habitat, and we would do away with all gill netting by switching to a selective gear fishery. Then we would not need to pollute the wild fish gene pool with inferior hatchery fish, as we would have all the wild fish we need. The worst part of all of the problems stated above is the politics that are involved, and we all know what politicians follow, they follow the money. There are many groups in the Pacific North West, which are fighting for this cause. I have listed some of these groups under Politically Active Fish Web Sites. Though these groups have won some small political victories, but they don’t carry much political clout. Each of these groups have formed to fight a cause, such as no retention of wild fish, or they want to do away with hatcheries, or another group wants hatcheries. So we as sportsmen can’t get together and form one strong group which would allow us to have a powerful voice in the political arena. A new group is in the beginning stages here in the PNW called Costal Conservation Association. This group is well established on the Atlantic Coast where it has won many huge political victories in the fishing arena. They have done this by establishing a large member base of volunteers and amassing a large enough war chest to take on the big corporate money. They have done this by forming local chapters. Each of these local chapters holds a banquet and auction. When you purchase a ticket, you are enrolled in the local CCA chapter. CCA then asks you to find one person to sign up, their philosophy is “Everyone knows one person they can sigh up.” In just under a year CCA is three thousand strong and new chapters are forming each week. The goal is to have six thousand members by the end of 2009.
What is CCA doing now after a year. Well lets quickly review the year:
One year ago there were no chapters in Washington now there are 11 and soon to be 13.
One year ago there were no members we hope by June 1 to be at 6000 here in Washington
One year ago there was no paid staff, we now have two full time and...
One year ago there was just talk about having a legal presence. We now have an attorney on a healthy retainer who has spent the last number of years in D.C. specializing in fish law. He will be moving to the state in the next month after his wife gives birth.
One year ago we talked about putting forth a plan to change laws, the first plan has been establshed and it is funded well and that is to get the Lower Columbia Commercial harvest to be selective so that the Wild and Native fish can make it back to the gravel in greater numbers.
One year ago WDFW didn't know who we were, now we have partnered with them on a rewards program, modeled after other such successful CCA reward programs in other areas of this country.
One year ago we had no positional statements: We still do not have offical statements, but only because there are minor changes that needed to be made and at the next State Board meeting I am certain they will be approved. I can tell you what the positional statements cover.
They are: Selective Fishing; Derelict Fishing Gear; Hatchery Funding and Reform; Catch Monitoring and Evaluation; Harvest Management; Nutrification of our Freshwater Ecosystems.
[edit] Wild Steelhead Coalation
I asked Todd Ripley of WSC to fill out Tilly's questioner. These are his answers and not official statements (Charles Tilly, Social Movements, 1768-2004 (Boulder: Paradigm Publishers, 2004).
These are his answers to the questions.
Tilly provides a fine analytical frame for mapping social movements, especially on (pp. 7, 93). His questions pertain to our movements in the life world and online.
What is the “campaign” of your movement?
Our campaign is to interject ourselves and our opinions into the framework that the policymakers use to manage wild steelhead stocks in the Pacific Northwest.
- What is the over all goal it wishes to accomplish?
Our overall goal is to minimize the effects of the detrimental factors that limit wild steelhead stocks, and to increase the abundance, genetic diversity, life history diversity, and fishing opportunities for wild steelhead.
- What is the campaign plan to achieve this goal?
Multi-faceted…first, our collection of “known” experts in the various fields lends us instant credibility with the policymakers, and many of us have “inside connections” with those folks, too.
The institutional inertia that we battle on many fronts is also helpful in some situations; it takes a while to get a foot in the door in some arenas, but once we’re in, we’re really in, and it takes a lot to get us out of the process now.
Information is the key to our success, and we develop or use it in different ways. First, we take the information directly from the policymakers and put it into easily digestible forms that bring clarity to the often muddied waters of a particular issue.
Secondly, we’ll develop the information ourselves if there is an information gap.
Third, we fund some graduate students who are out there in the field doing the necessary work to not only develop the information, but to first develop the questions to ask in order to better understand steelhead and steelhead policy.
What “claims-making performances” does it use?
- Public meetings, demonstrations, street theatre, boycotts, art?
We are vocal at public meetings, we have our own public meetings, and we host symposia to bring together lots of other organizations so we can share information and strategies.
- Pamphlets, publications, press releases, lawsuits?
All of the above.
- Civic associations, membership organizations, unions, collectives?
These would pretty much be wrapped up in the comments under “Public meetings, etc.” above.
What are its “WUNC displays,” ie, how does it establish the legitimacy of its cause?
- WUNC – worthiness, unity, numbers, commitment
An easy one is that the steelhead is our State Fish…the citizens of Washington have already spoken and said that steelhead are important. It’s also easy to show the passion that a large segment of the angling community holds for steelhead. The economics are obvious, too, so far as money spent by anglers to pursue steelhead.
- How does it explain the worthiness of its cause?
We not only state the above factors, but we usually have individuals to testify to it, and economic/social/cultural studies that back up our claims.
- How does it demonstrate the unity of its followers?
That’s pretty easy…our members, and other like thinkers, are very consistent amongst themselves on their wants and needs…at public testimony opportunities, for example, many folks will not only go up and say the same thing in their own way, but they will often mention our group as the one that speaks for them, too.
- How does it document and use its number of followers and allies?
We have a board member that maintains our membership rolls, including lists of the special skills or passions of our members, and another who coordinates with other groups to do the same thing.
- How does it prove that its followers are committed?
We can get them to send snail mail or e-mails by the thousands in a very short time due to our communications network, and we can also get hundreds of folks to show up at important public meetings on very short notice to testify on important issues.
Who are the participants in the movement?
Various…anglers, scientists, politicians, average citizens…anyone who cares about having wild steelhead around for most any reason.
- Organizers – Who are the proponents initiating and guiding the movement?
About the same as the “participants”…only we organized to give an opportunity for folks like us to have a forum and voice in wild steelhead issues. We’re fortunate that our supporters include folks from all walks of life, as our initial small group of organizers quickly included not just anglers and guides, but lawyers, reporters, politicians, biologists, and policymakers from various public and private organizations.
- Activists – Who are the active followers?
Same as the “participants”.
- Authorities – Who or what are the powers the movement targets?
Federal and State resource managers, Federal and State politicians, Federal and State Commissions and Policy Managers, City and County Commissioners,
- Third parties – Who is in between? As public observers? Allies? “Objects of reform”?
As our organization has grown and prospered, more and more the answer is “us”…we’re getting direct access to the policymakers and are using that position to not only influence what they do, but to provide a conduit for information and desires from the public to them, too.
What are the claims of your movement? (35-36)
Our goal is important, and we have information you need in order to help us further it.
- Program – What are the movement’s specific political goals?
I’d say it’s to make sure that the policymakers, our supporters, and our opponents all know that we are legitimate, and that we have not only powerful arguments and evidence, but a lot of supporters who believe the same things.
- Identity – What shared traits or social positions hold the movement’s activists and followers together?
Almost entirely composed of folks who think having more wild steelhead around is a good idea. Mainly fishermen of some sort, but not always.
- Standing – What political rights make the movement possible? What material conditions?
We and our supporters don’t feel that we are very well-represented by our policymakers, and oftentimes they agree, so we are afforded the standing to represent those who are not already represented. At first, at least, the condition required for that is that we either aren’t represented by the policymakers, or those policymakers who do represent us aren’t effective enough…as time goes by and we get more representative policymakers who become more effective, we continue to push them, and use them to push others, in the direction we’d like them to go.
“Are web technologies transforming your movement? (pp. 97-98)
Yes.
- In what ways?
The ability to communicate quickly and effectively has forever changed with the advent of the web.
This is also true about the information out there about our movement. It is no longer housed in paper form in places that are not very accessible to us…we can all find it within a few clicks, if we choose to look.
- How do they produce their effects?
The amount of information, the speed with which it can be transmitted, and the uses it can be put to are all increased by orders of magnitude, and it increases daily.
- How do online tactics and online forms of organization interact with your movement?
More than just interact, in many ways they “are” our movement…it’s hard to separate the quick and easy transfer of information, and high speed long distance instant communications, from what we “do”…they increasingly become so interconnected as to be indistinguishable.
- To what extent and how do recent alterations in your movement result from the changes in technology?”
For our movement overall, it almost entirely depends upon the changes in technology. Not only do those who manage our resources make massive uses of the increased technologies, but so do the activists and our supporters. Technology makes the management of the resources much more intensive, and it also increases our “watchdog” capabilities, not to mention our abilities to spread information and force changes in that management if it becomes necessary.
Our organization in particular got started after the advent of much of the technology, and we embraced it as a matter of course when setting our organization up. It would have been a much more difficult row to hoe without it.
