Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - January/February 2015 - 3

licenses last year. We have over 3 million total boaters, and
over 400,000 of us registered our boats last year. However,
we only have about 16,000 subscribers to this magazine and
furthermore as shown in Table 1, we only have about 366,000
members of conservation and sportsmen organizations
in our Commonwealth. Considering that I, and many of
you, belong to multiple groups, I believe that this probably
overestimates the total membership in these organizations.
Since we have over 12 million people in our Commonwealth,
I submit that we are collectively the uncommon men by being
part of the organized minority. However, we are typically the
ones who speak out whenever a voice is needed to educate
our legislature about the importance of rare species and wild
trout, debate the idea of raising (or how about lowering)
the cost of a fishing license or trout stamp, make a decision
about using bait or flies on a wild or even stocked trout water,
determine how many or where boat accesses are needed on a
particular water and many other issues. Given the numbers of
us involved as professional career employees or as part of an
organized volunteer group, I can unequivocally say that we are
the uncommon men.

I need your help to reach out to the common men who are
not represented in these discussions; the ones who are too
busy with other demands for their time. We need their help
to protect, conserve and enhance our aquatic resources and
improve fishing and boating recreation in Pennsylvania. We
all have those common friends like George, Butch, Dick, Dan,
Keith, Ronny, Jimmy and Big Ed at my camp. We sit around
the campfire or kitchen table and talk about how we can do
better but return home to normal life and never seem to have
the time to follow through. My challenge to you is to reach
out to your friends and colleagues who are also common men
and convince them to join the ranks of the uncommon, since
we need help if our sportsmen's voice will stay relevant in the
discussions that will determine the fate of conservation and
recreation in Pennsylvania.

Your Director,
><(John{(°>

Table 1: Membership numbers for major sportsmen and conservation groups in Pennsylvania.

Organization

Members

Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs

73,000

Unified Sportsmen of Pennsylvania

70,000

Pennsylvania Council of Trout Unlimited

13,000+

PennFuture

1,000

"When we are sick, we
want an uncommon
doctor; when we have a
construction job to do,
we want an uncommon
engineer, and when we
are at war, we want an
uncommon general.
It is only when we get
into politics that we
are satisfied with the
common man."

Pennsylvania Audubon

25,000

Pennsylvania Sierra Club

25,000

Pennsylvania Environmental Council

2,000+

Western Pennsylvania Conservancy

10,617

Pennsylvania Land Trust Association

75 organizational members

Clean Water Action

120,000+

Chesapeake Bay Foundation

25,000 reside in Pennsylvania

American Fisheries Society (Pennsylvania Chapter)

136

Pennsylvania Forestry Association

915

Herbert Clark Hoover
(American President,
1874-1964)

Pennsylvania Biological Survey

150

Pennsylvania Academy of Science

278

Total

366,171+
The mission of the Pennsylvania
Fish & Boat Commission is to
protect, conserve and enhance
the Commonwealth's aquatic
resources and provide fishing
and boating opportunities.

PFBC website: www.fishandboat.com

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