Sportsmen help promote conservation
With 18 shotguns and 14 muzzle loaders, it's no surprise that Norm Jones is a life member of the National Rifle Association.
And with four kids and a job at the General Motors Foundry in Defiance, Ohio, it's no surprise either that he is also a staunch UAW supporter.
"I want an organization that'll help me keep my guns, but when it comes down to it, my job and my family are more important," said the 29-year seniority electrician who has no intentions of dumping the NRA.
"I guess I can say that because I really don't believe anyone is trying to take away my job," he added.
All that probably makes this UAW Local 211 member the perfect candidate to join a brand-new group with an agenda to promote hunting, fishing and conservation: The Union Sportsmen's Alliance (USA).
USA is a collaboration of the AFL-CIO and the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, a coalition of hunting, fishing and conservation organizations. Roosevelt, America's 26th president, was an avid hunter and one of our nation’s earliest conservationists.
But the two sides have not always blended well of late. "At our NRA dinners, the running joke was that the Sierra Club bought a table this year," said Jones.
After reviewing the USA Web site, Jones says he will likely join the new hunter and angler group. He likes its goals, including the conservationist parts.
A portion of USA's annual membership of $25 goes to support conservation efforts, such as access for hunters and anglers, fish habitat conservation, and wildlife-friendly energy development on public lands and wilderness areas.
USA has plenty of room to grow. Of the 80 million gun owners in America, only 4.3 million are NRA members.
Of the first 20 AFL-CIO unions to affiliate with USA, more than 3.2 million of these union members hunt or fish with the vast majority not belonging to any hunting or fishing organization.
Eric Chrisley, a 10-year seniority worker at the Volvo Truck plant in Dublin, Va., is one of them. "I know a lot of our members would love to join a group that represents both their union values and their gun owner values," he said.
