The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance (USSA) president, Bud Pidgeon, is speaking out against the manufacturers and distributors of Yellow Tail wine and urging sportsmen to join in to voice their protest.
The Australian maker of Yellow Tail has pledged $100,000 to the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), the nation’s largest anti-hunting organization. The partnership offers further proof of HSUS’ work to spin its animal rights message in a way as to seem mainstream.

As HSUS states on its website: “… the HSUS has paired with (Yellow Tail) for the ‘tails for tails’ program. Through the end of March, you’ll see special (Yellow Tail) displays bearing The HSUS name and logo in stores across the country. Through ‘tails for tails,’ Yellow Tail is donating $100,000 to support us and our programs to help animals, including our Spay Day Online Pet Photo Contest.”
Alerted to the relationship, the USSA immediately contacted the American distributor of the wine, W.J. Deutsch and Sons Ltd., and urged them to ask Yellow Tail to sever its relationship with HSUS. Thus far, the USSA has not heard from W.J. Deutsch regarding the request.

“This winemaker has fallen into the same trap as other companies who donate money to HSUS,” said Pidgeon. “They believe they are helping animals in shelters, when in fact they are funding an agenda from an animal rights group that is largely divergent from the vast majority of Americans.”

The USSA is urging sportsmen to take action by contacting W.J. Deutsch and Sons Ltd. and informing them that they disapprove of Yellow Tail’s relationship with the HSUS.  It is important W.J. Deutsch understand each dollar given to HSUS is another dollar to be used to attack hunting, fishing and trapping rights.

W.J. Deutsch and Sons Ltd. may be contacted at: W.J. Deutsch and Sons Ltd., Attention: Mr. Bill Deutsch, 108 Corporate Park Dr., White Plains, NY 10604; by phone at 914-251-9463; or by  e-mail at info@wjdeutsch.com

Sportsmen telephoning to voice opposition to the relationship with HSUS should ask to speak to Bill Deutsch, W.J. Deutsch’s chairman, or Peter Deutsch, the company’s CEO.

Learn more about the outdoors

People often ask me, “How do I learn more about the outdoors?” Well, for individuals who would like to become a “master,” there is a program available to help achieve a higher level of learning about the ins and outs of Indiana’s outdoors.

The Upper Wabash Interpretive Services is holding an Indiana Master Naturalist class at the Salamonie Reservoir Interpretive Center, March 18-May 13. Classes take place Thursday evenings, 6-9:15 p.m.

The Indiana Master Naturalist Program (IMNP) is developed by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Purdue University extension to provide education about Indiana’s plants, water, soils and wildlife, and to promote volunteer service in local communities.

The class costs $65, and is limited to 30 students. Participants must register by Feb. 26. For a registration form, or to learn more about the program, contact the Upper Wabash Interpretive Services at 260-468-2127, Ed Farris of the Huntington County extension office at 260-358-4826 or Jody Heaston, program coordinator, by e-mail at jheaston@dnr.in.gov

Park entrance fees will be waived for class participants.

Goose Pond Marsh Madness coming up next month

Goose Pond Fish and Wildlife Area’s annual Marsh Madness bird festival takes place March 5-6 at multiple locations around Greene County. The festival celebrates the county’s abundant natural resources during the peak of the annual Sandhill crane and waterfowl migration.

Tickets for March 6 only cost $5. Discounted weekend passes are priced at $7 through Feb. 19 and will be $10 if purchased later. The supply of weekend passes is limited.

The event kicks off from 5-6:30 p.m. March 5, with a chili dinner (included in the cost of a weekend pass) at Humphrey’s Park Roy Clark Community Building in Linton. Indiana Wildlife Federation Executive Director John Goss will deliver the keynote speech.

Activities on March 6 take place from 6 a.m.-6 p.m. Bus tours to Goose Pond will be available while workshops on photography, oil painting and back yard wildlife habitat will be held at various venues in Humphrey’s Park and around Linton.

Leslie Grow of the Dwight Chamberlain Raptor Center at Hardy Lake State Reservoir will give presentations on several birds of prey she’ll have on display, including a bald eagle. Craft vendors and plenty of activities for children, including a coloring contest and birdhouse building, will be offered.

For more ticket information, send an e-mail to mail@friendsofgoosepond.org or call 812-659-9901. To register for workshops, call 812-847-0165.

Cass County under emerald ash borer quarantine

Emerald ash borer (EAB) has been detected in Tipton Township, east of Logansport in Cass County. Robert E. Carter Jr., director of the DNR, declared the entire county quarantined for EAB after the state entomologist, Phil Marshall, recommended that movement of ash, regulated ash material and hardwood firewood within the county be limited in an effort to reduce spread of the insect.

To view quarantined areas and EAB sightings in Indiana, go to the interactive EAB Map at www.in.gov/dnr/entomolo/5349.htm
EAB, an invasive forest insect killing ash trees, first found in Indiana in 2004, has now been identified in 32 counties: Adams, Allen, Blackford, Brown, Cass, DeKalb, Delaware, Dubois, Elkhart, Floyd, Grant, Hamilton, Harrison, Huntington, Jay, Kosciusko, LaGrange, Lawrence, Marion, Miami, Monroe, Noble, Orange, Porter, Randolph, Ripley, St. Joseph, Steuben, Wabash, Wells, White and Whitley.

In addition to the state-level quarantine, all of Indiana is now under a federal quarantine prohibiting the moving of regulated ash material out of Indiana without a compliance agreement or permit from the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
 
The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments may contact Jack Spaulding by e-mail at jackspaulding@hughes.net or by writing to him in care of this publication.