To the Editor:

I love this time of year. Cold, crisp days remind me of the days I spent with my dad and our beagles chasing rabbits. Now it means it’s time to share a blind with a wet retriever or float a river when no one else is on it to see if any wood ducks are still here or if mallards have come down from up north. Now my 40-year-old son hunts and fishes with me. I love the time I get to spend with my son afield. We hunt and fish on the public lands and public waters that we are blessed to own with other Americans.  

Unfortunately these resources and all wildlife habitats are under attack. In recent years our duck hunting has suffered because ducks are just not coming down from the north like they use too. We are finding trout streams that are warming to a point that cold water fish can’t survive. We have witnessed damage from salt water incursion in national wildlife refuges that kills fresh water marshes as sea levels rise.  

The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) just completed four reports on the impact of a warming world on wildlife habitats:

• “Swimming Upstream: Freshwater Fish in a Warming World.”

• “Shifting Skies: Migratory Birds in a Warming World.”

• “Nowhere to Run: Big Game in a Warming World.”

• “Wildlife in a Warming World.”

You can find all four reports at the on the NWF web site at: www.nwf.org/Sportsmen-/Climate-Change.aspx

Whether you are a hunter, fisherman, birder, or simply enjoy kicking around outdoors, I believe you will find these reports compelling.

G. Richard Mode

Morganton