Advocacy

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Advocacy

Issues of the Day

Monday, January 18th, is Conservation Lobby Day in Richmond. Check the Action Alerts page for information about how you can be a part of this important opportunity to let your representatives know how you feel about this issues that TU cares about and works for.

Preparing for Climate Change (Legislation)

TU has been involved in the climate change issue and impending legislation. Keep your eyes on this space and the Action Alerts page for updates on this important issue

Important Legislation concerning the Chesapeake Bay watershed is pending in Congress. Check the Action Alerts page for a link that will allow you to let your legislators know that you support efforts to restore the health of our nation's largest estuary.

"Cast your whole vote, not a strip of paper merely, but your whole influence."

-- Henry David Thoreau

To be an advocate implies that you are active in regard to a cause you care about. It includes the identification of a cause, taking up that cause gladly and readily, and, perhaps most importantly, promoting it. For TU members, the cause is well defined in the mission statement: to conserve, protect, and restore coldwater fisheries and their headwaters in Virginia. You will see this at the very top of every page on this website. TU is more than just a fishing club. Certainly, as we take care the habitat, the fishing will take care of itself. However, the habitat will not take care of itself -- we must see that it gets done.

Some have questioned the advocacy role of VCTU. Non-profit organizations like VCTU clearly have the right, in fact they have the obligation, to advocate, to lobby. Lobbying carries a taint in many people's eyes these days, but to lobby is a long-standing right of individuals and organizations. As a non-profit organization, there are limits to the amount of time and money that VCTU can spend on direct lobbying, that is, communication with legislators about a particular issue. We are safe in this regard. VCTU is well within its proscribed limits for both time and money spent on direct lobbying based on its annual budget. VCTU will continue to meet with Virginia's legislators as appropriate, but an even more important effort should be growing from the ground up, so called grassroots advocacy. It will be an important function of these pages to inform TU members of issues and to facilitate action on their part.

Please continue to visit this page and the Action Alert page as utilities, links, and functions are added. A priority will be to build a fast and effective means for you to contact your legislators in the Virginia General Assembly and the US Congress about issues important to us all.