Feature Story
Be it Resolved
A
nyone who has been deeply involved in a nonprofit advocacy group like the Conservation Federation knows that all the important work gets done by committees. As important as the Executive, Ways and Means and other administrative committees are, their work is mainly housekeeping. They are there to support the work that actually accomplishes our mission – preserving Missouri’s natural resources. That work takes place in 10 Resource Advisory Committees - RACs. Those committees are: Archery and Shooting Sports; Big Game, Turkey and Furbearers; Education and Outdoor Recreation; Environment and Ecology; Forest Resources and Management; Grassland and Prairie; Public/Private Lands; Rivers, Streams and Fisheries; Upland Wildlife; and Wetlands and Waterfowl. The job of these RACs is to monitor developments in their areas of responsibility and look into issues raised by CFM members or affiliates. After carefully researching a topic and determining that it merits action, RACs have several alternatives. They can ask CFM leaders to meet with relevant policy makers to discuss the subject informally. Or, they can recommend expressing CFM’s position through an agency’s public comment period.
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CONSERVATION FEDERATION
They might testify at a legislative hearing or ask CFM’s leadership to send a formal letter. RACs also can use information gathered in researching issues to inform other RACs or CFM members about emerging issues. But the option we most often think of is drafting a resolution. Resolutions usually call for action by government agencies, legislators or other elected officials. After approval by members at CFM’s annual General Assembly, resolutions are sent to the appropriate entities. The recipients generally pay close attention to our resolutions, because they know that CFM represents thousands of individual members and thousands more who belong to dozens of CFM affiliate groups. They have seen CFM rally hundreds of supporters at the State Capitol, and they respect our collective clout. CFM’s role of natural-resources watchdog began in the fall of 1935, when a group of concerned sportsmen met to discuss the alarming depletion of Missouri’s forests, fish and wildlife. That meeting led to the formation of CFM and voter approval of a constitutional amendment establishing the world’s first nonpartisan conservation agency.
