The Life Outdoors

Uncle Bud was one great fly fisherman

BY RICHARD W. AITES

Editorial

During the last session of Congress, RAWA passed the House of Representatives but failed to make it across the finish line in the Senate. Reports from polling and public opinion research indicate broad bipartisan political support for passage of this bill remains. U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich, D-New Mexico, carried the legislation in the past along with now-retired Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt.

On this go-round, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-North Carolina, is sponsoring the legislation with Heinrich.

The Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (AFWA) serves as the collective voice of state, provincial and territorial fish and wildlife agencies. The organization issued a press release acknowledging the advancement of the act and their support for its final passage.

“The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act is a transformational bill that will give state fish and wildlife agencies the sustainable resources needed and will empower local stakeholders to work together with states to implement the wildlife action plans they’ve had in place for years,” said Ron Regan, AFWA executive director. “We know what needs to be done on the ground for wildlife – and that it takes time and dedicated funding to achieve it. That is why this bill is so critically needed.”

Life And Death Issue

Funding for fish and wildlife conservation is truly a matter of life and death. Not necessarily so for us, at least not in the short term, but for thousands of species, some you’ve likely never heard of, facing dire circumstances. The prairie chickens and monarch butterflies are just two examples.

“The need for the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act is indisputable and the urgency never greater,” said Curt Melcher, director of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and president of the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies.

“This is common sense, collaborative conservation, and it is widely supported by a growing and diverse national coalition. We applaud Senators Heinrich and Tillis for their leadership and perseverance and stand ready to assist them in passing this bill for our fish and wildlife and for future generations,” Melcher said.

Senator Heinrich is an undisputed champion of wildlife conservation. I have actually eaten dinner at his home in Albuquerque. where he made myself and Jesse Duebel, executive director of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation, a stew made with caribou meat from a hunt in Alaska. In Heinrich we have a true

“Without enough resources, state and tribal wildlife agencies have been forced to pick and choose which species are worth saving. Instead of doing the pro-active work that is necessary to maintain healthy wildlife populations on the front end, they have been forced into using reactive measures to rescue species after they are listed as threatened or endangered. We urgently need to change this paradigm and save thousands of species with a solution that matches the magnitude of the challenge.”

Heinrich added, “The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act offers us a constructive path forward. Passing RAWA into law will mean our grandchildren will be able to experience the same rich and abundant American wildlife – from bumblebees to bison – that we have been so lucky to grow up with.”

The Next Man Up

With Sen. Blunt’s retirement, we lost a strong advocate for wildlife. His friendship with Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris helped drive legislative action. But thankfully, we have the next man up in Sen. Tillis, who represents North Carolina, another state rich in outdoor heritage.

Said Tillis: “Congress has a long history of being champions of conservation efforts in the U.S. to protect our unmatched landscape and wildlife population. Today, we are facing another crisis, with too many fish and wildlife being placed on the endangered species list, negatively impacting businesses, farmers and landowners.

“This situation must be avoided at all costs, and RAWA gives state and tribal wildlife commissions the tools needed to perform pro-active, on-the-ground conservation to prevent threatened species from becoming endangered.

“This is the first step in a long road to build consensus, and I look forward to partnering with Sen. Heinrich and my colleagues in Congress to work on this legislation so we can avoid those situations and keep more fish and wildlife off the endangered species list, saving tens of millions of dollars in compliance costs for Americans, and protecting our country’s rich natural resources.”

A Monumental Effort

The significance of RAWA is monumental. Without a serious influx of funding for critical fish and wildlife work, we will continue to lose species to extinction. If you care about fish and wildlife, and the overall health of our natural environment, take a moment to contact the offices of your congressmen and senators, and ask them to support RAWA.

See more of Brandon Butler’s writing at DriftwoodOutdoors or go to the podcast at www.driftwoodoutdoors.com.

My uncle, Charles Henry Ossenfort, served 30 years with the Chesterfield, Mo. fire department. His siblings (my mother included) called him “Buddy” from a very young age. This later led to his nieces and nephews referring to him as “Uncle Bud.”

Around town and at the fire station, friends, neighbors, and other fire fighters called him “Chuck.”

As far back as I can remember, my Uncle Bud enjoyed fishing. During my grammar school days (before my family moved to Pennsylvania) he’d take me along with his own sons to the Meramec River, not far from their Eureka home. Most of the fish we caught were considered trash fish, but as a kid, landing a 4- or 5-lb.freshwater drum or carp was a lot of fun.

Around the time of his retirement in 2001, Uncle Bud developed a passion for fly fishing, so much so that every spring he’d travel up into Canada to fish for smallmouth bass, northern pike and walleye with his fly tackle. He once told me how much he enjoyed the shore lunches the guides served up from the walleye the fishermen caught earlier in the morning. Hell, I didn’t even know you could catch a walleye on a fly!

Yet from what I’ve learned over the years, Uncle Bud could catch anything on fly tackle. He became so passionate about fly fishing that he began tying his own flies, and he got so good at it, that he landed a retirement job tying flies for Feather-Craft Fly Fishing in Brentwood.

River Runs Through It

In 1990, following my military service, I moved back to the St. Louis area, where I reconnected with Uncle Bud and his family. It was around the time of his retirement (2001) when I rented the movie, “A River Runs Through It,” starring Brad Pitt and Tom Skerritt. Shortly after viewing the film, I too caught the fly fishing bug.

I remember receiving a $100 Bass Pro Shop gift card the following Christmas, and shortly thereafter had my Uncle Bud accompany me to the St. Charles store to shop for a fly rod. Not knowing anything about fly rods, I needed his expertise in selecting the right one.

After purchasing one, we drove to my parents’ place, where we spent the next couple of hours in the large, vacant lot next to their house. This is where my Uncle Bud taught me how to fly cast.

A few weeks later, he gifted me a dozen or so wet and dry flies that he tied himself. Yet, like a mild case of the flu, I got over the bug nearly as quickly as I had caught it.

During one outing of fly-fishing at the August Busch Conservation Area, I landed several bluegills, a couple of small bass, and a 24-inch channel catfish. But I soon lost interest –when I realized that I didn’t enjoy fishing nearly as much as I had in my adolescence. I guess I’m more of a hunter now than a fisherman. And now that ole’ fly rod rests in the rafters of my garage, collecting dust and cobwebs.

GOOD MAN, BIG HEART

During his fire-fighting days in the 80’s and

90’s, Uncle Bud took part in charity events around St. Louis. In particular, he helped raise money for the local Shriners Hospital, where he’d dress up as a quirky clown and buzz around the streets in a go-cart during the parades. I can still recall, as a kid, admiring the paintings of clowns hanging on the walls of his Eureka home.

Of course, this was before the latest version of Stephen King’s IT, when clowns weren’t so terrifying.

For several years, he also drove a bus (as a volunteer) to transport elderly citizens around his hometown of Eureka for shopping and recreational activities. In December, 1998, shortly after my first-born son was admitted into the NICU at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital, my Uncle Bud and Aunt Janice visited me and my wife to show their support.

Being a brand new father, I was deeply depressed about our newborn’s dire condition, but Uncle Bud comforted me by simply implying that my son would be all right. The confidence and reassurance in his face and voice made all the difference in the world to us. And less than a month later, our son left Cardinal Glennon a healthy baby boy.

FISHING INTO HIS LATE 70s

As recently as five years ago, and nearing 80, my Uncle Bud was still fly fishing the Meramec River near his Eureka home. Much of it was done from a kayak. About a decade ago, on one nice Thanksgiving morning, we decided to do a little fishing at a local stock pond that was only open to residents and their relatives. Because of the holiday, we pretty much had the place to ourselves.

While my brother and I baited our hooks with worms and minnows, Uncle Bud broke out the fly rod and put us to shame by the number of bass and blue-gills he landed using his homemade flies. It was also the first time I’d ever witnessed a “roll cast.”

Sadly, just before the COVID pandemic started, a serious medical condition and declining health ended his fishing days. This past June 1, a few days before his 84th birthday, my Uncle Bud peacefully passed away. In the coming weeks, I plan on blowing the dust off my ole’ fly rod and heading to the Meramec to honor one hell of a fly fisherman, and more importantly, one hell of a man.