From AFFTA:
Congress Overturns Stream Protection Rule, Sportsmen Push Back
When Congress voted to overturn the Stream Protection Rule on February 2, 2017, sportsmen around the country made their feelings known. The Rule was developed to better protect streams, fish, wildlife, and related environmental values from the adverse impacts of surface coal mining operations while providing mine operators with a regulatory framework to avoid water pollution and the long-term costs associated with water treatment.
Trout Unlimited President and CEO Chris Wood noted in a New York Times op-ed this morning that, “I had that sobering math in mind last week when I learned that Congress had voted to overturn the Stream Protection Rule, designed to protect streams from the devastating effects of mountaintop removal mining. This tactic is every bit as destructive as it sounds. It involves scraping off the tops of mountains, removing the coal and then dumping the waste in valleys and the creeks that pass through them.”
H.J.Res 38, disapproving the Stream Protection Rule, passed Congress on February 1, with 228-194 votes. See the full list of votes here.
The next day on February 2, the Senate vote passed with 54 yeas, 45 nays, and 1 not voting. Here is the Senate vote by state:
| Alabama: | Sessions (R-AL), Not Voting | Shelby (R-AL), Yea |
| Alaska: | Murkowski (R-AK), Yea | Sullivan (R-AK), Yea |
| Arizona: | Flake (R-AZ), Yea | McCain (R-AZ), Yea |
| Arkansas: | Boozman (R-AR), Yea | Cotton (R-AR), Yea |
| California: | Feinstein (D-CA), Nay | Harris (D-CA), Nay |
| Colorado: | Bennet (D-CO), Nay | Gardner (R-CO), Yea |
| Connecticut: | Blumenthal (D-CT), Nay | Murphy (D-CT), Nay |
| Delaware: | Carper (D-DE), Nay | Coons (D-DE), Nay |
| Florida: | Nelson (D-FL), Nay | Rubio (R-FL), Yea |
| Georgia: | Isakson (R-GA), Yea | Perdue (R-GA), Yea |
| Hawaii: | Hirono (D-HI), Nay | Schatz (D-HI), Nay |
| Idaho: | Crapo (R-ID), Yea | Risch (R-ID), Yea |
| Illinois: | Duckworth (D-IL), Nay | Durbin (D-IL), Nay |
| Indiana: | Donnelly (D-IN), Yea | Young (R-IN), Yea |
| Iowa: | Ernst (R-IA), Yea | Grassley (R-IA), Yea |
| Kansas: | Moran (R-KS), Yea | Roberts (R-KS), Yea |
| Kentucky: | McConnell (R-KY), Yea | Paul (R-KY), Yea |
| Louisiana: | Cassidy (R-LA), Yea | Kennedy (R-LA), Yea |
| Maine: | Collins (R-ME), Nay | King (I-ME), Nay |
| Maryland: | Cardin (D-MD), Nay | Van Hollen (D-MD), Nay |
| Massachusetts: | Markey (D-MA), Nay | Warren (D-MA), Nay |
| Michigan: | Peters (D-MI), Nay | Stabenow (D-MI), Nay |
| Minnesota: | Franken (D-MN), Nay | Klobuchar (D-MN), Nay |
| Mississippi: | Cochran (R-MS), Yea | Wicker (R-MS), Yea |
| Missouri: | Blunt (R-MO), Yea | McCaskill (D-MO), Yea |
| Montana: | Daines (R-MT), Yea | Tester (D-MT), Nay |
| Nebraska: | Fischer (R-NE), Yea | Sasse (R-NE), Yea |
| Nevada: | Cortez Masto (D-NV), Nay | Heller (R-NV), Yea |
| New Hampshire: | Hassan (D-NH), Nay | Shaheen (D-NH), Nay |
| New Jersey: | Booker (D-NJ), Nay | Menendez (D-NJ), Nay |
| New Mexico: | Heinrich (D-NM), Nay | Udall (D-NM), Nay |
| New York: | Gillibrand (D-NY), Nay | Schumer (D-NY), Nay |
| North Carolina: | Burr (R-NC), Yea | Tillis (R-NC), Yea |
| North Dakota: | Heitkamp (D-ND), Yea | Hoeven (R-ND), Yea |
| Ohio: | Brown (D-OH), Nay | Portman (R-OH), Yea |
| Oklahoma: | Inhofe (R-OK), Yea | Lankford (R-OK), Yea |
| Oregon: | Merkley (D-OR), Nay | Wyden (D-OR), Nay |
| Pennsylvania: | Casey (D-PA), Nay | Toomey (R-PA), Yea |
| Rhode Island: | Reed (D-RI), Nay | Whitehouse (D-RI), Nay |
| South Carolina: | Graham (R-SC), Yea | Scott (R-SC), Yea |
| South Dakota: | Rounds (R-SD), Yea | Thune (R-SD), Yea |
| Tennessee: | Alexander (R-TN), Yea | Corker (R-TN), Yea |
| Texas: | Cornyn (R-TX), Yea | Cruz (R-TX), Yea |
| Utah: | Hatch (R-UT), Yea | Lee (R-UT), Yea |
| Vermont: | Leahy (D-VT), Nay | Sanders (I-VT), Nay |
| Virginia: | Kaine (D-VA), Nay | Warner (D-VA), Nay |
| Washington: | Cantwell (D-WA), Nay | Murray (D-WA), Nay |
| West Virginia: | Capito (R-WV), Yea | Manchin (D-WV), Yea |
| Wisconsin: | Baldwin (D-WI), Nay | Johnson (R-WI), Yea |
| Wyoming: | Barrasso (R-WY), Yea | Enzi (R-WY), Yea |
For many, the welfare of streams and rivers is more than just a passion; it dictates their livelihood. “Nationally, sport fishing helps support more than 800,000 jobs, and the more than 30 million people who participate spend close to $50 billion annually on equipment, licenses, trips and other fishing-related items or events. Whether you fish for wild brook trout in the Appalachians, target salmon in Alaska or simply like to take your child fishing on small streams near your home, sportsmen and sportswomen need to stand up and demand that our elected leaders protect the clean water and healthy habitats upon which we all depend,” Wood noted in his New York Times op-ed today.
Jim Klug, the Director of Operations and Co-Owner of Yellow Dog Fly Fishing Adventures and Chairman Emeritus of the American Fly Fishing Trade Association, stated: “Clean water is obviously the foundation of the sport-fishing industry. When I look at the list of Senators and Congressman that voted to repeal common sense protections for our rivers and streams, I see the names of many officials who ran and campaigned as active anglers and sportsmen. Yet when it comes to protecting the most basic needs of sportsmen, they vote against us. It’s unfortunate to see elected officials playing politics with water and the outdoor industry.
