Chuck Parker: Sportsman Activist

By
Spider Rybaak

Tucked into the northeastern corner of Lake Ontario, claiming the entire western half of Oneida Lake, etched by the Oswego and Salmon Rivers, the finest salmonid streams in the Lower 48, and watered by numerous productive streams and brooks, Oswego County offers some of the best fishing in the Western Hemisphere. 

 Small wonder, then, that it spawns some of the finest conservationists in the country.

Take Chuck Parker, for instance. An avid hunter and angler, the Texas, NY resident believes political activism is every sportsman’s responsibility, and practices what he preaches.

Parker traces the roots of his activism to the Mad River Club, which he joined in 1989. Ever since, he’s served in numerous conservation-minded sportsmen groups in every capacity from secretary to president, and reached the top when he was elected to the presidency of the New York State Conservation Council (NYSCC) a couple years ago, an office he still holds.

Parker describes the NYSCC as an advocacy group dedicated to promoting sportsman’s issues.

“One of our greatest concerns is legislation out of Albany,” says Parker. “We have advisors on the New York State Conservation Fund Advisory Board and the New York State Fish and Wildlife management Board,” he adds.

True conservationists, the NYSCC’s membership knows man is an integral part of the natural order, and graciously accepts responsibility as steward of the environment.

The NYSCC’s website states: “For over 80 years, the NYSCC Inc. has been a leader in advocating the wise use and management of NY’s valuable natural resources to ensure that they are protected for our children’s children.”

In this vein, NYSCC member clubs offer a wide variety of outdoor activities designed to acquaint kids with the great outdoors, including 4 H Youth Shooting Sports Programs, Youth Fly-fishing, the Oswego County Envirothon, Oswego County Soil and Water’s Annual Conservation Field Days (open to 5th graders) and the Plant a Tree program.

Parker has been a Hunter Safety Instructor since 1993, and states, unabashedly, “We stand opposed to the New York Safe Act. We would like to see it overturned.”

And that’s to be expected, considering the group’s respect for the natural order, and its acceptance that man is on the top rung of the food chain.

Parker feels the greatest threat facing hunting and fishing is the lack of activism among outdoorsmen. “I’m involved with a lot of good sportsmen but the problem is 7 out of 10 don’t belong to a sportsmen’s club, so they don’t advocate for our right to hunt and fish.”

His solution:  “Get your friends to join a sportsman’s club and teach your children the importance respecting our natural environment as well as how to safely enjoy all that is has to offer.”

Chuck Parker was named as one of The Syracuse Post-Standard's "Heroes of Conservation" in 2011.  

Keeping the Nuts Out 101

Pullin'...

Ten drift boats manned by members of the Oswego County River Guides Association, in league with a small flotilla of local environmentalists ranging from Albion Fish and Game Club members to independent kayakers and canoeists, descended on the Salmon River estuary on the morning of July 10, 2011, to get their hands wet pulling water chestnuts.

John DeHollander, District Manager of the Oswego County Soil and Water Conservation District, was on hand at the staging area at Pine Grove launch site to help coordinate the event, man the registration table and answer questions.

While removing each plant by hand is primitive, it’s the most environmentally friendly way to rid the estuary of these exotic invaders.

You see, harvesting water chestnuts mechanically takes a terrible toll on indigenous flora, and “you’d do more damage than good,” claims DeHollander. “By hand pulling, you remove enough to limit their spreading and if you keep at it, you can eradicate them completely,” he adds.

Similar “pulls” have been conducted on the Oswego River by other groups. Lake Ontario’s second largest tributary, the stream is much larger than the Salmon River and its infestation is far greater.

Still, “We’re starting to see a dent in the Oswego River’s infestation,” boasts DeHollander. “Things look promising. Provided funding is available, it looks like we’ll be able to control it.”

And that’s a goal everybody from anglers and boaters to waterfront owners are shooting for because the plants grow so thick in shallow spots like bays and coves (a couple are located right off the shoulder of State Route 48 between Fulton and Oswego), some folks claim blue herons walk on top of the mats.

That may be stretching things a bit. An annual aquatic plant, water chestnuts spring from spiny nuts buried in the mud. Their slender, flexible stems can grow 15 feet tall and are crowned by floating green rosettes comprised of saw-toothed, triangular leaves held aloft by bladder-like appendages growing just below the surface.

But you can’t just pull the plants out and cast them adrift. The rosettes bear the next generation of nuts and if they’re allowed to float away, they’ll contaminate some other dude’s waterfront downstream.

And that’s not funny. In fact, such careless action will come back to bite ya. Ducks and geese foraging in the water chestnuts you sent downstream can collect the next generation in their wings or on their feet, fly over to your place and drop em off again.

Best thing to do with the plants you pull is to burn them.

For more information, contact John DeHollander at the Oswego County Soil and Water Conservation District by calling 315-592-9663, or sending an email to information@oswegosoilandwater.com. Check out the website: http://www.oswegosoilandwater.com/.

Water Chesnuts where they belong; in a bag! 

Capt. Rick Miick wearing his crown of water chesnuts. 

 Future Biologist, Brayden Miick, showing rosettes.

Floating rosette