Post by Woody Williams on Nov 21, 2005 16:26:24 GMT -5
Outdoors: Skip Hess
Gentle nature made official unique
The last time I talked with Paula Yeager, she discussed the possibility of participating in a debate with her opponents on a radio talk show.
Actually, "debate" is not the correct word.
Crusader: Wildlife advocate Paula Yeager made fighting fenced hunting of deer her top priority.
Yeager, who died earlier this month, was the executive director of the Indiana Wildlife Federation and a staunch opponent of fenced deer hunting. She wanted to politely discuss the issue with anyone who favored fenced hunting.
It was her opinion that the show would allow both sides the opportunity to stick to the facts and present their views in a professional manner.
The one thing she wouldn't do, she said, was get into a heated, emotional argument. She wanted both sides to get a fair shake.
That was classic Yeager style. She always insisted on fairness and respect for another person's opinion.
But there was something that I didn't know about her.
During the six years that I periodically interviewed her on wildlife issues, she never mentioned that she was battling breast cancer, an eight-year battle she lost Nov. 9.
Paula, 50, was married to her husband, John, for 29 years. They had two children, Stephanie, 21, and Cory, 24.
I learned only a few weeks ago that she was terminally ill.
I wish I would have saved the notes I took during our talks, and the e-mails she sent about her passion for protecting wildlife.
She talked and wrote about her love for birds, fish and deer -- anything living in the wetlands, forests and fields.
She cared just as much, if not more, for her fellow man. As late as this year, Yeager campaigned for Indiana to lead by example in reducing mercury emissions from all sources.
It was time, she said, for state officials to adopt rules requiring utilities to "do their part to make mercury advisories for fish consumption a thing of the past." The lives of children, grandchildren and wildlife are at stake, she said.
Yeager campaigned to rebuild fish and wildlife habitat. She wanted water safe for swimming. She wanted and fought for fish to become a healthy food source for pregnant women.
She devoted time and energy to protect against coastal pollution and to prevent sewage and chemicals from being dumped into rivers and lakes. She went outside Indiana borders to clean up the Great Lakes.
She insisted that studies be done on mercury pollution in our waterways. "The bad thing is we can't see it and we can't smell it. We don't know it's there until they do studies."
What she could see was fenced deer.
It was her work for a ban on fenced hunting, or "canned hunting" as she called it, that got her into hot water with her critics.
Some accused her of standing arm-in-arm with animal rights movements.
Nothing could have been further from the truth. Yeager supported fishing and hunting. But she thought that shooting captive deer for the sake of a trophy kill was unethical.
She also was convinced that deer exported into Indiana could infect the state's wild deer herd with chronic wasting disease.
At the request of the Department of Natural Resources two years ago, she served on the Citizens Advisory Council on Captive Cervid. Its purpose was to gather information -- pro and con -- on fenced hunting preserves and deer farms.
It surprised a lot of Yeager's critics to learn she was willing to listen to both sides; that she was not anti-hunting, just anti-fence hunting.
Less than three months ago, DNR director Kyle Hupfer announced that beginning next year, the killing of fenced deer will be illegal in Indiana.
One can only imagine what that meant to Yeager, knowing that cancer had sapped her of energy and time to continue her mission to eliminate fenced hunting.
One of her last requests was that memorial contributions be made to the Indiana Wildlife Foundation, 950 N. Rangeline, Suite A, Carmel, IN 46032, earmarked for the NWF's ongoing campaign to eliminate canned hunting.
Knowing now that she was privately losing her battle with cancer, I can better understand her tireless fight to prevent chronic wasting disease, which has no cure.
Skip Hess, The Star's outdoors columnist, can be reached at (317) 862-1994 or via e-mail at skiphess.outdoor@sbcglobal .net.
Gentle nature made official unique
The last time I talked with Paula Yeager, she discussed the possibility of participating in a debate with her opponents on a radio talk show.
Actually, "debate" is not the correct word.
Crusader: Wildlife advocate Paula Yeager made fighting fenced hunting of deer her top priority.
Yeager, who died earlier this month, was the executive director of the Indiana Wildlife Federation and a staunch opponent of fenced deer hunting. She wanted to politely discuss the issue with anyone who favored fenced hunting.
It was her opinion that the show would allow both sides the opportunity to stick to the facts and present their views in a professional manner.
The one thing she wouldn't do, she said, was get into a heated, emotional argument. She wanted both sides to get a fair shake.
That was classic Yeager style. She always insisted on fairness and respect for another person's opinion.
But there was something that I didn't know about her.
During the six years that I periodically interviewed her on wildlife issues, she never mentioned that she was battling breast cancer, an eight-year battle she lost Nov. 9.
Paula, 50, was married to her husband, John, for 29 years. They had two children, Stephanie, 21, and Cory, 24.
I learned only a few weeks ago that she was terminally ill.
I wish I would have saved the notes I took during our talks, and the e-mails she sent about her passion for protecting wildlife.
She talked and wrote about her love for birds, fish and deer -- anything living in the wetlands, forests and fields.
She cared just as much, if not more, for her fellow man. As late as this year, Yeager campaigned for Indiana to lead by example in reducing mercury emissions from all sources.
It was time, she said, for state officials to adopt rules requiring utilities to "do their part to make mercury advisories for fish consumption a thing of the past." The lives of children, grandchildren and wildlife are at stake, she said.
Yeager campaigned to rebuild fish and wildlife habitat. She wanted water safe for swimming. She wanted and fought for fish to become a healthy food source for pregnant women.
She devoted time and energy to protect against coastal pollution and to prevent sewage and chemicals from being dumped into rivers and lakes. She went outside Indiana borders to clean up the Great Lakes.
She insisted that studies be done on mercury pollution in our waterways. "The bad thing is we can't see it and we can't smell it. We don't know it's there until they do studies."
What she could see was fenced deer.
It was her work for a ban on fenced hunting, or "canned hunting" as she called it, that got her into hot water with her critics.
Some accused her of standing arm-in-arm with animal rights movements.
Nothing could have been further from the truth. Yeager supported fishing and hunting. But she thought that shooting captive deer for the sake of a trophy kill was unethical.
She also was convinced that deer exported into Indiana could infect the state's wild deer herd with chronic wasting disease.
At the request of the Department of Natural Resources two years ago, she served on the Citizens Advisory Council on Captive Cervid. Its purpose was to gather information -- pro and con -- on fenced hunting preserves and deer farms.
It surprised a lot of Yeager's critics to learn she was willing to listen to both sides; that she was not anti-hunting, just anti-fence hunting.
Less than three months ago, DNR director Kyle Hupfer announced that beginning next year, the killing of fenced deer will be illegal in Indiana.
One can only imagine what that meant to Yeager, knowing that cancer had sapped her of energy and time to continue her mission to eliminate fenced hunting.
One of her last requests was that memorial contributions be made to the Indiana Wildlife Foundation, 950 N. Rangeline, Suite A, Carmel, IN 46032, earmarked for the NWF's ongoing campaign to eliminate canned hunting.
Knowing now that she was privately losing her battle with cancer, I can better understand her tireless fight to prevent chronic wasting disease, which has no cure.
Skip Hess, The Star's outdoors columnist, can be reached at (317) 862-1994 or via e-mail at skiphess.outdoor@sbcglobal .net.