The Great Outsmores

Finally a little caught up with the day job, and thought I’d give an update on our trip to Itlay. The main reason for our journey was my wife’s cousin’s marriage in San Gimignano, or San Jimmy as we affectionately call it. It’s a twelfth century city in the heart of Tuscany, and was like nothing I’ve ever seen. We spent three days there that allowed for a couple hikes and a lot of great, insanely cheap wine.

Here’s the wedding:

Upon arrival, we got to do some walking with wine in hand, and explore our surroundings a bit. Below is the view out our hotel room, on the way to a little walk-a-bout Italian style. Not bad for 60 euros…

Here’s a shot from the ridge above us to the South:

Somehow, after lord knows how much wine I had at the wedding, I was able to get up before dawn and walk off a couple miles among olive trees and grapevines. With the dim glow of the sun growing in the East, I set out for some photos and excercise. What greated me was remarkable, roosters crowed from all over the place, clouds hung low in the valleys, and lights began to glow in the houses all over as my neighbors began to wake to their espressi and cappiciono.

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The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service has released preliminary data from its 2006 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife Associated Recreation, an assessment of participation trends among Americans over age 16, compiled at five-year intervals. Hunter numbers, according to the survey, fell by 4 percent nationwide since 2001. Only 5 percent of Americans now consider themselves hunters.

This isn’t just bad news for the hunting community, but for all of us who enjoy public lands and wildlife whether through a scope, binoculars, or a camera lens. Hunting permits and fishing licenses provide the bulk of state and national wildlife services’ revenue, so a steep decline in hunting impacts the bottom line of the regulatory bodies that protect our most valuable assets.

Read the articles here and here.

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