Sportfishing Champions to be Honored at Capitol Hill Reception Celebrating National Fishing and Boating Week
by Janet Tennyson
The American Sportfishing Association will present its most prestigious honors to two longtime advocates for sportfishing at an evening reception on Capitol Hill June 3, 2003, as part of National Fishing and Boating Week celebrations.
Jim Range, Senior Legislative Policy Advisor for Baker, Donelson, Bearman & Caldwell, a Washington, DC, law firm, will be honored with the Norville Prosser Lifetime Achievement Award, and Jim Hubbard, Chief of Staff for the Mercury Marine Division of Brunswick Corporation, will receive the Future of Fishing Award. The reception will take place at the Russell Senate Caucus Room from 5:30-7:30 p.m.
"We hope these awards will remind Jim Range and Jim Hubbard of the sportfishing community's gratitude for all the difference they've made for fishing, and especially for inspiring the rest of us along the way," said Mike Nussman, President and CEO of the American Sportfishing Association. "They're not only well known advocates for sportfishing, they're also leaders who apply their convictions with passion."
The Norville Prosser Lifetime Achievement Award, named after the American Sportfishing Association's former Vice President for Government Affairs, is given for extraordinary contributions to fisheries conservation and the advancement of sportfishing in America. The Future of Fishing Award pays tribute to partners who design new approaches to expand fishing participation.
Range has worked with the sportfishing industry, state and federal agencies, conservation organizations, and Congress to help shape the direction of many fisheries efforts, and is often relied upon as an advisor because of his broad experience and expertise related to environmental laws, regulations, and programs, especially for habitat conservation and outdoor recreation.
Range has served on the Board of Directors for the American Sportfishing Association, the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation, Trout Unlimited, Ducks Unlimited, Land Trust Alliance, and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, among others. At the request of both the Clinton and Bush Administrations, Range served on advisory committees to the Interior Secretary on sportfishing policies. Former President George Bush also appointed him as a Commissioner to the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin.
Prior to joining Baker, Donelson, Bearman & Caldwell, Range was Vice President for Government Affairs for WMX Technologies, Inc., one of the world's largest waste services companies. Before that, he was Chief Counsel for U.S. Congress Majority Leader Howard Baker, Minority Counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, and Counsel to the National Commission on Water Quality.
Hubbard has been with the Brunswick Corporation of Lake Forest, Illinois, for more than 30 years, serving in its Zebco Division before it became a separate company and then its Mercury Marine Division headquartered in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, and specializing in outboard motors. Hubbard will be honored with the Future of Fishing Award for his role as a founder and leading supporter of the FishAmerica Foundation, the conservation grant-making arm of the American Sportfishing Association, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.
Along with the late John Charvat and Dr. Howard Tanner, Hubbard envisioned a non-profit foundation that would represent the sportfishing industry's commitment to grassroots conservation. Together, the three founded the FishAmerica Foundation in 1983. Hubbard served as its first managing director while working for the Zebco Division of Brunswick, where the foundation was established. Recognizing the importance of expanding the industry's role in conservation investments, Hubbard led the transition for the foundation to become the conservation arm of the American Sportfishing Association.
In addition to his involvement with reviewing grant proposals over the last 20 years, Hubbard helped initiate a $10 million endowment campaign for the FishAmerica Foundation in 2000 as another means of investing in the future of fishing through conservation. Thanks to Hubbard's initiative, Mercury Marine made the first pledge with a $100,000 leadership gift over 5 years, paving the way for support that would later come from other strong FishAmerica partners, including Dave Porthouse Foundation, Grady-White Boats, NETGRA, Outdoor Cap Company, Plano Molding Company, Pure Fishing, Sampo, Top Line Manufacturing Company, Wal-Mart Stores, Yo-Zuri Lures, and Zebco.
The FishAmerica Foundation now provides nearly $1 million in matching grants each year to community partners across the country. Over the last 20 years, FishAmerica has provided more than $6 million for nearly 750 grassroots conservation projects that improve fisheries habitat and fishing opportunities.
The American Sportfishing Association is the leading recreational fishing trade association, uniting more than 500 members of the sportfishing and boating industries with state fish and wildlife agencies, federal land and water management agencies, conservation organizations, angler advocacy groups, and outdoor journalists. The American Sportfishing Association initiates and supports efforts to advance fisheries conservation, fishing opportunities, and a profitable sportfishing industry.
