Sportfishing Champions To Be Honored At Capitol Hill Reception
by Janet Tennyson
Two longtime advocates for America’s 50 million anglers and fisheries resources and a new partner supporting fishing events and conservation will be honored June 4 at the Russell Senate Caucus Room in Washington, DC, during the American Sportfishing Association’s annual reception celebrating National Fishing and Boating Week.
Helen Sevier, former president and CEO of the Montgomery, Alabama-based Bass Anglers Sportsman Society, will receive the American Sportfishing Association’s highest honor, the Lifetime Achievement Award. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas, will be the first recipient of the new Future of Fishing Award, created to pay tribute to partners who significantly expand the network of collaboration on behalf of fishing and conservation. Mike McFadden, Wal-Mart’s divisional merchandising manager for sporting goods, will accept the Future of Fishing Award.
Prior to the award presentation to Sevier, the board of directors will announce a formal resolution changing the name of this award to the Norville Prosser Lifetime Achievement Award in honor of the association’s former vice president for government affairs for nearly 30 years. In addition, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Steve Williams will present Prosser with the agency’s Conservation Service Award.
"The people we honor tonight are specially gifted at tapping the rallying power of partners and citizen conservationists," said Mike Nussman, president and CEO of the American Sportfishing Association. "Throughout their careers, Helen Sevier and Norville Prosser mobilized partners and inspired citizens to realize their role in protecting the outdoors for its continued enjoyment. And we’re just beginning to see the possibilities for family fishing and grassroots conservation when we have key industry leaders like Wal-Mart Stores helping to spread these efforts into communities across the country."
Helen Sevier was one of the first employees of BASS when the organization was formed in the early 1970s and became its president and CEO in 1986. She strengthened its membership network to 600,000 worldwide, invested significantly in communications to keep BASS members knowledgeable and active, and promoted the joys of bass fishing through world-class tournaments around the globe.
"Helen was a master at seeing how BASS’s membership fit into the larger context of fisheries and outdoor conservation," said Nussman. "She knew that the future of fishing and the industries that support it were dependent upon strong advocacy and healthy resources."
For every major milestone related to fishing and fisheries conservation over the last two decades, Sevier helped lead the charge. She had a major role in the establishment of the Sport Fishing and Boating Partnership Council, an advisory group for the Interior Secretary; the Fishable Waters Coalition, which works to improve clean water legislation; and the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation, dedicated to promoting the expansion of these outdoor pursuits. She also was instrumental in developing the Presidential Executive Order on Recreational Fisheries in 1996 and the Fishable Waters Act.
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. is the nation’s biggest seller of sporting goods, and a top retailer in fishing, marine, and other outdoor accessories that enhance these recreational experiences for families nationwide. Wal-Mart sponsors numerous fishing activities, such as 1,500 Kids All-American Fishing Derbies taking place around the United States on June 8. Many of Wal-Mart’s 2,800 stores recently participated in the Take a Kid Fishing program, another series of nationwide fishing events especially encouraging family participation.
In addition, for the last 10 years, Wal-Mart has provided substantial support for grassroots conservation through the American Sportfishing Association’s conservation arm, the FishAmerica Foundation. Through its own foundation, major fishing tournaments, and proceeds from specially designed gear, Wal-Mart contributes nearly $200,000 annually to the FishAmerica Foundation, about 20 percent of its grant funding. These grants go to collaborative habitat restoration and family fishing projects in America’s communities.
"Wal-Mart is clearly demonstrating the key role industry has to play in protecting the future of fishing and boating," said Nussman. "These efforts really reflect the spirit of National Fishing and Boating Week by promoting family participation and community involvement."
Many of the American Sportfishing Association’s members have traveled to Washington this week to take part in National Fishing and Boating Week activities and show their gratitude to Norville Prosser upon his recent retirement from the Association. Prosser, of Chincoteague, Virginia, began his career with the Virginia Commission of Game and Inland Fisheries in 1967 and joined the Sport Fishing Institute, the precursor of the American Sportfishing Association, in 1974.
"The genuine collaborative style that comes so naturally to Norville is what really sets him apart and earns respect and admiration from so many people who worked with him over the years," said Nussman.
Through both behind-the-scenes relations-building and formal leadership on various coalitions, Prosser played a key role in scores of important legislative and policy initiatives and advocacy networks related to angling and fisheries conservation throughout his career. Legislative accomplishments include the Wallop-Breaux amendments to the Sport Fish Restoration Act, the Atlantic Striped Bass Conservation Act, the Atlantic State Coastal Fishery Management Improvement Act, and development of the Fishable Waters Act. He served on the National Fishing Week Steering Committee, the American League of Anglers and Boaters, the Sport Fishing and Boating Partnership Council, and as interim President of the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation. Prosser also organized the Washington-based fisheries advocacy group known as FISHNET, chaired the Fishable Waters Coalition, and served as president of the Potomac Chapter of the American Fisheries Society. He was instrumental in developing major policies relating to recreational fisheries management and endangered species recovery and improvements to the national fish hatchery program.
