"Where are the ducks?" That’s the question hunters across the country have been asking for the last couple years. I’ve been asking it myself. And, I can tell you, it’s disconcerting.

Something is changing in the environment – keeping migratory birds up north longer. For me, it’s not a theory, it’s a reality. I see it every year at my farm in Maryland.

An article in last Tuesday’s New York Times spotlights the issue that is affecting hunters across the country -- and lays out the threat:

That is a very disturbing prospect for the hunting community, which brings me to another question like-minded hunters who care about the environment are asking: Who is watching out for our concerns? There really was no place for hunters like me, who love the outdoors, respect their firearms and have progressive values.

That’s why I helped start the American Hunters & Shooters Association(AHSA). It is our belief that Americans who love the outdoors and the shooting sports deserve an organization that represents their views, avoids angry political rhetoric and delivers well thought out, rational programs and policy proposals.

Unfortunately, the leaders of the National Rifle Association (NRA) value their political ties and the perks of their jobs more than the hunting heritage. You’d like to think the NRA, an organization founded with a commitment to conservation, would use its supposed power to protect hunters and hunting lands. They don’t -- as we witnessed in the debacle over the Bush administration’s decision to allow road construction and logging on national forest lands.

With right wing leaders like Grover Norquist on the NRA Board, you know their agenda isn’t about a better environment and open space. The group’s leaders put partisan politics and their own self-interest first. That is well-documented in a recently published book, , by former NRA lobbyist Richard Feldman. Earlier this week, Meteor Blades detailed the pro-industry policies of the Bush-Cheney administration that have seriously degraded our public lands.

At AHSA, we believe responsible and ethical actions are the duty of all hunters and shooters who use the outdoors. That also includes support for sound environmental policies that preserve the outdoors and support for candidates who share those values.

We know concern about global warming is widely shared by hunters based on the findings of the 2006 National Wildlife Federation Nationwide Opinion Survey of Hunters and Anglers:

Obviously many hunters, myself included, are experiencing direct effect of those changes as, each hunting season, we’re faced with the question of "Where are the ducks?" What many of us are seeing appear to be the real world impacts of global warming.

If you are one of the many progressive Americans who share both my love of hunting and shooting and a deep commitment to progressive values like a clean earth, check out AHSA. To preserve our traditions, hunters can be – and must be -- stewards of the earth.