A couple weeks ago, I wrote a diary about the 670 hunting and fishing organizations that signed a letter to Congress urging action on climate change. My organization, the American Hunters and Shooters Association (AHSA), was proud to sign that letter. As, hunters, we see first hand the impacts of global warming or "climate change".

There was a conspicuous absence from the signatories to that letter: The National Rifle Association.

You’d think the leadership of the National Rifle Association would be highly concerned about one of the most important issues facing our sporting community -- climate change -- because it is having a dramatic impact on hunters.

But, I’ve figured out why the NRA didn’t sign the letter.

Leaders of the NRA are playing politics again with issues of grave concern to America’s hunters and shooters. They have assumed a key role in the movement of "global warming deniers".

If you want clear evidence, check out the Heartland Institute’s "International Conference on Climate Change" held in NYC this week. Don’t let the name fool you. These are the folks who want to disprove global warming, a rebirth of the "flat earth society" if you will. Diarist Target Global Warming liveblogged the event here and here. Even the New York Times provided coverage:

One of the "most powerful political actors" is none other than NRA Board member and right wing guru, Grover Norquist. His group, Americans for Taxpayer Reform, was a conference co-sponsor for the gathering of the self-proclaimed global warming "skeptics."

NRA Board Member Roy Innis, from the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) was a speaker and his group was also a co-sponsor.

Not like we needed any further evidence that the current NRA leadership is nothing but a front for the radical right wing agenda, but there it is.

This is another example of how far removed the NRA leadership is from its membership. Not only does the group not focus on the real concerns of hunters, they’ve got board members sponsoring a conference that claims climate change doesn’t exist.

The NRA’s leadership has repeatedly worked against the interests of hunters and shooters. That’s probably because many of the NRA’s leaders don’t hunt. If Wayne LaPierre, Grover Norquist, Roy Innis and their allies actually hunted on a regular basis, they wouldn’t be skeptics. They’d know firsthand the problems climate change is causing. They’d understand why those 670 hunting and fishing groups consider it "our moral responsibility to confront climate change in order to protect our outdoor heritage and our children’s future."

There is no getting away from what the current leadership of the NRA has become. They’re a right wing front group in bed with the GOP -- lock, stock and barrel.

To the great detriment of America’s hunting tradition, NRA’s leadership has abandoned hunters for their cozy political allies. Their actions speak louder than words -- there is no room for real hunters. We hunters don’t fit into their extreme political agenda.

So, NRA board members sponsor a conference that denies global warming while 670 hunting and fishing groups are demanding action. That says it all.

The NRA lackeys have put a lot of time and energy into attacking AHSA and me. I just wish every now and then, they’d put half the amount of energy into something worthwhile that would have a positive impact.

They’ll keep launching full-scale attacks on AHSA and me. They don’t intimidate me. What I am fighting for is too important.

Earlier this week, over 670 hunting and fishing organizations – including my organization, the American Hunters and Shooters Association (AHSA) – signed a letter urging Congress to take strong action on global warming.

The letter speaks of "our moral responsibility to confront climate change in order to protect our outdoor heritage and our children’s future."

Our hunting heritage is in danger. But you wouldn’t know that from the NRA.

Also, this week, in what was supposed to be a show of political muscle, 300 members of Congress and V.P. Dick Cheney, signed an amicus brief to the Supreme Court about the DC gun ban case. The NRA used its muscle to get all those names on the brief.

Support for the Second Amendment isn’t the issue. Hunters and shooters believe in the individual right to own guns. As I wrote last week, I was proud to submit AHSA’s own amicus brief to the Supreme Court and was honored to be joined by11 influential retired military leaders.

But every time I see the NRA leadership put on a display of their alleged political power, I think, just once, just once, I’d like to see them use their muscle to help hunters and shooters. For example, despite the dangers posed by climate change to hunters (and hunters are among those who notice the changes every year), there is no signature from the NRA leadership on the climate change letter. They are afraid to alienate or stand up to Dick Cheney and George Bush – not even for the sake of their own members.

It is especially ironic that Dick Cheney purports to defend gun owners. He’s been vice president for almost eight years now. And I’ll issue this challenge to the NRA: Name one thing Bush and Cheney have done for hunters. You can’t. They haven’t. They don’t have to.

As the letter signed by those 670 hunting and fishing group shows, we are extremely worried about the state of the environment. David Crockett said it best, "Sportsmen want America to lead on global warming solutions."

Again, where’s the NRA with all its great political connections? Weren’t they going to be working out of the Oval Office? Bottom line is they don’t care. The NRA leaders place more value on their political clout than the needs of rank and file gunowners.

The group that is supposed to represent hunters and shooters is far too busy trying to stop common sense measures that would protect kids and keep guns out of the hands of criminals and terrorists. But, they leave the big issues – the issues hunters care about – alone.

There are millions of progressive hunters and shooters. The NRA is not their voice. AHSA is. And we are going to go head to head with the NRA to make sure hunters and shooters vote their interests – not the NRA’s Republican interests.

The hunter and shooter vote is critical in battleground states across the south, midwest and the mountain west. We cannot let the NRA leadership dictate who wins anymore.

Last week, I wrote my first diary on DailyKos about the impact of climate change on hunting -- based on my first hand experience. That same day, Steve Rinella had an excellent op-ed in Friday’s New York Times pointing out some of the other issues facing the hunting community. Steve pointed out that hunters, often maligned, are actually some of the best advocates for the environment:

Steve’s conclusion also struck a chord with me:

Thank you, Steve, is the first thing I can say. Hunters are stewards of the land. We are, in fact, among the original conservationists. And, as Steve notes, many hunters are locavores. (That's the word of the year according to the New Oxford American Dictionary meaning those who eat locally grown food.)

We need to do a better job of explaining not only who we are, but how we value our precious resources. And, if we have a bad image, we have to ask why.

That’s one reason I helped start the American Hunters and Shooters Association (AHSA). We have several key missions, one of which is preserving the environment. That depends on hunters and shooters understanding their contribution to maintaining a healthy, productive environment. Our website lays it out:

Pretty basic stuff. But, it’s been lost in the angry partisan rhetoric that arises on any issue that involves gun. Because of that, our interests as hunters are overlooked.

Unfortunately, the group many hunters and shooters have relied upon to protect our interests, the NRA, has failed miserably. Not because of its membership, but because of the NRA’s leadership.

Instead of engaging in pro-hunter, pro-conservation policies, the group’s leaders have chosen a far, different path. They’ve made angry, partisan rhetoric their standard operating procedure.

Pretty shocking, but it was only last month that the NRA took the initiative to start a website about hunter’s rights. I actually think the group only rekindled an interest in these issues after I helped create AHSA.

Ironically, the NRA’s efforts are being led by Kayne Robinson. In 2004, Robinson single-handedly drove a wedge between Outdoor Writers and the NRA by attacking the Sierra Club’s efforts to join with hunters to preserve public lands. Instead of building a powerful pro-hunting, pro-environmental alliance – and that alliance could be very powerful -- Robinson chose confrontational politics – again.

Even more disturbing is the information uncovered by former NRA lobbyist Richard Feldman, who recently published "Ricochet: Confessions of a Gun Lobbyist." In an op-ed that first appeared in Sunday’s Washington Post, Feldman continues to expose the way the NRA has become an ATM for its leaders – to the detriment of the membership. Like so many interest groups in Washington, the NRA’s leaders have put their interests first. As an aside, I also appreciate Feldman’s acknowledgment that gun owners span the political spectrum (liberal, moderate and conservative) – and that we share common values across that ideological spectrum. That is something both political parties – and the NRA’s leaders – often seem to forget.

The NRA doesn’t sound like an organization worried about what’s happening to the hunters, like me, who are waiting for ducks to fly south – when the ducks are not flying south because of global warming.

Hunters are facing serious issues -- not just within our ranks, but within our very world. From climate change to the over-development of public lands, we are directly impacted. At AHSA, I’m committed to hunters and I’m committed to a safe, clean world. To me, the two go hand-in-hand. 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. That’s AHSA.