Izaak Walton League Holds Outdoor Technology Forum

Last Wednesday night, the W.J. McCabe Chapter of the Izaak Walton League held a forum on “Technology and the Outdoors”. The panel discussion included Sam Cook, Outdoors Writer for the Duluth News Tribune; Russ Francisco of Marine General Supply; Brent Gurtek, a gun maker and owner of French River Firearms; and Dustin Carlson, president of the Lake Superior Chapter of Muskies, Inc. and owner of Northland Muskie Adventures.

Sam Cook started out the discussion by suggesting that the intersection of technology and nature is about much more than gadgets and wondered if the real question to ask was whether technology is improving the experience of people in the outdoors. What followed was a discussion that spanned GPS devices to muzzle-loaded guns to spinning-wing decoys for hunting mallards and many points in between.

“[Outdoors technology] is driven by an aging group,” suggested Russ Francisco. In his work at Marine General, he’s noticed that there are few young people fishing and that many technological advances in outdoors technology (large screens on fish finders, more space on boats, lighter rods) have been developed for the more mature angler.

In contrast, Brent Gurtek noticed that he had taught many children who were interested in traditional outdoors crafts. These included cooking primitive meals with fire, hunting using older-style firearms, and building traditional Anishinaabe structures by hand.

There was also discussion about the effect that technology had on the skill or productivity of the sportsperson. Dustin Carlson acknowledged that GPS and fish-finding technology are essential to his business of helping clients catch fish. He also agreed with the sentiment that youth are losing out on outdoors experiences due to time spent on personal electronics indoors.

The Izaak Walton League works, in part, to discourage this trend of children missing out on outdoor recreation activities. They hold annual events designed to get kids outdoors, including a spring youth fishing clinic and hunting safety classes. The organization also works to bring awareness to important conservation issues, such as the Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia (VHS) virus that’s currently making inroads to threaten fish species across the Great Lakes.

Meetings are held the first Wednesday of every month at 7:00pm at the Hartley Nature Center. The next meeting, on November 4, will feature a presentation on energy efficiency and renewable energy in the home. More information about upcoming programs and the organization’s other activities is available at http://www.duluthikes.org