Local man to head national conservation group

A local man is about to begin his second year as national president of the Izaak Walton League of America.

Shawn Gallagher, a Darrtown resident and retired industrial arts teacher at Talawanda High School, has been a member of the Izaak Walton League since 1985, affiliated with the Seven Mile Chapter. He has served terms at the chapter as vice president and president and the board of directors.

From there, he moved up through the ranks serving as a director for the Ohio division and then being elected to the national executive board. After serving two terms, he was required to step down for a term, but a man who wanted to run for national president asked him to run with him as his vice president.

Gallagher was elected president at last year’s convention in Anaheim, Calif., and expects to be given a second year at this year’s convention being held in July in Pierre, S.D.

The Izaak Walton League is a national conservation group, described on its website as “Defenders of soil, air, woods, waters and wildlife.”

There are 44,000 members across the nation and 250 chapters, including 23 in Ohio with one of those chapters located in Oxford, on Brown Road.

“Izaak Walton is one of the best-kept secrets,” Gallagher said, adding many people do not know about the organization or that a chapter is located nearby in their community.

The work they do, however, is important for everyone, he said.

While the overall organization looks at all areas of conservation of natural resources, local chapters focus on local issues of concern to them.

Southwest Ohio chapters, for instance, pay close attention to the Ohio, Miami and Whitewater rivers, while Missouri chapters pay attention to issues on the Mississippi River. The chapter in the Everglades will take action on issues there.

The national office pays attention to legislation affecting the environment and recently praised a science-based rule by the Obama Administration to protect water quality, opening a May 27 press release by saying, “More than a decade of uncertainty came to an end today when the Obama Administration issued a rule clarifying which waters of the United States are protected under the Clean Water Act. On behalf of sportsmen and outdoor enthusiasts across the country, the Izaak Walton League applauds the administration’s work to protect Americans and our economy.”

While Gallagher said he wants to see wise legislation on all natural areas and local participation in protecting them, he sees clean water as the top priority.

“Clean water is one of the most important issues. When we run out of clean water, you’re done. It’s unsettling to see people in industry not care about water, putting pollutants in our water,” he said. “We fight that all over the country. In some areas storm and sanitary (sewer) water are in the same discharge. There are a lot of issues to be dealt with.”

Those issues include oil spills in California, a storage tank that split in West Virginia last year spilling oil and polluting rivers, including the Ohio and pipes which are getting up in age and in need of replacement.

“We consider ourselves, not tree-huggers, but encouraging the wise use of resources,” Gallagher said. “We need energy but we need to do it wisely and without polluting.”

He said Ohio is the fifth-largest division in the country in total membership and he began his move to the national presidency when he served on the Ohio board and was talked into running for the national executive board to be sure the state was represented.

“I had not thought about the big picture,” he said of that time.

That has changed. He will be at the league’s national office in Gaithersburg, Maryland next week in preparation for the 93rd national convention, scheduled for July 14-17 in Pierre South Dakota. In addition to convention business and three keynote addresses, participants will have time to visit sites in the area and learn more about the conservation issues affecting that part of the country.

“At the convention, committees will look at different areas and resolutions will be brought to the floor to give direction to staff about things like the pipeline and solar and wind energy,” he said. “We’ve got to get our dependency on oil knocked down a little bit. I’m confident they will come up with things.”

A national president, Gallagher has traveled around the country visiting with state divisions and learning about their issues. This weekend, he is in Indiana and visited the Everglades recently.

“There’s quite a bit involved,” he said. “Izaak Walton League cares about energy and water issues. There are myriad issues. We try to encourage chapters to publicize their activities more. There are other conservation groups but many are one-issue minded.”

The Izaak Walton League was founded in 1922 and notes on its web site: “With a powerful grassroots network of more than 240 local chapters nationwide, the League takes a common-sense approach toward protecting our country’s natural heritage and improving outdoor recreation opportunities for all Americans.”

The board of directors includes four from Ohio and two of them are from Hamilton—Dan Hayes and Raymond Zehler.

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