"ABBA" The just born: "Alaska Bear'Baiters Association"

[AGL4now]

OK, I am pledging $300.00 to the birth of the "Alaska Bear'Baiters Association". Note: That is a lot of money for an old fart living on $628.00 a month Social Security.

I propose that One or more of the enterprises selling Bear Baiting products (or anyone with the time, energy, passion) start a sign-up sheet for those who want to be "Charter" Members of the Great Alaska Bear Baiter's Association.

I will give $300.00 cash (I don't make enough to pay taxes, so it does not need to be check) to the first elected president of the ABBA or GABBA (if you'all chose).

This is Not a campaign that I can carry forward. So my hope is that baiter's put this together ASAP. I feel strongly that a.) you need this organization, and b.) it will benefit not only the bear baiter's but all hunters who love hunting.

Simply saying count me in, will NOT get it manifested, someone or several someones needs to hands on make it Happen.

[FullFreezer]

ok so where do I sign up & pledge my money?

[AGL4now]

ok so where do I sign up & pledge my money?

You don't need to pledge any money. Someone will step forward with the tools (Passion/time/commitment/leadership) to carry it forward. And it came to pass that a leader of AGGA did come forth, and the leader and his fellow Bear Baiter did manifest at ABBA.

[baitem907]

ANGL4now,
I am so thankful you have come up with a resolution to this problem. As the "Bait Maker", I feel obligated to jump onboard. I think we can all relate to a sour apple ruining this for all of us. Its really no different then people dumping unwanted cars, trash ect. at Jim Creek. I understand where you're coming from.

I am very undereducated to the process of starting an association and the in's and out's of it. If someone would like to fill me in on what I can do, I'd gladly help out.

For what its worth to you ANGL4now, I have refused to sell bait to shady people who don't want to put the work and effort into baiting.

[Bsj425]

So what excatly will the ABBA do besides remove illegal stands/ trash from the woods? Because while it is a worthy cause ( the trash removal) if that is the only thing it does that isnt really worthy of an association IMO and will dissappear faster than it started. Most other associations do education courses for the public and raise money for different conservation studies etc. Like the ATA each year they put on classes for non trappers on how to remove dogs from traps if you are walking your dog and it happens to become trapped in one and a year or 2 ago raised quite a bit of money for a wolverine study, as well as different benefit dinners for various occasions.

[AlaskaHippie]

So what excatly will the ABBA do besides remove illegal stands/ trash from the woods? Because while it is a worthy cause ( the trash removal) if that is the only thing it does that isnt really worthy of an association IMO and will dissappear faster than it started. Most other associations do education courses for the public and raise money for different conservation studies etc. Like the ATA each year they put on classes for non trappers on how to remove dogs from traps if you are walking your dog and it happens to become trapped in one and a year or 2 ago raised quite a bit of money for a wolverine study, as well as different benefit dinners for various occasions.

Workshops come to mind. As does mentoring programs, perhaps a tie-in with Big Brothers/Big Sisters. Contact local Scout Troops, see if they have an interest, likewise with Wounded Warrior programs. Sharing information amongst members of who is baiting where might save folks some valuable time in locating a place to place their bait. Presenting proposals (Brown Bear over bait in certain areas for example) as a United Front. If you want to protect your chosen Outdoor Pursuit, organizing as a recognizable and represented entity will go a long way towards that.

Good luck AGL4now....

Oh, and think of the logo possibilities...A bear in silhouette, it's nose testing the wind...Underneath that pic "There was something in the air that night" ABBA....<grin>

[ProHunterAK]

I would be willing to put forth some effort on this one and will try to get some of my troops involved as the site removals could help them with their community service medal even if they are not a "baiter" some of the joes are pushing for promotion points and such. Let me know when something is a bit set in stone on it.

[AGL4now]

So what exactly will the ABBA do besides remove illegal stands/ trash from the woods? Because while it is a worthy cause ( the trash removal) if that is the only thing it does that isnt really worthy of an association IMO and will dissappear faster than it started. Most other associations do education courses for the public and raise money for different conservation studies etc. Like the ATA each year they put on classes for non trappers on how to remove dogs from traps if you are walking your dog and it happens to become trapped in one and a year or 2 ago raised quite a bit of money for a wolverine study, as well as different benefit dinners for various occasions.

I would say anything that Helps New & Old Baiter's, Anything that enhances and educates the public as to the benefits of baiting in overall Management. The big one I should think is setting the standards for moral baiting. I do not see removing old barrels as anything other than a PR program. But if some jack***** like me called and said we have a problem, I think it could be good PR. I should think it main function would be to propose regulation to BOG and to Fight proposed regulations as a united front that would hurt the sport of Baiting.

Just think how different, if when I started posting. If someone would have said, "hi, I am Jim Kingman I am the president of ABBA, and I would like to come down a see what your talking about, would next Saturday be good for you.....? Oh by the way is there any chance you could back off on this till we meet".

[ProHunterAK]

only down size of being abbreviated ABBA is people my mistake us for the group and think we are about to sing "Dancing Queen" for them at a meeting..

but otherwise good thoughts on the professional manor of it all

[AGL4now]

only down size of being abbreviated ABBA is people my mistake us for the group and think we are about to sing "Dancing Queen" for them at a meeting..

but otherwise good thoughts on the professional manor of it all

GABBA.......Great Alaska Bear Baiting Association. (At the start of the meetings everyone yells Gabba'dabba'do)

[ProHunterAK]

B E A R (Baiting Ethically Association and Responsibly) meh i suck at acronyms

[mekaniks]

So what excatly will the ABBA do besides remove illegal stands/ trash from the woods? Because while it is a worthy cause ( the trash removal) if that is the only thing it does that isnt really worthy of an association IMO and will dissappear faster than it started. Most other associations do education courses for the public and raise money for different conservation studies etc. Like the ATA each year they put on classes for non trappers on how to remove dogs from traps if you are walking your dog and it happens to become trapped in one and a year or 2 ago raised quite a bit of money for a wolverine study, as well as different benefit dinners for various occasions.

Politicing...Someone needs to represent our intrest with the BOG and Juneau. So it Might as well be a representative of the people who actually leagally participate in the sport and care enough about it to make sure we can continue it into the future, And not get legislated out of business by the actions of groups that have lots of political clout and no "common" sense. (common sense is not so common)

Bring on the ABBA. Sounds like an excellent idea and is way over due IMO.

[ret25yo]

Baiters for Ethical Responsibility (BER)
Responsible Baiters Association (RBA)
Alaska Baiting Endeavor (ABE)
Organization for Responsible Baiting (ORB)

[mekaniks]

So... Step one- $300 per charter member gets ABBA lifetime membership, a t-shirt and a charter member patch. If 100 new members @ $300. ea = $30,000 minus $50.00 per member for the shirts, patch and shipping, = $25,000.00 to get started. Then find one of the members, spouse, friend, kids, whoever, that can write a grant. I bet that there is lots of money out there for a non-profit association like this to help clean up bait staitions in the National Forest.

Step two- Start a campaign to get more people baiting legally and encourage responsibility by bringing some common sense to the bear baiting regulations, such as extending the baiting seasons, remove the sealing requirments, reducing distances... and many of the other mandates that were written by people who simply just dont want bear baiting. And are making legal bear baiting a bigger headache than its worth which actually encourages poeple not to bait bears or to simply do it illegally and take the chance of not getting caught.

Step three- Start and education program that highlights the good aspects of bear baiting, like the ability to watch bears and be selective. Actually getting kids out away from the nintendo in a setting where than can also have some success... The list goes on, and on, and on.....

[alaskabliss]

I would love to join but I would hope that it is not just a bunch of members cleaning trash. I would like to see the education side of it to help our sport against others that don't understand it. Most user groups have an association that will stick up for their desires and fight off stupid legislation and rules that are made by people who have no idea of what their deciding on. Lets keep that a priority for this association.
It would be nice if we could get donations to help offset cost of landfill fee's and the sort. I guess we could sell all the barrels we find.

AGL, I don't like your style on this forum but I do love your idea so you get points for that.
Everyone else, Lets embrace this good idea, or solution as you may want to call it and pitch in to help. AGL has rubbed all of us wrong a time or 100 but he did come up with a solution and is willing to donate a large part of his monthly income to get it started, that shows alot of commitment and passion on this issue. Lets stop the bantering back and forth and use our time to get this association moving ahead.

Jess, I will do some research today on how to start an association