Coastal Conservation Association (CCA)

A Recipe for Success

By Pat Murray
CCA Vice President & Director of Conservation
TIDE
July/August 2006

CCA’s advocacy success follows a fairly easy recipe. By combining strong grassroots, deep political connections, the ability to raise money and a solid communications infrastructure, CCA has managed to successfully address issues ranging from south Texas redfish restoration to north Atlantic shark conservation, proving the axiom that the most basic recipes are usually the best.

In the late 1970s and early ‘80s, CCA was founded with the Save the Redfish campaign. A few concerned recreational anglers identified a problem in Texas bays and got together to create a solution. They quickly saw the need to touch and educate other concerned anglers. They needed to impact key politicians and decision makers, and facilitate sound science to punctuate their concerns. Most importantly, they needed dollars to drive the campaign.

This basic recipe for success led the group to incredible accomplishments in a surprisingly short time. They quickly created a grassroots system, forming chapters that became training grounds for advocacy activity, while raising money, members and awareness. Fortunately, a number of these pioneer conservationists also brought substantial political reach to the effort. Their priceless contacts and influence proved key in all legislative activities. With the help of an elite group of outdoor writers, they spread the word of the need for conservation to the angling public, and together these ingredients created a conservation system that we all enjoy the results of today.

It is interesting to look at what the framers of CCA really created. The Save the Redfish campaign’s greatest victory was not a net ban or game fish status for redfish and speckled trout. It was the creation of the CCA system. This unique combination of membership, fundraising, advocacy and communication set the stage for a lifetime of conservation, not just a single campaign’s victory. Although they could not have known it at the time, CCA’s founders created a model of how to get things done.

The power of this system was evidenced in the recent battles against open-loop LNG. A little more than a year ago, a number of conservationists became aware of a potential threat to coastal resources through the massive saltwater intakes of open-loop LNG facilities in the Gulf of Mexico. This issue was taken to a number of CCA committees, and the conservation wheels began to turn. By motivating CCA’s now-immense grassroots system, members activated to make their opposition known all the way to the White House.

Local, state and national media officials began to inform the public, both inside and outside of the angling arena, of the LNG issue. Key community and state CCA leaders began to educate their state’s leadership of the potential conservation threat, and suddenly the momentum for open-loop LNG began to turn. This important fight is by no means over, but even in late May of this year, CCA Alabama was mobilizing its local chapters, state leaders and media contacts to take a stand at a hearing to oppose open-loop LNG off the Alabama coast.

If you look closely, the formula for opposing the threat of open-loop LNG is strikingly similar to the Save the Redfish campaign. Members, networking, grassroots, communication and the will to make a difference for the resource are the key ingredients for both fights.

It is incredible when you think that those few concerned recreational anglers that gathered in Houston in the late 1970s to map a strategy to save Texas redfish were actually creating a timeless system for success. They created a formula that combines all the key elements for a new era in conservation, and now we all reap the benefits of this recipe that stands the test of time.