Excellent essay, Deanna.

I have a lot to say on the subject and can't even begin to write it all here. So I won't. Suffice it to say that all that increased funding going to things like ADHD and other developmental disorders comes in really handy to pay for therapeutic fly fishing programs for developmentally disabled children. Other funds now made available that used to not be there for physically disabled kids through federal education funding for adapted physical education programs pays for adaptive fly fishing programs. Most cities, counties, and states have block grant funding for disabled veterans, youth, and even adults. They also have similar funds for "at risk" kids and "disadvantaged" urban kids.

The biggest problem I find is that a great many fly fishermen are socially incapable and/or morally unwilling to interface with some or all of these demographics. As you called them last week: dinosaurs. That's the polite term. I'm not trying to pick a fight here, and there are a good number of fly anglers who are NOT that way at all. But we are in the minority.