Nation’s River Bass Tournament Set for May 18
OutdoorHub 05.10.12
What: On Friday, May 18, 2012, Living Classrooms of the National Capital Region, in partnership with the FLW, Pepco and US Fish and Wildlife Service is bringing 300 underserved local students by the busloads to fish at National Harbor for the fifth annual Nation’s River Bass Tournament.
For the first time, Forrest L. Wood will be honored as the Honorary Chairman of the 2012 Nation’s River Bass Tournament. The organization’s initials are taken from Forrest L. Wood, founder of Ranger Boats and developer of the Ranger fishing boat. The top bass tournament on the FLW Tour, the Forrest Wood Cup, is also named for Wood; the tournament was the first to offer a $1 million prize for the winner, in 2007. Wood is a member of the Professional Bass Fishing Hall of Fame, the National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame, the International Boating Hall of Fame, National Marine Manufacturers Hall of Fame, Legends of the Outdoors Hall of Fame, Arkansas Game and Fish Hall of Fame, Arkansas Walk of Fame, and the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission named its Crowley’s Ridge Nature Center for Wood, who served a seven-year term on the commission after an appointment by Governor Mike Huckabee from 1998 to 2005.
This unique and lively competition will host urban students, federal natural resource agencies, corporate sponsors, and a dozen other public and private organizations to partner with bass anglers for a morning of fishing and appreciating the resources of the Potomac River. Primary goals of the event are to teach them more about sustainable catch, conservation, and safe boating. The Nation’s River Bass Tournament offers students an opportunity to fish (most of the students for the first time) with volunteer bass anglers and employees of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Each student attending will receive a rod and reel donated by Walmart so they can continue exploring their local environment even after the conclusion of the event. The donation will hope to inspire them to recreate after the bass tournament and is one of the First Lady’s “Let’s Move” objectives to fight childhood obesity and connect youth to their natural resources.
When: Friday, May 18, 2012
7:00am – 1:00pm
Where: The West and East Pier at National Harbor, National Harbor, Maryland
Who: Over 300 DC, Maryland, and Virginia students, Living Classrooms of the National Capital Region, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Army Corps of Engineers, Pepco, Walmart, FLW, Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin, American Sportfishing Association, US Coast Guard, National Marine Manufacturers Association, Boater Exam, GenOn, Aramark, Gaylord National, Phillips Seafood, National Harbor, and more than a dozen other public and private partner organizations.
Background:
Living Classrooms recently completed a hands-on learning course with an American shad Restoration Program working with 4,000 students from 56 schools in the Washington, DC metropolitan region. Living Classrooms has been working to restore the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers for the last seven years. For more information, please visit www.livingclassroomsdc.org.
