I’m going to guess that not many outdoor sportsmen are grabbing a newspaper or flipping on their TV just to catch the latest news on the U.N. global warming conference in Copenhagen.

Pictures of police arresting demonstrations on the streets of Copenhagen can appear to have little to do with fragile brook trout habitat in the mountains of Virginia.

The rank-and-file of hunters and anglers often have expressed skepticism over the threat of climate change; yet, they would be the first to see its impact.

Is the climate change issue real or a hoax? Is it a natural cycle that in time will reverse itself or is human activity responsible for changing the climate?

“There are a lot of questions that I don’t have answers for,” said Cliff Burkett, the wildlife action plan coordinator for the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.

Burkett, who came to Virginia from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, is the closest thing that the DGIF has to a global warming czar, but we can be thankful that he doesn’t flaunt himself as that. He is quick to admit that he really has little idea what climate change might do in Virginia.

So what does he have planned?

“The emphasis is to take a large issue and pinch out a starting point,” he said.

At its last meeting in October, the DGIF board adopted what is called “Virginia’s Strategy for Safeguarding Virginia’s Species of Greatest Conservation Need from the Effects of Climate Change.”

You say you didn’t read anything about that? It occurred at the same meeting that the board gave its go-ahead to look for opportunities to establish an elk herd in far Southwest Virginia.

The elk issue got the headlines, because big-antlered elk have way more sex appeal than global warming. You get an idea of that when you consider that I wrote the elk story a few days after it occurred and am just now getting around to the climate change column.

The DGIF has adopted a commendable climate change strategy. Rather than get involved in highly emotional debates over global warming, or get into the business of promoting a different style light bulb, the agency says its first priority is to take care of current wildlife populations and their habitats. That’s Burkett’s “pinched out” starting point.

Wildlife populations and habitats that are healthy are going to be in the best position to deal with climate change, he said.

Even before reports of greenhouse gases were grabbing headlines, Virginia’s wildlife faced daunting challenges. Five years ago, an exhaustive DGIF wildlife action plan — that was the envy of the nation — identified more than 900 species in the state that are being impacted by habitat degradation. Over half of these could become extinct or be extirpated from the state, the report said.

Climate change could spread another layer of stress on many creatures and habitats that already are in trouble, Burkett reported.

A host of solid outdoor organizations have lined up to help address this concern. They include Ducks Unlimited, Trout Unlimited, BASS/ESPN, Izaak Walton League, Coastal Conservation Association, American Sportfishing Association, Pheasants Forever, Wildlife Management Institute and National Wildlife Federation.

My take on global warming is this: Even if you have a difficult time believing that the buildup of greenhouse gases is changing the climate, as an outdoorsman you know first-hand how pollutants can degrade your opportunities to catch fish and hunt game. Put aside the bickering in places like Copenhagen and concentrate on doing everything you can to protect your favorite outdoor sport or species.

Hunters and anglers have been the voice for wildlife for 100 years. Let’s not change now, even though the challenges we face are more complex and arduous than ever before. By Bill Cochran, Roanoke Times