Hello Divers,
This week I received a letter from Representative Jim McClendon announcing that he is running for State Senate. Many of you newer divers don't know me, but I'm the guy that was in charge of Southern Skin Divers Supply until I retired and Forrest took over. I only do the Alaska adventure now and dive for relics in Alabama. In 1999 a new law was passed in the Alabama Legislature. In this law were regulations that were terrible for the rights of the Public to have access to our Public lands that are underwater. Alabama is blessed with 77,000 miles of waterways, most of which have never been dived on or explored. SSDS and other dive stores tried to modify the new law with no success. The new regulations read in part that you could not dive anywhere in Alabama Public waters without first paying a Professional Archaeologist to give you a permit to dive in your rivers and streams. This was not a permit to look for or find anything but just to go diving. It was totally corrupt and wrong and gave Alabama the worst and most unfriendly dive law in America. In 2003, I was arrested for diving and finding a relic in the Alabama River at Selma. I have been diving there since 1973. This is the time that we first met Jim McClendon. He is my Representative in Montgomery. No one has been more important to you, The Public, in getting back your rights and access to Public waters than Jim McClendon. These past years have included hundreds of trips to Montgomery to work with our Legislators by myself and many others to get back our waters. From the time I was arrested Jim has been on board and leading the charge on your behalf. He is a bulldog in his efforts. He personally is responsible for the audits of the agency that exposed their corruption and forced their agency head to resign. Over the many years of this ongoing fight he has managed to cut the agencies funds enough to reduce the State Employees of the agency by about 30%. This was for you and got their attention. The person who had me arrested was allowed to resign. Jim spearheaded every action that we did and he never gave me false lip service. He has never turned me down on any request that I have made. He is our number one voice in Montgomery. Two years ago when we tried to change some confusing words in our dive law, he had it passed for us in The House. It was the first Bill passed in the entire House that year. All of this was Jim McClendon's work. The unfriendly diving regulations no longer exist in Alabama. Instead, The Public, can dive in any of our waters. You can now find relics, fossils, gold dust and artifacts that are not part of an official Cultural Resource. The waters of Alabama can now be explored thanks to Representative Jim McClendon. Alabama now has the friendliest dive regulations in the entire country. The Public, that means you, are still unduly harassed from time to time and people eventually call our dive store for help. They refer the problem to me because I understand the laws. If it is beyond my help, I call Jim McClendon. He has never failed to help. Jim is not a career politician, he is an Eye Doctor. Jim and his family are divers and he has a strong interest in history I do. He will be even more valuable in The State Senate. Forrest, Spencer and I are sending $500 for his campaign. If you are ever going to give any money to anyone running for office then please help Jim. It doesn't matter if you live in Alabama or not. The successes that Jim has made happen here have had a large National impact on Public access to Public Lands. Hunters, fishermen, Historians, Hikers and everyone in the Public benefits from Jim's efforts for us. We need him. Let him know who you are and what your interests are and send a check to:
Jim McClendon for Senate
361 Jones Road
Springville, AL 35146-6134
Thank you.
Steve Phillips
Southern Skin Divers Supply
