Trout season opens this weekend. It’ll soon be followed by a summer of fishing for walleye, salmon, bass and perch.
Active-duty service members and veterans can have the $26 fishing license fee waived, but only if the veteran is considered 100% disabled.
This means veterans who suffer from post traumatic stress disorder and other mental health issues aren’t always eligible to receive that benefit.
A state bill aims to change this and make the outdoors accessible for more veterans.
Editor's note: This story was produced for the ear and designed to be heard. If you're able, WCMU encourages you to listen to the audio. This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity and contains descriptions of war and suicide. Please use discretion. If you or someone you know may be considering suicide or is in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
TRANSCRIPT
Rick Brewer: I met Andrew Comtois at the Bay City State Park. He was honorably discharged from the military in 2018 after completing seven deployments in the Marine Corp. Comtois says his transition into civilian life was similar to what many veterans go through.
Andrew Comtois: When I got out, I mean, I hit rock bottom. My life was in this downward spiral. I mean, I was substance abuse, really bad with alcohol. My wife held me together.
RB: During this difficult period, Comtois says he decided to go hunting. He wouldn’t have called himself an outdoor enthusiast at the time. But during this first hunting trip, something happened when a doe walked right in front of him.
AC: And at that moment, it was just like, everything went quiet to me. All the sounds, like, everything was just peaceful. And it was the first time that I felt at peace in, in years.
AC: I was going down a very dark, dark, dark road, and I will forever cherish that moment, because that moment is when I started to kind of turn my life round.
RB: Comtois says the outdoors saved his life. He’s now hunted almost any animal you can think of. From mallards and turkeys across Michigan, to bear and big game in states like Maine. He’s gone to the oceans, lakes and rivers to fish and he’s helped get veterans outside through non-profits.
AC: To get that escape from the everyday life. I mean, just to have that type of therapy. It's free therapy in nature.
RB: Comtois recently launched his own non-profit in Bay City called Outdoor Driven. Its mission is to take veterans on hunting and fishing trips and cover the cost of things like deer tags and fishing licenses. One of the goals is to reach as many Michigan veterans as possible. Veterans like Sean Chase of Newyago.
Sean Chase: It was nonstop danger. It's why I am the way I am right now is because you don't ever let that danger go. You don't ever let that looking over your shoulder go.
RB: Chase is referring to his time as the lead driver of his regiment when he was deployed in Afghanistan. Chase says he constantly drove on one of the most dangerous highways abroad.
RB: And after being medically discharged, Chase says he went to a dark place and suffered from substance abuse. He says he had suicidal thoughts and fell on hard times financially. He always loved fishing with his family but says there were times it was hard to come up with $26 for a fishing license.
SC: And it's not a lot of money. But when you're on a small government, I guess it's called a stipend, like, you're living on retirement checks. And they're not paying you a lot of money and you don't have anything to do besides that. All the sudden that 30 extra dollars is a lot of money, when it's, am I going to eat this week? Or am I going to get a fishing license?
RB: Chase says he’s only considered to be eighty percent disabled and is doing better in his struggles with mental health. He’ll graduate from Central Michigan University next week. But that sense of danger consumes him in a lot of places.
SC: But fishing like, when I'm in a river with waders on up to my chest in water. I'm not tripping about, oh, I'm gonna get blown up. I'm not tripping about, oh, they're gonna shoot me. I'm not thinking about any of that.
RB: A group of Republican lawmakers recently referred a bill to the House Natural Resources committee that would allow all Michigan veterans, regardless of disability status, to get non-lottery fishing licenses for free.
RB: Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle agree the bill will likely go through changes. Bob Bezotte is a Republican from mid-Michigan
Rep. Bob Bezotte: We can make this bill a lot stronger and take care of the DNR's concern because we want the DNR support. And I know they'll support it, but they're worried about the funding.
RB: Laurie Pohutsky, a Democrat from southeast Michigan and chair of the Natural Resources Committee, says the committee is considering several possible changes to the DNR’s licensing structure.
Rep. Laurie Pohutsky: And I think if we look at it holistically, rather than just this bill in a vacuum, that might make it a more amenable conversation than just talking about limiting revenue period.
AC: And there are all those blue-winged teal that just landed again.
RB: Andrew Comtois says he hopes to reach Veterans before its too late with his new non-profit, Outdoor Driven. The latest Veteran Affairs mental health report says more than 16 veterans commit suicide every day in the U.S.
AC: I want to physically get them before they take their lives, you know, I want to help them out any way I can. And I know by launching that platform of Outdoor Driven, like, that is going to be the escape for them.
RB: Comtois says most veterans are hesitant to reach out for help. But a change in policy, he says, may help offer that support and create more awareness for the healing power of the outdoors. I’m Rick Brewer, WCMU News.
