Do Politics & Herd Management Mix??

[Tim50]

Apperently there are thoes that feel political appointee's & lobbyist may not be what is best for managing a resource....So in some peoples opinion political favors, appointees & lobyists ARE NOT what's best for the resource.......Hummmmm

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/outdoors/120832329.html

I guess not EVERYONE has drunk the political kool-aid!!!

[retch sweeny]

I testified at the meeting of the NRB and urged them to support the shelving of EAB and the Oct. hunts. Many other groups were there urging the same thing. Along with WBH was the WWF, HRC, Conservation Congress, SCI and citizens speaking on their own behalf. Thankfully, the NRB listened and shelved EAB and the Oct hunts.

Next we all went to the capitol to testify on AB-99. Yesterday, WBH and the same orgs were back at the capitol to testify on behalf of the Senate version of this bill (SA-75) hardly anybody showed up in opposition to the bill. Eliminating EAB and the Oct hunts was a question asked of hunters at the 2009 Conservation Congress spring hearing. The result was a huge wave of support. 83% of those asked supported eliminating EAB and the Oct hunt, It passed in all 72 counties. AB-99 and SB-75 is the legislature doing the will of the people. That is the long held process in WI. It went through the congress and since lawmakers always have and always will write and pass laws, its fitting the they took this business up.

What the guy from PA that started this thread will not know is that EAB was born in the legislature when John Gard put it out to prevent the NRB from enacting an antlerless only season. Its fitting that EAB dies at its birth place under similar Conditions.

Likewise, our visitor from PA wont know that deer goals in most of WI are set based on social carrying capacity or social acceptance of deer rather than a biological carrying capacity so it makes sense that social concerns for season structure play a big role in season prescriptions.

What our transient guest will not understand is that taking politics out of wildlife management is like trying to take the suds out of soap. There is a commonly held false premise that “the DNR is not political or there are no politics in WI Deer management” I have been around long enough to call Bulls#!t on such a silly premise. Political, agenda driven management driven by the global warning , anti-man, earth firsters with a bias towards plants has driven deer management in WI for years. That is changing now. The DNR has always been politically driven, its just that now, some here don’t like the brand of politics being applied but were happy and quite about the former brand. The move last year to get the legislature involved with goal raising did a good job of exposing the rats in the wood pile. They are being exposed in the media as well via tantrums and angry opinion pieces from the bully pulpit. The DNR has now changed for the better so let the lamenting begin.

Lastly, the Governor made some outstanding appointments to the Natural Resources Board and at the legislative hearing on deer rules, all 3 were approved by the legislature. Most notably was Greg “Kaz” Kasmierski . Kaz has been an advocate for hunters and hunters right for 2 decades. A former board member of the WBH, life member and life long bowhunter who owns one of the state’s largest and most successful archery dealership. He and I live just a few miles apart and have become friends over the last decade and we normally car-pool to the Capitol for hearings. What a great and welcomed addition to the 7 member board of WI hunting policy makers.

Things in Madison are going about as well as any hunter could hope and are about to get even better under a great Governor, a new and improved DNR, an improving NRB and legislators listening to the sportsmen and their votes through the CC. It don’t get much better than that. I would not expect a disgruntled, single issue non-resident from PA to fully grasp the importance of all this or the bright horizon we are approaching but we can expect the continued and tedious and predictable and uninformed lamenting he will want to engage in as he presses his nose against the glass from the outside looking in. Enjoy the view and stay tuned.

[Tim50]

What the political activist from Wisconsin apperently does not realize is the article was written & posted in a Wincionsin paper by a Wisconsin resident. It showes that not everyone in Wi is on board with the politicians running the resource & there is STILL something to be said for people trained in that field doing so. Politician ARE politicians and their bottom line is to get elected & reelected. How else can you explain a fellow buying a license for 4 (FOUR) years and then be touted as the "bowhunting" Governor?? Who among us would trust a politician performing surgery on us just because he/she spent time on a healt care "committe" in the legisalture or was a political "appointee" to a health care board? Yet some on this site propose that very thing with political appointee's handling the resources of WI! It appears some need to take the blinders off & see & do what is right for ALL segments of the hunting population. What effect will their selfish political me first agenda have on the resource & all the hunters of WI? Rules can change and sometimes need to but is tying the hands of the DNR thru political pressure really the way to go? Only time can tell BUT will it be too late? You see Ronnie/Rancid Crabtree/Retch/xranger there ARE other opinions shared by fellow WI residents. I guess I just have to point them out to you! There is still something to be said for letting people trained in a given field do their jobs. Keep the hand-shaking ,baby kissing and political favors & appointees on capital hill and out of the WI forest's!! This political intervention into the DNR sets a dangerous example for ALL STATES!!

[retch sweeny]

You will not know this but the governor did not get elected because he is a bowhunter. He got elected to ix the fiscal mess. His hobbies did not put voters in the polling booths. Its nice to know he’s a sportsman but anybody that votes on that alone needs to get their head examined. I don’t k now how you do things in PA but in WI, the Governor does not run the DNR. He appoints somebody to manage that Dept.

No amount of whining, hand wringing and complaining matters. Sportsmen in WI are well represented in all levels of policy makers. The will of the people is being done. It’s a bright future ahead despite a few folks lamenting. I hope they don’t get too discouraged for the next 6 to 8 years. We will keep an eye on them if they should be hanging around tall buildings or buying rope. Have a great day in PA. We got WI covered.

[Dan Salmon]

It seems as though you misrepresent the "majority" again Retch.

All quotes taken from the May 6th edition of Wisconsin Outdoor News:

While the Natural Resources Board (NRB) went along with the DNR on EAB and October hunts in order to be responsive to hunter concerns and possibly stave off more moves by the Legislature to take away deer management tools, NRB members expressed concern that the framework would not do enough to control deer numbers.

George Meyer, testifying on his own behalf, gave testimony urging the board to let the rule go through, as it was a "small evil" against the "larger evil" that is working its way through the Legislature. "Although some people testifying today don't want the board to have the responsibilty, there are a lot of people who do want you to have the responsibility to set deer regulations even as distasteful as EAB," Meyer said. "There was a decline in hunter numbers even before EAB, due to an aging population; the demographics are against us. But the DNR Secretary needs effective tools to manage the herd."

Doesn't it make you wonder that the majority really does want this? Wisconsin Wildlife Federation represents over 100 Hunting, Shooting & Conservation Organizations in this state and George Meyer is a former DNR Secretary. If any of this were good for the Wisconsin Sportsman or Woman, don't you think they'd be jumping for joy over this?

[Dan Salmon]

And just another interesting note and/or viewpoint from the WON Opinion Column by Editor Dean Bortz, for those that don't subscribe to the paper:

That loud slapping sound you heard at about 11 a.m. on Thursday April 28th was generated by astounded sportsmen as they slapped their collective foreheads, rocked back and groaned, "Oh no, not Kaz!" Oh yes, it's true. Gov. Scott Walker appointed Greg Kazmierski of Hunters Rights Coalition fame to the Natural Resources Board that day. I never believed that there would come a day that I could say that Alan Grischke is no longer the worst appointment by a governor to the Natural Resources Board. I can say that now. As a bit of history, Grischke was appointed by former Gov. Jim Doyle to the board in 2003, but never made it through the Senate confirmation process for a number of reasons. So, I guess in that respect Walker can say he is doing a better job than Doyle.
I do see a bit of irony here, though. Kazmierski gets himself appointed to a board that the Hunters Rights Coalition has been successfully undermining since Walker's inauguration by running fish and wildlife changes through the Legislature as law changes instead of through the Natural Resources Board. So, what's the point of being on the board? The good news for Kaz is that his term runs six years. If Walker does end up getting recalled, Kaz keeps the seat, but Cathy Stepp, Scott Gunderson, and Matt Maroney would be gone.

[Tim50]

You will not know this but the governor did not get elected because he is a bowhunter. He got elected to ix the fiscal mess. His hobbies did not put voters in the polling booths. Its nice to know he’s a sportsman but anybody that votes on that alone needs to get their head examined. I don’t k now how you do things in PA but in WI, the Governor does not run the DNR. He appoints somebody to manage that Dept.

Ronnie/Rancid Crabtree/xranger that did not stop you from praising the new "Bowhunting Governor"!! The Governor should NOT run the DNR BUT if he makes his political appointments to the DNR based on political favors rather than people scientificly trained in the DNR field he IS running the DNR! These political appointee's will have a 4 year window to "please" the voting public rather that do what is best for the resource for years to come! You cannot/should run the DNR in 4 year intervals! You need continunity to run the DNR. I'm sure there are MANY barstool DNR chiefs that know exactly what is wrong....BUT the DNR's #1 priority SHOULD be to the resource NOT the voting public! These appointments (in ANY state) should be made on a sound DNR backround & NOT political favors & political agenda's!

[retch sweeny]

Timmy then you dont know about the last governor and the governor before that. Where were you during the last dozen years? This is nothing new. Suddenly you seem to care about WI.

You and Dan are free to lament. Times they are a changing for the better (even though you wont admit it or refuse to accept it) and there is aboslutly nothing you can do but lament on a chat room. I'm spending the day smoking a ton of pork and living the dream while you guys are living under a rain cloud. In short, it sucks to be you.

Celebrate good times, come on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvX_5ym_ajI

[Tim50]

In short, it sucks to be you.

Dosen't suck to be me at all! I can look in the mirror each morning proud that I support fellow hunters & am honest with those hunters. I don't need to hide behind aliases on ANY site. (Retch Sweeney, Rancid Crabtree, Archer, xranger just to name a few...) I have never misrepresented any facts about the crossbow, it's use or performance. I have never had to apoligise to an entire forum ( see Bowsite.com Mea Cupa) of fellow hunters because of my behavior towards them. If living the dream is misrepresenting facts to fellow hunters & keeping fellow hunters out of the woods then I'm glad that's YOUR dream!! Add all that together & I think you'll agree it actually sucks to be YOU!! Don't burn your pork butt!!!

[retch sweeny]

Life is good. Protecting, promoting and defending the archery deer season, the traditions, the votes of the public is a great feeling that most will never get to know. Everything is falling into place and the future is bright. I'm just glad, I could play a small part in the great works being done. Living the dream indeed. I'll let you get back to your sorrowful lamenting, I gotta rotate my butts and then soot my bow this afternoon. Its a great time to be a sportsman in WI.