Free: Contests & Raffles.
I have a couple of thoughts.It's a private club. So I can't be upset that or think less of them for keeping their meeting private. It's their right. It is funny that they used a publicly available space to show their agenda for the meeting.I dislike the 2 groups that I have any knowledge of in this consortium. I have to believe the others have similar belief's. Their intentions are crystal clear.The tribes are likely a potential advocate for sportsman in this instance. I am a sport fisherman and a hunter. I hear and read all sorts of incorrect stuff regarding the tribes from sportsmen. Now is the time to try and just be kind to one another. We have shared interests when it comes to many of the issues that are being discussed at this conference. Engaging the tribes and showing this threat is wise. Is there a person or group to represent the sportsmen who has not burned that bridge?WDFW itself is under constant attack and ridicule from sportsmen. I have educated myself on anadromous fish issues for the last 20 years. As with the tribes, I have heard and read an amazing amount of false things from sportsmen regarding wdfw. It makes this sort of takeover even easier to accomplish. As with the tribes: Now is the time to try and just be kind to one another. We have shared interests when it comes to many of the issues that are being discussed at this conference. I work in a profession where we consult or use WDFW bio's. Many are not focused on hunting and fishing as much as they are habitat because that is their job. I have had dealing with fish bio's whose jobs revolve around harvest. There seems to be a large disconnect between the 2 types of bio's. We should all understand this in our dealing with their biologists. WDFW pays most employees at a pretty low rate. In fact, the state pays garbage compared to other similar entities especially at the lower levels. This leads to losing people to other entities and it also potentially sets up a scenario where WDFW work becomes more of an internship than a career. I think that this is problematic. You would need to be passionate about something to work for the wages they pay. Who is more passionate than animal rights activists? Maybe, rather than tearing down employees, which I have seen many times, we should do more to advocate for the humans counting reds and setting seasons etc. I've known many of them. The pay and the treatment from the public (especially sportsmen) has had an awful effect on moral. We can't control the humane society or Wild Fish Conservancy. We can control our actions. As the author said, we should get involved. To do this using tact and team building with entities that otherwise frustrate us (tribes, WDFW, political associations) are likely the ways to accomplish our goals. Lastly, there is a lot of political talk on this board about electing people who agree with hunters perspectives. The thing is that most people do not vote on conservation/ outdoors issues. A different tact would be to lobby politicians that are likely to be elected, whether you agree with them or not on other issues. Show them how hunting and fishing is good for the state and for the residents. Direct tactful kind communication does actually work. I have always been amazed at how much that is true. These groups have some politicians ears, mostly because they speak to those politicians. Sportsmen can only control their own selves.
Elections matter! We must change control of the State Senate.
I have a question…So just because these groups got together and decided they know what’s best for our wildlife, created a “wildlife reform”, and invited WDFW, then why is WDFW attending?What if RMEF, The Mule Deer Foundation and a handful of similar groups got together and created a “wildlife reform” based around predator management and habitat, and maximizing opportunities for sportsmen of Washington state. If they were to rent out a camp for 2 days and invite wdfw would they also attend?Maybe I’m misunderstanding but I don’t get why a state agency is even bothering to meet with groups who are basically saying “we know how to do your job better than you do come to our meeting about how we want to replace you”Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk