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Alert: SB 6813 - WDFW Elimination
bearpaw:
Thoughts from one of the legislators involved:
Dear Dale and Tara, March 1, 2010
Thank you for contacting Senator Schoesler’s office with your concerns about Senate Bill 6813: the proposal to merge the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Washington State Department of Parks and Recreation Commission into the Department of Natural Resources. The Senator read your e-mail and asked me to respond on his behalf. The Senator agrees that the merger of these two agencies would be disastrous for the future of wildlife and outdoor recreation in our state.
One of his main problems with this merger is based on the fact that the goals of these three departments are conflicting. The DNR has the job of managing public lands and natural resources to provide economic gain for the state. The WDFW has the responsibility of protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and their habitats and well as providing sustainable, fish- and wildlife-related recreational and commercial opportunities. The Parks and Recreation Commission oversees the management of state parks. These agencies are diverse and have different vested interests in State resources.
After the 1994 merger of the Departments of Fisheries and Game into the Department of Fish and Wildlife, it has only just begun to function cohesively. This proposed merger would create another “superagency,” which will only lead to further delays and issues for the public.. In this time of economic hardship we should be streamlining government, not expanding the bureaucracy to unbearable levels.
This merger has been offered as a cost-saving mechanism. The Department of Fish and Wildlife receives less than 30% of its funding from the general fund. The WFDW is largely self-funded from licenses and fees. In fact, hunters and fishermen agreed to pay a surcharge on licenses last year to preserve vital WDFW functions.
Washington State receives federal money for wildlife habitat development. In order to continue to receive this money Washington must comply with the Pittman Robertson Act of 1937, which requires the state to have a “law prohibiting the diversion of license fees paid by hunters for any purpose other than the administration of the state’s fish and game department.” This prohibits money from permits and fees being sent into the general fund, and keeps them for use for conservation
The timeline that Senate Bill 6813 mandates is poorly thought out and will be nearly impossible to achieve. The proposed legislation requires that the three agencies must submit a report detailing how the merge will be accomplished by July 1, 2010. The merger itself must be completely by September 1, 2010. This is an impossibly short amount of time to make a readjustment of this size, and will only lead to further mistakes and unnecessary costs.
Senator Schoesler does support interagency cooperation between the Department of Fish and Wildlife, State Parks and Recreation and the Department of Natural Resources. However, I do not feel that the merging of these agencies will do anything but create problems for our children and grandchildren to solve.
Thank you for contacting Senator Schoesler’s office with your concerns. If you have any further questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact the office.
Sincerely,
Amanda
Amanda Livesay
Legislative Intern
Senator Mark Schoesler
9th District
Kain:
Great letter!
bearpaw:
Another message that just came in. Seems that numerous legislators were looking at this intelligently.
Dear Dale and Tara,
Thank you so much for contacting me regarding the merge of the Department of Wildlife and the DNR. I am not in support of this merge and we were able to defeat it in a budget amendment passed on Friday.
Thanks again for contacting me. Please let me know if you have any other questions.
Senator Joseph Zarelli
18th legislative district
(360) 786-7634
Kain:
--- Quote from: bearpaw on March 01, 2010, 04:06:07 PM ---Another message that just came in. Seems that numerous legislators were looking at this intelligently.
--- End quote ---
They could be but the timing seems a little odd that you are just now hearing from them now that it looks like its not going to happen. :dunno: Maybe Im just being cynical.
whacker1:
based on the people responding, I would say you are just getting the response after the chaos has died down from last week. Zarelli and Schoessler are on our side as far as that committee goes.
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