The Systematic Dismantling of State Fish and Game Departments
September 7, 2010
*Editor’s Note* Information for part of this article came as the result of a link provided by a reader to the video concerning the recent “audit” of the Pennsylvania deer management program. Hat tip!
At work within your local communities are people whose bent is the dismantling of fish and game departments and clubs and organizations that promote America’s long heritage of hunting, trapping and fishing. This effort is not, however, confined to your local or state agencies and groups. National organizations are busy infiltrating these long standing constitutions with agendas that far exceed the imaginations of most people.
I have long been an opponent of the manipulation of states’ fish and game departments by environmentalists to morph these tried and true administrations into larger, super-departments often called departments of natural resources and the such. I have readily spoken of the dangers of such.
The somewhat stealth adversaries of those fish and game agencies whose function is actually to advocate for fish and game, begin simply by reducing or eliminating hunting, fishing and trapping opportunities. As theprospects for a chance to go afield diminish, interest wanes, license sales drop, revenue to state fish andgame departments evaporates and thus begin the calls for general taxpayer money to pay for the day to day operations with claims the department is no longer relevant. This appeal for taxpayer dollars, disguised sometimes as an honest effort to “bail out” fish and game, is closely followed by the insistence that a more diverse representation be permitted to sit on the governing boards of our fish and game institutions.
It should also be noted that a more subtle, back door approach can be quite successful as a means of early infiltration into the affairs of fish and game. Conservationists in name only (CINOs) slither their way into the ranks of game management in order to change the balance and direction fish and game should go. This is often achieved through our education system of indoctrination in which these same CINOs have had their influences.
If we look around, we can see this permeation in action through many different levels of success. Whether it’s delta smelts in the San Joaquin Valley area of California, wolves in the North Rockies, Southwest or Western Great Lakes, black bears and pumas in Florida, mountain lions in California, Canada lynx in Maine and other northern tier states, the systematic destruction of deer in Pennsylvania or Atlantic salmon, you name a state and more than likely you will find a “controversy” over some species that provokes demands from the environmentalists to halt or drastically reduce hunting, trapping and/or fishing opportunities.
A clear example of this infiltration is taking place in Pennsylvania. Several years ago it was decided by the ruling class of the Fish and Game Commission, which, as it turns out has been successfully compromised by members pushing their ecosystem form of management, to begin a program to systematically destroy the whitetail deer herd all in the name of saving the forest.
For decades Americans have successfully utilized the model of Maximum Sustainable Yield in managementof our forests and wildlife. But those of the infiltrating party have switched to a non scientific, political form ofmanagement called the Ecosystem Management, which is for the most part in direct opposition to sustainable yield.
John Eveland, a wildlife ecologist, forester and wildlife biologist, says that in Pennsylvania’s case, where citizens were told that too many whitetail deer were destroying the forest, resulting in placing other species in danger, real science shows those claims not to be at all true. He says that out of some 465 species of birds, mammals and flowers found in Pennsylvania’s forest, any eating of shrubbery by deer might possibly have effects on 4 or 5 species. He also points out that studies show that when deer were at the maximum inPennsylvania, the effect deer were having on shrubbery, etc. was minimal.
John Eveland was video recorded with his presentation before Pennsylvania sportsman’s groups and can be viewed in an 8-part series by following this link.
Eveland’s claims are that this is all a result of the infiltration by individuals, representing groups whose agendas are to reduce or eliminate hunting opportunities, stating this as also being a danger to Second Amendment rights.
While Eveland’s research, presentation and conclusions are quite eye opening, some would question whether he goes far enough in exposing where the ideas of Ecosystem Management come from. It is easy to perhaps recognize and point a finger at a person in your community who is outwardly verbal in support of Ecosystem Management vs. Maximum Sustainable Yield but where does all this garbage originate from and is it a trickle down confiscation of hunting, trapping and fishing opportunities and rights or a more blatant, conspiracy by powerful forces to promote agendas? You, of course, will have to make that decision for yourself.
Some point a finger at the United Nations Agenda 21, through the use of gray and fancy wording make it sound as though they have the best interest of everyone and everything at heart. But do they? Agenda 21 calls for all nations to be able to prosper from the sustainable management of our resources and beseeches the States’ governments to adhere to the program developed by the U.N.
Agenda 21 clearly indicates that as it pertains to forestry management, we should be protecting the entire ecosystem, while steering away from the proven science behind what has already shown to be successful.
While we are not aware that our own Federal Government is outwardly mandating its agencies to utilize the principles and elements of Agenda 21, rest assured there are plenty of those who subscribe to this kind of government control, as it is an issue of control over people and not the protection of wildlife or natural resources.
The next time you hear someone make comment that outdoor sportsmen are making too big an issue over certain wildlife management concerns, begin asking yourself who and what is really behind the actions being discussed. It may not be as simple as you think. That handful of outspoken sportsmen, more than likely, are much more informed than you may even know.
Get involved! Get educated!
Tom Remington
http://mainehuntingtoday.com/bbb/2010/09/07/the-systematic-dismantling-of-state-fish-and-game-departments/
