WDFW's 6% Budget Cutting Plan

[Wacenturion]

Might add grants, public utilities etc funding can also be attributed to hunting and fishing indirectly.  Hunters and fishermen are responsible for far more of the budget than you assume.  As I mentioned above as an example, a 25% state share of hunting or fishing dollars generates a 75% match of federal DJ or PR. 

[dreamunelk]

FYI
Most federal grant dollars are dedicated long before the department gets them.  So bashing the WDFW on how the money is spent is moot.  In fact you have to marvel at the how the politics play out on this.  Elected officials at both the state and federal level as well as the USFWS and special interest groups dictate this but, we all blame the WDFW.  Truth is we are beating up the errand boy while the others sit back and laugh!  It is actually so sad it is funny.  The same politician who is publicly blasting the WDFW over deer and elk numbers is having lunch with the pro wolf crowd and telling them to keep it up, they will make sure ? get the funding.

If the WDFW was to apply for a grant to purchase land because it is grate deer and elk habitat the grant would not even get a second look, even if there funding available for such a purchase.  But, if that land happens to also have a special bug or something than likely there is grant funding available.  So when we gripe about purchasing land for this something we should look and see if there is an ulterior motive before shooting the errand boy.

So the moral of the story is take a long hard look at who you vote for and write/ call and hold them accountable.  So long as we continue to focus our anger on the WDFW and not hold the people who actually control the money and dictate how it is spent they will sit back and laugh at our ignorance.

[Wacenturion]

Respectfully disagree.  It's called management direction and it's a choice by WDFW, pure and simple.  It's also called backbone like in standing up for folks who have payed the freight for 60+ years.  It's the path of least resistance and is politically correct for the most part the past 10 years or longer depending on program.  If you're not dedicated enough to fight for a grant or $$$ for legitimate elk range, but take the easier path because a bug exists or you use that argument to get your elk range money....then that problem is you, the manager....not the politician. 

No one micromanages WDFW....they manage themselves with choices that reflect that management.  They also have a different type of employee now than they did 30-40 years ago. 

There's an ol' dog breeding saying which states..

"Like begets like", which means when you line breed, like close in similar bloodlines, you set both the good and bad traits. 

This in a sense can be applied to WDFW staff.  The more liberal, less likely to hunt or fish, wildlife viewing, wolf advocate types you hire, the more they eventually hire down the road.  It's a mindset that is constantly been evolving for the past 30 years and taking WDFW policies away from, as they call them....."Joe Six-pack" type hunters and fishermen.

If there had been any directors with a pair, that made it a priority to put sportsmen first in many respects....it would have been different today.  Nothing has changed for the better and nothing will in the for seeable future.

[fishnate]

 The more liberal, less likely to hunt or fish, wildlife viewing, wolf advocate types you hire, the more they eventually hire down the road.


There are more sportsman in WDFW than many think. During busy season there are around 30 employee's at my office and 90 percent participate in fishing  or hunting of some form. 

[Machias]

The more liberal, less likely to hunt or fish, wildlife viewing, wolf advocate types you hire, the more they eventually hire down the road.


There are more sportsman in WDFW than many think. During busy season there are around 30 employee's at my office and 90 percent participate in fishing  or hunting of some form.  

Certainly not trying to be a jerk to you, but I find that hard to believe.  Sportsmen would NOT call hound hunting for coyotes "socially unacceptable", and if they did then the state of affairs is in even worse trouble then I thought.  F'n morons.  

[Wacenturion]

The more liberal, less likely to hunt or fish, wildlife viewing, wolf advocate types you hire, the more they eventually hire down the road.


There are more sportsman in WDFW than many think. During busy season there are around 30 employee's at my office and 90 percent participate in fishing  or hunting of some form. 

I'm talking across the board...the whole agency.  "In some form" leaves a lot to the imagination.  What office are you referring to by the way?

[fishnate]

I work out of Wenatchee. It is the same as this states political beliefs the further west I would agree with you about people being sportsman, but there is alot of us on the eastside that are. Just sayin.

[fishnate]

Most of us that are employed by WDFW are not the ones that ban dogs for coyotes or like wolves or whatever.  It is the upper management I believe that needs the change like most things some people ruin the image for many others in the department. 

[KillerMiller]

The average work month is 176 hrs over 12 months for most employees that work 40 hrs/wk.  

As far as WDFW budget reduction, the 6% reduction will only affect the 49% that the wildlife and general fund actually pays for WDFW, but all employees will feel the reduction.  BTW 51% of WDFW is funded through federal, local, tribal and other conservation grants and/or contracts.  So, hunters and fishermen fund a small portion of WDFW.  Many of the bios on the employee list actually have non state funded contracts that are funded by the Feds, local utilities, and many other groups.  That 51% brings revenue to WDFW that helps purchase land, puts fish in the rivers/lakes, and many other recreational activities we all enjoy.  

You're forgetting a lot of those federal funds are either DJ (fishing) or PR(hunting)....a direct result and expenditure of hunters and fishermen.    

Not forgetting at all, just making a point that the 6% is State funds only.  BTW I would say dollars earned through proposals by many bios who have NO state funding do not necessarily reflect fishing and hunting dollars but do reflect the tax or rate payers that also reflect sportsman as well as the bios who earned the proposal.  Where do you think the MOU money from BPA came from?  This is money the state and tribes have to earn through proper studies and research.

[bigtex]

The amount of hunters/fishermen in WDFW greatly varies from division to division. I would have to say that the enforcement division has the most hunters/fishermen of all the divisions, in fact nearly all of them hunt and/or fish. It starts to dip a little bit when your talking general fishery or wildlife biologists. But once you get into habitat biologists and endangered species biologists/scientists the number of hunting/fishing participants really declines.

[jstone]

Usually the upper management are the ones that screw things up.. They cant think outside the box.

[JLS]

The 171 hours for enforcement officers is for a 28 day period, not a month.

[bigtex]

The 171 hours for enforcement officers is for a 28 day period, not a month.