Merger?

[jager]

Forgive me if I have missed it but has anyone heard of a merger between DNR, WDFW, under WSP?
I spent some time with a WDFW officer last week and that had come up....no other info on it just the possibility.

[bigtex]

Well only the enforcement programs of DNR and WDFW would go under WSP. It has been brought up several times the past two years but gets shot down with a lot of opposition each time. Basically they found there is no budget savings by combining and moving enforcement. I am sure it will get brought up again this session, the state sheriffs association, WDFW, DNR, hunting/fishing groups and quite a few legislators are against the idea.

[Dave Workman]

See this thread:
http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,64084.0.html

[bowpredator]

Yea, heard it on kiro radio today. Doesn't sound very good to me.

[bigtex]

Yea, heard it on kiro radio today. Doesn't sound very good to me.

There is no talk about a DNR, WSP, WDFW merger!!!!

It's a WDFW, State Parks, and DNR Law Enforcement merger. The other parts of DNR will stay in tact and enforcement will not move to State Patrol.

[Elkaholic daWg]

Yea, heard it on kiro radio today. Doesn't sound very good to me.

There is no talk about a DNR, WSP, WDFW merger!!!!

It's a WDFW, State Parks, and DNR Law Enforcement merger. The other parts of DNR will stay in tact and enforcement will not move to State Patrol.

 Sounds like total BS to me ...in either form!!

[Glockster]

Big Tex; you seem more educated than most on enforcement issues.  Do you think WDFW enforcement being absorbed by WSP is a good or bad thing?

I would assume there could be some efficiencies gained by using the same communications network, etc.

 

[bigtex]

Big Tex; you seem more educated than most on enforcement issues.  Do you think WDFW enforcement being absorbed by WSP is a good or bad thing?

I would assume there could be some efficiencies gained by using the same communications network, etc.

Terrible idea. To start off, all state law enforcement agencies (WDFW, DNR, State Parks, Liquor Control Board) as well as the US Forest Service use the WSP communications network. They all use the same frequencies, so when a WDFW Officer talks on the radio all the troopers, park rangers, liquor control board officers that are on that frequency hear them. To report a poaching you need to call WSP, since they dispatch WDFW and the other agencies I listed 24/7/365. WDFW's Poaching Hotline is only operable during normal business hours excluding holidays and furlough days.

There are only two states that have wildlife enforcement under their state patrol/police, and one of those states is looking at moving their enforcement back to the wildlife dept. So it should say something when only two states operate that way. In these two states wildlife enforcement is basically the redheaded step-child. When budget cuts come, wildlife gets hit more then road troopers. When there is a surplus of money, road troopers are increased more then wildlife. It is a bad thing to not work for the agency that sets the actual regulations, but it is your job to enforce them.

There have been three proposals all by the governor in the past two years to move WDFW and DNR Enforcement under WSP. Every time every fishing and hunting group as well as the WA ST Sheriffs Association gets pissed off. No legislator wants to go against the state sheriff's association. They also found that there is no savings by moving WDFW Enforcement to WSP. What it simply is, is that the WSP Chief wants his agency to essentially be the state police (enforce everything), not the state patrol (focus on traffic). There are only two full-authority state agencies in WA, WSP and WDFW. You put WSP and WDFW Enforcement together you now essentially have the most powerful agency in the state.

I'll make this comparison. If you are a mechanic for Toyota and have spent your entire life working only on Toyotas, would it make sense to wake up one day and decide to work for Ford? Just because they are Ford. Of course not. Well if you've spent your entire career working fish and wildlife enforcement would it make any sense to suddenly work for the agency that mainly deals with traffic enforcement?

[Dmanmastertracker]

Forgive me if I have missed it but has anyone heard of a merger between DNR, WDFW, under WSP?
I spent some time with a WDFW officer last week and that had come up....no other info on it just the possibility.

 Oregon did it and it failed -economically speaking.

[villageidiot]

This whole thing is a power grab by the governor.  She also has some wording that will eliminate many advisory boards and put her in charge.   So we would have a new King or lets say a Queen to tell us how each dept will be run.  With her anti hunting agenda you know what will happen to the WDFW.  It will turn into a birdwatching organization instead of hunting and fishing and will have to be funded by the legislature because bird watchers do not buy a hunting license  and hunting and fishing licenses support the WDFW by 75% of it revenue.   If they want to save money, just keep all enforcement and all land managers.   Get rid of a bucket load of ologists that are out doing every study known to man for absolutely no intelligent reason except to have somebody employed.  The ologists outnumber the enforcement and managers several times over.  The enforcement officer in each area is out in the field nearly his whole shift actually seeing the game, tracking and talking to people that have seen game.  He can make way better decisions on what needs to be adjusted than the bio. sitting in the office looking at charts and graphs.   Biologists are a total dead weight to the dept. but they are given the decision making POWER to run the whole thing with no veto power from enforcement or any of us hunters either.
  No money will be saved by any merger, only a power grab by the governor and loss of any representation from the hunting community.

[Glockster]

Thanks for the perspective Tex

'There are only two states that have wildlife enforcement under their state patrol/police, and one of those states is looking at moving their enforcement back to the wildlife dept'

Alaska?

So why is/was WDFW setting up their own radio shop in Olympia.  I heard they were setting up a separate WDFW radio dispatch comms center, the whole 9yards.  I guess that won't be happening now.

[Dmanmastertracker]

 Not a slam against WSP, but they simply don't know wildlife, that is evident by some of the local cases involving bears, etc.. mishandled badly, they just aren't trained for it and I don't think it's reasonable for them to assume that role given their other duties.

[bigtex]

Thanks for the perspective Tex

'There are only two states that have wildlife enforcement under their state patrol/police, and one of those states is looking at moving their enforcement back to the wildlife dept'

Alaska?

So why is/was WDFW setting up their own radio shop in Olympia.  I heard they were setting up a separate WDFW radio dispatch comms center, the whole 9yards.  I guess that won't be happening now.

Yup Alaska is looking at moving enforcement to the Wildlife Dept. Or atleast they were 2 years ago, I don't know if there are any budget issues for them.

Here is the thing about WDFW's dispatch center. WSP charges each agency that uses their communication system a fee of $2.50-3.50 each time an officer uses their radio. WDFW is charged $2.50 per click of the mic. So just for one WDFW Officer to sign on to duty it costs $5, since an officer has to transmit two different phrases to sign on to duty. Then you add in the additional information that officers request from dispatchers such as running names for warrants, checking license plates and so on. The amount that WDFW has to pay for the service is huge.

So in order to save $ WDFW started their own radio communications center known as WILDCOMM. WILDCOMM are the dispatchers that you talk to if you call the poaching hotline or send in a text to WDFW. The problem is that WDFW only has enough $ to staff and operate WILDCOMM Mon-fri 8am-5pm. WDFW would eventually like to staff WILDCOMM 7 days a week and 19 hours a day. But of course that is all depending on the budget and probably wont happen for 5 years, if that. Right now WDFW is saving money by operating WILDCOMM during normal business hours. So it is working so far. WDFW has plans to always use WSP, even when/if the WILDCOMM program is extended, they just won't use it as much as they do now. Even though WILDCOMM is up and running you can still call WSP 24/7/365 to report a violation.

[woodswalker]

This whole thing is a power grab by the governor.  She also has some wording that will eliminate many advisory boards and put her in charge.   So we would have a new King or lets say a Queen to tell us how each dept will be run.  With her anti hunting agenda you know what will happen to the WDFW.  It will turn into a birdwatching organization instead of hunting and fishing and will have to be funded by the legislature because bird watchers do not buy a hunting license  and hunting and fishing licenses support the WDFW by 75% of it revenue.   If they want to save money, just keep all enforcement and all land managers.   Get rid of a bucket load of ologists that are out doing every study known to man for absolutely no intelligent reason except to have somebody employed.  The ologists outnumber the enforcement and managers several times over.  The enforcement officer in each area is out in the field nearly his whole shift actually seeing the game, tracking and talking to people that have seen game.  He can make way better decisions on what needs to be adjusted than the bio. sitting in the office looking at charts and graphs.   Biologists are a total dead weight to the dept. but they are given the decision making POWER to run the whole thing with no veto power from enforcement or any of us hunters either.
  No money will be saved by any merger, only a power grab by the governor and loss of any representation from the hunting community.

Remember too...Pittman Robertson monies, and several other sources tied to wildlife management and hunting require matching expenditures and are tied also to revenue levels.

There will be EVEN LESS money once all the other sources are disqualified...and we as hunters and fishers will have significantly LESS than we do now...

Its a Lose, Lose and Lose deal all around.

[Dave Workman]

I'll put this link here, same as in the other thread, for anyone who missed it:





" A proposal unveiled yesterday by Gov. Christine Gregoire that would merge the Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW) with the Parks and Recreation Commission, Recreation and Conservation office and law enforcement branch of the Department of Natural Resources may convince hunters and anglers that they will be the big losers under such a merger...

"...Today’s publication of a story about how the state’s wolf management plan “will likely shift into high gear after the 2011 legislative session” has tossed gasoline onto a fire among hunters who are already concerned about the impact of wolf packs on this state’s deer and elk herds. This announcement only reinforces what many hunters already believe: The state doesn’t give a rip about them beyond getting their license fees and providing marginal opportunities in return..."


http://www.examiner.com/gun-rights-in-seattle/will-gov-gregoire-s-plan-finally-destroy-game-management-for-hunters

Or try this:

http://tinyurl.com/26tcvzp