Wednesday's "public" meeting at Parks RE: merger with WDFW

[Dave Workman]

   What good is a public meeting held at 10 o’clock on a Wednesday – that’s a work day for hunters and anglers who still have jobs, no thanks to the Obama “stimulus” package – when the genuine public really cannot attend?


http://www.examiner.com/node/27445196

Or try this:

http://tinyurl.com/28qndp6

[bobcat]

Well at least they're not having to pay the employees overtime like they would if they did it on a weekend, or in the evening.

[Bob33]

Well at least they're not having to pay the employees overtime like they would if they did it on a weekend, or in the evening.

You beat me to it.  With the reduced budget they have, they can't afford to pay anyone more than the base salary (unless it's something important like wolf studies.)

I would like to believe they really care about public input.  But, I just can't based on previous experiences.

[Curly]

They wouldn't want to hear what the public has to say anyway, but holding a meeting at 10:00 on Wednesday is b.s. 

Reminds me of the token public input the WDFW had on the new draw system..........

I'm just about done hunting in this state and if they do the merger I'm seriously considering not hunting in this state any more.  Better hunting in Montana anyway and I don't want to be spending my money on wolf recovery in this state.  

The Wildlife commission was a joke anyway, but at least it was something.  With the governor in charge of WDFW, then they are doomed.

[Special T]

Managing wildlife and the hunters that pay the freight is a hard job... It is an inexact science and requires a long term comittment... Rewards are reeped years later but results demanded today.. I believe that the WDFW (and many other agencies) are hooked on grants like a meth addict. These grants are a short term answer to a long term problem of not taking care of thier customers, the hunters and anglers...
I don't think the merger is a good idea, but I DON"T CARE! The WDFW has refused to engage its customers and find out what thier needs and desires are so that they can be satisfied.. As a business owner in these hard times i MUST engage my customers to survive... i just might support a merger this time to shake things up at the WDFW... They didn't hear the wakeup call when they had to call upon hunters and anglers to save them from a merger with the DNR... When i called my rep and bailed thier ass out all we got was more silence.... I'm ready for it to get worse before it gets better, maybe we'll end up with someone with some commons sence..

I sent this email to the WDFW some time ago and here is thier responce..

Sent: Thursday, December 02, 2010 9:37 AM
To: Public Affairs (DFW)
Subject: Q&A on http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php

 

     I was wondering if someone from the department could do some Q&A on this hunting board... I know there are several people visit this site that work for the WDFW because they love to hunt and/or fish... There have been a couple of employees that have spoken up and answered some basic non political questions and have been asked to be quiet... Even on their own time.. I know it is not in the best interest of WDFW to talk about some topics, however some things like rule clarifications, Information about the different drawings and how they work, and even some of the challenges that faces the WDFW would go a long way in helping ethical law biding citizens have better outings. As a Business owner i understand that issues are not as clear cut as Some hunters/fisherman may think...
    There are many well informed thoughtful people on this site,Including myself, that YEARN for some insight... It may also be a way for the WDFW to gain some insight as to what the hunting/fishing community thinks  regarding our Sport... The site is fairly large with 6630 Members about 100 people a day who are online each day and about 500 posts per day... Please give it some though and let me know what you think.... I think that someone in an unofficial off duty capacity is a help.. Thankyou for your thoughts and consideration..

Here is the responce...
Thanks for your recent message. In response to your question, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) staff follow the hunting-washington blog and other blogs of interest to hunters and fishers. We also maintain an agency Facebook page and Twitter feed. The number of special-interest blogs is increasing, and we recognize their popularity. Unfortunately, we simply do not have the staff capacity to respond to individual questions and comments in all these forums. The task of accurately answering individual questions on a half dozen or more blogs would consume our public-information staff’s time.  We prioritize our efforts to broadly distribute information to a wide number of hunters and fishers through the Weekender recreation report, news releases and department website.  As you correctly point out, some WDFW staff members or former employees may choose to post on blogs, but they are speaking as individuals not as official WDFW representatives.  The information they provide may or may not be accurate. For all these reasons, we advise anyone with questions on hunting or fishing to visit our website or contact appropriate staff members. Information on how to contact WDFW staff is available on our website at http://wdfw.wa.gov/about/contact/, with an employee directory of email addresses and phone numbers.  For hunting-related questions, you also may email our Wildlife Program customer-service staff at wildthing@dfw.wa.gov.  Thanks for your thoughtful suggestion, and your interest in hunting information.

 

Margaret Ainscough

Public Affairs Director

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife

They abviously don't see us as a customer, rather an annoyance.... I support the merger and will make the calls to do so... I hope lots of WDFW employees get "downsized" apparently because no one has the ability or courage to put the "Hook and bullet club" back on track! 

[Wacenturion]

Well at least they're not having to pay the employees overtime like they would if they did it on a weekend, or in the evening.

They don't get overtime for the most part....exchange time for most exempt employees, which means anything over 40 you accrue and take off later.

[Dave Workman]

Well at least they're not having to pay the employees overtime like they would if they did it on a weekend, or in the evening.

They don't get overtime for the most part....exchange time for most exempt employees, which means anything over 40 you accrue and take off later.

All the more reason that these meetings should be held at times convenient to the public...you know, those people whose taxes pay the salaries of these characters.

[Wacenturion]

Well at least they're not having to pay the employees overtime like they would if they did it on a weekend, or in the evening.

They don't get overtime for the most part....exchange time for most exempt employees, which means anything over 40 you accrue and take off later.

All the more reason that these meetings should be held at times convenient to the public...you know, those people whose taxes pay the salaries of these characters.

That why it is that way....because of odd and irregular hours , so the employee can be flexible.  Most professional employees such as biologists, administrators, etc. are exempt employees with exchange time.  So no excuses for not accommodating the public on weekends or evenings....

[Special T]

I think the time they hold the meeting doesn't really matter. They don't seem to care what we think, or care to explain to us the reasoning behind what they are doing!  The meeting could be a 6pm on a Tuesday night and it still wouldn't help.. 

[Wacenturion]

I think the time they hold the meeting doesn't really matter. They don't seem to care what we think, or care to explain to us the reasoning behind what they are doing!  The meeting could be a 6pm on a Tuesday night and it still wouldn't help.. 

True....just less flack and having to deal with the public.

[Elkaholic daWg]

  A reply from a certain sledding forum where I started a thread on this issue.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hunters and fisherman will never do anything about this because they are too busy fighting with each other. Mods VS Archery, Horses VS Hikers, Powder VS Archery, spinners VS fly's, off-roaders VS everyone.. They all hate each other and will never organize together. Just think how powerful we could be if we all got along??

What we should do "but won't" is skip a year. EVERYONE!!! No buying ANY fishing or hunting tags AT ALL!! Maybe then they will listen.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have a very hard time arguing with that.