Post by: billythekidrock on February 06, 2009, 06:06:48 AM
Thanks.
Post by: bobcat on February 06, 2009, 06:54:41 AM
The Director's Office: director@dfw.wa.gov
The Fish & Wildlife Commission: commission@dfw.wa.gov
Post by: bobcat on February 06, 2009, 07:18:11 AM
Donny Martorello, Ph.D., Carnivore, Furbearer, and Special Species Section
Manager, Wildlife Program
With a little searching I found his email address:
donny.martorello@dfw.wa.gov
Post by: billythekidrock on February 06, 2009, 06:16:41 PM
I searched the other threads and only found one email address. I really thought there would be more. :dunno:
PS. Donny's a dusche. Every time Steve P. moves up, D. M. moves up and changes things.
Post by: bobcat on February 06, 2009, 06:24:26 PM
PS. Donny's a dusche.
Well then let's post his email address all over and be sure he gets hundreds of emails in his inbox every day. :chuckle:
I got the same automated reply back from the email I sent to the director's office as the one that I sent to the "wildthing" email address. So apparently they are somehow forwarded to wildthing anyway, so that one didn't do any good. The other two, the one I sent to Donny Martorello and the one I sent to the Commission, I haven't seen any reply from them yet. (and really don't expect to)
Post by: billythekidrock on February 06, 2009, 06:28:58 PM
Doubt it will do much, but hey, if this is my last chance to speak on it then everyone is going to listen. :chuckle:
Post by: bobcat on February 06, 2009, 06:42:29 PM
I think I will try that. Maybe it will actually get to him, unlike that other one that was forwarded on to "wildthing."
Post by: Aneoakleaf on February 21, 2009, 11:51:06 AM
Post by: billythekidrock on February 21, 2009, 02:29:19 PM
Post by: Snapshot on February 23, 2009, 07:27:35 PM
Once we see exactly what the department proposes to the Commission on March 7 we'll know what the next round of letters need to focus on.
Post by: InsideWDFW on February 24, 2009, 06:56:33 AM
Once wildthing receives the e-mail, a standard response is returned to you (required by law), then your comments are sent to the proper game manager. Hence the wildthing address getting your comments to the right people quicker then sending them all willi nilly. The game manager writes a response to common themes (for instance complaints against closure of bear hunting in August) and includes the comment/response with the packet that is sent to the commissioners for review. We've posted the comments/response recived through Feb 9 on-line at http://wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/game/seasonsetting/index.htm#recommendations under the "Public Input Recived..." links. These documents will be updated with comments recived Feb 10-20.
Now the bad news, the deadline was the 20th, and this is a hard deadline... meaning comments received after the 20th will not be taken into consideration. Though to be honest the few I've seen (which a couple where obviously from here.. kinda funny) have hit on points that we've already responded too.. there not too much new stuff coming in.
Some advice for future e-mail campaigns: There is a reason for setting aside one point of contact, usually wildthing@dfw.wa.gov. The guys (2 of em) who handle wildthing e-mails know their stuff, and have direct access to the people you are trying to reach. Letters written in a calm, intelligent fashion will get where you want them to faster (sometimes within minutes) then the ones calling us idiots and screaming how you don't like something. If you don't like something - Great! - but tell us why and what your ideas are to fix it. Comments like " u idiots suck and cant manage your junk let alon deer" end up being passed around as jokes (the managers do see these, but as comedic relief).
Something new this year was signed petitions.. guys we were looking for comments/suggestions. We knew that these proposals were going to piss people off.. signing your name (or going door to door having people sign who may not care one way or another) to a piece of paper with out constructive criticism is a waste of time and tells us something we already knew. We don't look at the number of people for or against, we look at the trends of comments. We already know that the majority of comments we will receive during any public comments period are going to be against what ever we propose.
Do not expect a personalized response from Dave Brittell (or the director, commissioners, or Dave Ware, or whomever) just because you addressed it to them. We received a couple thousand (2735 at last count) e-mail comments. If the 4 game program managers took the time to respond to every comment, they'd still be just responding to e-mails and doing nothing else. Though they will read them.
Post by: Snapshot on February 24, 2009, 07:40:30 AM
The idea that a personalized letter from a citizen addressed to a public official would be disregarded is revolting and is wrong. Go ahead and write your letters; they work for you and me. Send them to Washington Fish & Game Commission, 600 Capitol Way N, Olympia, Wa 98501-1091.
Post by: InsideWDFW on February 24, 2009, 12:10:29 PM
Post by: boneaddict on February 24, 2009, 12:14:53 PM
Post by: WDFW-SUX on February 24, 2009, 12:18:13 PM
Post by: boneaddict on February 24, 2009, 12:19:30 PM
Post by: WDFW-SUX on February 24, 2009, 12:24:18 PM
Post by: Snapshot on February 27, 2009, 11:21:57 PM
InsideW,
I am compelled to point out two things: 1) I didn't miss any deadline, and 2) I'm not expecting any personal response. Respectfully, you jumped to a couple of incorrect conclusions. But keep up the otherwise good work.
Post by: Coldeadhands on March 19, 2009, 10:54:14 AM
Post by: billythekidrock on March 19, 2009, 06:33:11 PM
Nobody likes Anthrax.
I do, or did. "Caught in a Mosh"
Post by: Snapshot on March 20, 2009, 07:54:35 AM
There are people who actually get paid for studying these sorts of things. I'm told that they have determined, for example; the value of a communication is commensurate with the effort required to send it; and, for every person who will take the time to send a letter there are seven others out there who have the same opinion but do not write. ...crap like that.
And so, "the effort required to convey an opinion", from easiest to most difficult, is 1) email, 2) phone call, 3) letter, 4) face-to-face meeting.
D
Post by: Coldeadhands on March 21, 2009, 09:19:58 PM
Post by: InsideWDFW on March 30, 2009, 09:12:54 PM
Yes, the department's public input time is over but I didn't say anything about sending letters to the Department of Fish and Wildlife. I said send them to the Fish and Game Commission. They are two different entities. The WDFW recommends the seasons; it is up to the Commission to either approve the recommendations or tell the department to make changes to the recommendations. And that, good citizens of the state, is where you come in; you can send a letter to the Commission to let them know your thoughts any darn time you please. And right about now would be a great time.
InsideW,
I am compelled to point out two things: 1) I didn't miss any deadline, and 2) I'm not expecting any personal response. Respectfully, you jumped to a couple of incorrect conclusions. But keep up the otherwise good work.
Sorry about the conclusions, everyone was quick to snap at the office that week, obviously me too.
As far as correspondence to WDFW. Believe it or not employees want to hear what the public thinks about issues, we are after all a public agency. I know that every state worker would say the same, but after working in government for awhile now, I can honestly say that WDFW employees care about what they do more then most. You'd be surprised how many WDFW people you have as members here. A majority hunt, almost all fish, and all enjoy the outdoors one way or another.
The main problem is that there are thousands of you, and only a hundred or so of us. And really 20 or so who have a hand in policy. So when thousands of people demand (and some time threaten) to speak with one of the 20, you can understand that the response may be less then what is asked for. There are processes in place in order to make sure that every single correspondence is read. Going outside the normal channels mainly pisses the person off that you are trying to convince. I know you want to be heard, but the person you are trying to reach is dealing with the other thousand people, the legislators, public groups, special interest groups, other WDFW employees, finding time to eat lunch, other state employees, and actually doing what they are paid to do.
I can say that a well written e-mail to wildthing@dfw.wa.gov is the best way above all else to get heard and responded to for anything game related. All e-mails sent other agency e-mail address (including the commission) were forwarded to wildthing without comment. Even the ones sent to Donny were answered by the same guys who answered all the other ones (they were bitching about having to draft a new response). But once everything found it's way to wildthing, they were shipped to the appropriate game manager. Except for the petitions, they were basically added to a mailing list then tossed.
I know it can be frustrating to get a canned response, but trust me there is a reason why all of our publications ect have wildthing@dfw.wa.gov as the contact information, there's a process in place that gets your thoughts to the right person as quick as possible.
Now for less serious answers. We like e-mail because they are quicker to read and respond to, and they leave a record. It's pretty tough for someone to say they didn't receive a response, or that something was said that wasn't when you have an electronic copy. Also it's a headache to read some people's hand writing. And they can be answered when the time is available.
Phone calls are great if you can accept the answer that the first person gives. What usually happens with phone calls is that a caller doesn't like the first answer and demands to speak to someone higher.. and guess what - they get the same answer. For the most part the people who answer the phones know what they are talking about, and if not they will put you on hold to get the right one.
Actually walking in and asking to speak with so and so is a crap shot. More often then not they won't be there or they are in a meeting. Which honestly is the case.
And finally we know that any proposal we throw out there is going to hated by one group or another. Just as the "people who actually get paid for studying" will say, most of the comments you get when asking for public opinion will be negative. We could open hunting up wide open with no restrictions what so ever and we'd still hear more complaints then support. From my part in the whole processes I'd put the ratio at 20:1 rather then 9:1. Ratios on public input are treated just like the PETA mailings we get, crumpled up and thrown in the trash.