#1849379 - 03/22/10 11:27 AM
Sunset Issue with TWRA
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Gray Ghost
TnDeer Old Timer
14 Point
Registered: 01/10/00
Posts: 7815
Loc: Kingsport, TN, USA
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I contacted my congressmen today via email about the sunset issue, as I had just learned about it this weekend, and to my surprise got two calls back, one from my TN Rep, but also from Chad Faulker, who supposedly had been behind the issue of sunsetting TWRA, as per an article I read from RSimms that was posted in the Sunset thread that is stuck to the top of TWRA forum. I spoke to him for about 15 minutes and what he says, is that although he has heard from many tournament fishermen about the displeasure of proposed size limits of smallmouth on Norris, he is not behind the reccomendation of sunsetting of TWRA.
He says the real problem in his opinion, is the lack of information sharing coming out of TWRA to reps like himself who have to field calls about wildlife issues. When I asked him why he was not deferring these callers to their TWRC representative, he says that he can't get his own TWRC rep to call him back about issues he tries to approach him with (and he knows this guy personally). He says there are many complaints about TWRC not getting in touch with people who have contacted them. For this reason, and for the reason of information sharing between TWRA/TWRC and TN legislature, he says he is in favor of getting TWO non-voting members of TN legislature on the TWRC. I let him know what I thought about political influence upon TWRA also.
He says he doubts very seriously that TWRA will be sunset, but he tells me that he will find out who is behind it and keep me informed as to what happens with this issue, going forward.
I encouraged him to log onto TNDeer and let folks know what is going on with regard to this issue. He says anyone who is concerned about this can contact him directly on his mobile phone and he would be glad to speak to you: Chad Faulker: 865-256-4743.
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Witness to the Execution
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#1849418 - 03/22/10 11:47 AM
Re: Sunset Issue with TWRA
[Re: Gray Ghost]
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Locksley
16 Point
Registered: 10/23/01
Posts: 19450
Loc: Antioch TN
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I believe what I see and not what I hear. TWRA will die unless the double talking polliticians do not get there cake and eat it too .
_________________________
To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;"The greatest pain a man can suffer is to have knowledge of much, and power over nothing" - Herodotus
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#1849586 - 03/22/10 01:12 PM
Re: Sunset Issue with TWRA
[Re: Locksley]
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Gray Ghost
TnDeer Old Timer
14 Point
Registered: 01/10/00
Posts: 7815
Loc: Kingsport, TN, USA
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Got another call from my representative. They say that the speaker is the one who got it pulled.
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Witness to the Execution
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#1850064 - 03/22/10 06:53 PM
Re: Sunset Issue with TWRA
[Re: ]
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Bertman
16 Point
Registered: 12/07/07
Posts: 18697
Loc: TREESTAND
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I just got an email back from mine and he says
TWRA is very valuable to me & my district and I don't intend to let it disappear.
Thanks John Tidwell
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GO VOLS,GO TITANS,Button Buck Killer
OFFICAL MEMBER OF THE GAYTURD HATERS
WHITETAIL MAFIA
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#1850096 - 03/22/10 07:04 PM
Re: Sunset Issue with TWRA
[Re: Bertman]
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Locksley
16 Point
Registered: 10/23/01
Posts: 19450
Loc: Antioch TN
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YEP the speaker is the one who got it pulled.
_________________________
To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;"The greatest pain a man can suffer is to have knowledge of much, and power over nothing" - Herodotus
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#1850108 - 03/22/10 07:08 PM
Re: Sunset Issue with TWRA
[Re: Locksley]
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Beekeeper
Good ol' Boys "Team Buckcreek"
16 Point
Registered: 08/26/09
Posts: 10957
Loc: McMinn Co. Tennessee
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If what I have been reading is correct the speaker asked for the bill to be pulled because he was asked by Rep. Faulkner. I think it is just a p#&$#*^ contest between Faulkner and the TWRA.
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Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
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#1850338 - 03/22/10 08:40 PM
Re: Sunset Issue with TWRA
[Re: Beekeeper]
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RUGER
Arachnophobic
Non-Typical
Registered: 11/19/99
Posts: 4097496
Loc: TN
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I got an email back from Roy Herron's "girl" in the office.
She said she would save it for Mr. Herron.
Oh well.
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Youth is wasted on the young.
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#1850594 - 03/22/10 10:05 PM
Re: Sunset Issue with TWRA
[Re: RUGER]
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Locksley
16 Point
Registered: 10/23/01
Posts: 19450
Loc: Antioch TN
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Once again, its not like we wont have a game agency. They will roll that responsibility into TDEC more than likely if it happens. I dont want it to happen but to many people are thinking wrongly that it will just be the end of game management in TN and thats jusst not true. This will put an end to game management in Tennessee as we know it. Currently TWRA is self supporting and by being so the legislature doesn’t control the day-to-day operation of the agency. This allows TWRA to set long term management goals and also allows them to manage the resource by using professionals. The legislature will manage the resources politically and the professionals at TWRA will be ignored when political concerns are put first rather than the best interest of the resource and the sportsmen in Tennessee. All you have to do to see how this works is to look at the situation we are facing today. One legislature that has an issue with a fishing regulation is threatening the existence of game management in Tennessee as we know it. This is “Business as Usual” for any political body.
How could anyone think this is a good thing? To have our fishing and hunting put into a "political pot" to be hashed out by our govt, or appointed "committee"? Is this what this is saying?
That's what some want MUP. Committees can be romanced data and sound biological herd management cant be.
I work for the government (not for TWRA/TWRC).
Believe me, EVERYTHING...every decision, every sign posted, every email, every office lunch...EVERYTHING has a political component or twist to it.
People at every level of government hae their own agendas that they seek to pass (yes, even TWRA). They just wait until it's the right time to give birth to them.
One of the most disheartening things about my job is seeing someone come in that actually believes that the system is 'for the people'. Then they see that the government at every level is really subverted to promote someones personal beliefs, and there's not much that can be done about it. Why? Because people in government learn to cover their rear-ends to protect their jobs.
Funny thing is, these people know state law better than a lawyer. Why? Becaue they use it to hide behind when they feel their job is threatened.
So instead of doing the "right" thing they do what they know they can get away with that promotes their agenda.
I'm not making this up. I see it everyday at work.
This is exactly what's going on with this sunset provision for TWRC.
Unfortunately, that's the way the system works.
"Communication is the problem. I get more constituent calls about TWRA than anything else other than TennCare." "When I was elected in Carter County one of the primary complaints I heard was that the (wildlife) commissioner in our area wouldn't return calls... so I called our commissioner and I couldn't get a return call," Tennessee House Speaker Kent Williams (R - Dist. 4)  How could anyone think this is a good thing? Politicians will ruin deer hunting in Tennessee , and GOD only knows what the suits will do to fishing here .
i hate to see the TWRA GO AWAY, although i disagree with many of their management goals. I do think it will come to pass, and i hope it doesnt.
How could anyone think this is a good thing? If TWRA fixes what is broken, I for one think it's a great thing! Let's face reality, TWRA isn't going anywhere. If you read the article posted earlier, you would see the motive behind all of this. I have to agree with Speaker Kent Williams when it comes to communication from TWRA.
Well if the politicians get there way and TWRA goes bye bye then they will get there hands on that lifetime hunting license money to help pay for TNCARE and OBAMA-care .
The Dept of Environment would run dept. of parks and fish and game in the state. THEN WE WILL HAVE THIS MESS FIRST ANTI-HUNTING GOVENOR WE GET ELECTED .
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New Jersey Working On New Bear Management Plan
February 4, 2010
*Update* There will NOT be a public meeting that was scheduled for Feb. 9, 2010. But please contact your rep. on this. It’s very important that fish and game decisions be left in the hands of fish and game experts not political experts.
The New Jersey Fish and Game Commission is working on a black bear management plan that would include a hunt in the fall of 2010. According the the U.S. Sportsman’s Alliance, a meeting is scheduled for Feb. 9, 2010.
The new management plan is to be heard at the February 9 meeting of the FGC being held at the Central Region Office in the Assunpink Wildlife Management Area in Robbinsville. According to one of its main authors, Council Member Len Wolgast, the plan would allow for a bear hunt to take place this fall.
If passed, the plan must then go to the acting Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for final approval.
I reported a couple weeks ago about a new bill, Assembly Bill 181, which if passed, would take away the lone power of the director of the Environmental Protection Agency in New Jersey, to be able to cancel a hunt or plan approved of by the Fish and Game Commission. Previous EPA Director, Lisa Jackson, now head of Obama’s EPA, arbitrarily canceled all bear hunts and ignored a court-approved bear management plan.
http://mainehuntingtoday.com/bbb/category/new-jersey-hunting-news/
Hunters Ask New Jersey Court To Unblock Permits for Bear Hunt
Published: November 10, 2004
TRENTON, Nov. 9
A group representing hunters argued on Tuesday that New Jersey's environment commissioner overstepped his authority when he refused to issue permits for an approved bear hunt next month.
Lawyers for a coalition of hunting groups, arguing before the Appellate Division of New Jersey Superior Court, said the hunt was an effective way to control the state's bear population without unduly harming it. They have sued the state Department of Environmental Protection and asked the court to let the hunt go on as planned.
A decision from the court could come as early as Wednesday.
In July, the New Jersey Fish and Game Council voted to hold a six-day black bear hunt in December. But last month, Commissioner Bradley M. Campbell of the Department of Environmental Protection ordered the department's Division of Fish and Wildlife, which enforces hunting and fishing rules, not to grant bear hunt permits this year. He also ordered all department-controlled land to be closed to a hunt.
Mr. Campbell said the state would rely on public awareness to reduce the threat of bear encounters and contraception programs to curb the bear population, which he said is around 1,600.
But hunting groups said Mr. Campbell had overstepped his bounds, and they argued on Tuesday that he had no authority to block permit applications.
''The commissioner does not have the authority to do this,'' said William Horn, a lawyer representing the hunters. ''State biologists have said that a bear hunt would not threaten the population, but the commissioner has his own agenda.''
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C01EED7113CF933A25752C1A9629C8B63
New Jersey bear debate heats up as population, incidents rise
By Precious Petty
August 23, 2009, 12:31AM
Terri Ombrello, left, and Kelsey Burgess, of the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife, prepare a tranquilized young male black bear for transport near Millburn, N.J., in 2006. The 150-pound bear had wandered into Essex County not far from the Short Hills Mall.
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection received 1,262 bear-related damage and nuisance complaints between January and July 20.
That's a 20 percent jump over the same period last year and evidence that the state's bear population is rising and encroaching on residential areas.
Some residents are calling on Gov. Jon Corzine, who suspended the state's annual bear hunt in 2006 to pursue a non-lethal management method, to reinstate it.
"This is a serious matter of public safety," state Sen. Steve Oroho, R-Sussex/Morris, said in a statement. "Adults and children alike in our communities are literally under attack because the bear population is not being adequately controlled."
State officials said no one has been injured by a bear since the hunt was canceled and activists in Oroho's district have been protesting bear killings.
http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/warren-c...te_heating.html
Edited by Locksley (03/22/10 10:25 PM)
_________________________
To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;"The greatest pain a man can suffer is to have knowledge of much, and power over nothing" - Herodotus
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#1850635 - 03/22/10 10:28 PM
Re: Sunset Issue with TWRA
[Re: Locksley]
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TNDeerGuy
10 Point
Registered: 11/28/06
Posts: 4477
Loc: Old Hickory/Mt.Juliet, TN
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I just got a reply back from my Representative, Susan Lynn—the one that is responsible for getting these types of bills on the floor and the one who pulled the bill in the first place.
Dear Mr. Wallingsford,
Thank you for writing about my bill to extend the TWRA. While I am not happy to be in the middle of this dispute, I can tell you that it is not uncommon for a member to ask another member to delay a bill while they work something out. In fact, it happens quite frequently. I will typically give a another member a week or two. Just this past Thursday as I was running several bills on the floor a member approached me to ask that I delay the funeral directors board. I did as a courtesy to this member.
The TWRA bill will pass! I can tell you that the Speaker is talking to the board, and the board and I are in communication. They understand that I am in full support of the board. I am confident that things will work out and everything will be okay.
If I can answer any more questions for you please write back or call me. My cell phone number is below. Thank you very much for writing.
Rep. Susan Lynn
Chairman, Government Operations Committee
215 War Memorial Building
Nashville, TN 37243
615-741-7462
615-596-2363
_________________________
Rammer Jammer, Yellow Hammer—Give'em Hell Alabama! Roll Tide!
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#1850669 - 03/22/10 10:48 PM
Re: Sunset Issue with TWRA
[Re: TNDeerGuy]
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Locksley
16 Point
Registered: 10/23/01
Posts: 19450
Loc: Antioch TN
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New Jersey Bill Would Open Door For Bear Hunt
A New Jersey bill puts bear management back into the hands of wildlife professionals, erasing anti-hunting efforts by former Governor John Corzine.
Assembly Bill 181, sponsored by Assemblyman Gary Chiusano (R- Frankford Township) and Assemblywoman Alison Littell McHose (R- Franklin), clears the way for bear hunting as a way to manage the state’s black bear population. The bill also clarifies that the state Fish and Game Council (FGC) has sole authority to implement and regulate black bear hunting in New Jersey.
The bill prohibits the Commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) from blocking a bear hunt that has been approved by the Council. Former DEP Commissioner Lisa Jackson arbitrarily cancelled the state’s bear hunt in 2006. In response, the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation (USSAF), along with Safari Club International and the New Jersey State Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs filed a lawsuit against the state to challenge the former Commissioner’s decision to stop the bear hunt.
“This is a critical piece of legislation that would help ensure that science, not politics, determines New Jersey’s bear management policy,” said Bud Pidgeon, USSAF president and CEO.
In addition to the bill, the FGC is working on a bear management policy. If passed, the plan must then go to the acting DEP Commissioner for final approval.
New Jersey sportsmen should contact their Assembly members and ask them to support this bill. To find your legislator’s contact information, go to http://www.ussportsmen.org/lac or call 614-888-4868. Sportsmen should also voice support for the bear management policy by submitting comments to the FGC at P.O. Box 400, Trenton, NJ 08625.
http://www.ussportsmen.org/Page.aspx?pid=2364
California Sportsmen Again Face Raid on Wildlife Funds
With California facing a $21 billion budget deficit, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is again proposing to divert millions of dollars in funding from hunting and fishing programs for non game uses – a move which would likely result in significantly less hunting and fishing opportunities for California sportsmen.
The proposal from Gov. Schwarzenegger was made public with the release of the Financial Year 2010/2011 state budget plan. However, no specific details were provided as to where the cuts would be made. As with most states, wildlife management and conservation funding in California is largely paid for by sportsmen through their hunting and fishing license and related stamp and tag fees rather than through general tax revenues. Additionally, any misuse of hunting license dollars would put into jeopardy millions more in matching federal funds, having a devastating impact on the state’s conservation efforts.
California sportsmen should contact their legislator and oppose this diversion. To find your legislator’s contact information, go to http://www.ussportsmen.org/LAC or call 614-888-4868.
http://www.ussportsmen.org/Page.aspx?pid=2364#California
Recent Bear Hunts Don't Fare Well
Virginia hunt ends with no kills; New Jersey court upholds hunt ban
Good news for bears: a couple of bear hunts didn't go as planned last week.
After losing a hard-fought court battle, the first ever black bear hunt in the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in Suffolk, Virginia went ahead. But fortunately for the bears, the two-day hunt ended without a single bear being killed. A few hunters reported seeing bears, but were not close enough to shoot them. High water in the swamp and muddy conditions slowed hunters down and made bears more difficult to track.
While the efforts of IDA, the Animal Welfare Institute, and the American Environment Foundation did not stop the hunt, we are glad that no bears were hurt. At the very least, the controversy drew unprecedented attention to the issue, so more people are aware now that unnecessary bear hunts are taking place in the Refuge in the name of "recreation." When people learn that such hunts are conducted not to protect the public or "manage" bear populations but to give hunters more trophy animals to shoot, they reject them.
In New Jersey one week ago, the State Supreme Court ruled in favor of Lisa Jackson, the Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner who decided to cancel the bear hunt originally planned for December 4th - 9th. Hunting groups had tried to sue the state in an attempt to get them to reinstate the hunt, challenging Commissioner Jackson's authority to call it off. The court decided that because she is responsible for the state's environmental policies, she was authorized to review and amend policies established by previous administrations.
Whereas her predecessor, Commissioner Bradley Campbell, approved the hunt when he was in office (nearly 300 bears were killed last year alone), Commissioner Jackson is focused on creating a positive bear management policy that favors non-lethal methods. She sides with Governor Jon Corzine and wildlife advocates throughout the state in opposing the bear hunt.
http://www.vabear.org/feature_061206.html
Edited by Locksley (03/22/10 10:52 PM)
_________________________
To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;"The greatest pain a man can suffer is to have knowledge of much, and power over nothing" - Herodotus
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