DODGEVILLE - After promoting (twice recently) the Department of Natural Resources-sponsored Deer Management Unit Information meetings and Chronic Wasting Disease public hearings, I'm feeling a bit burned out on the subject. Not only was the turnout for the meetings poor, but the conduct and scope of the public hearing was disheartening.
With thousands of hunters in the 19-county CWD area, only 20-25 showed up at the Dodgeville event, approximately 20 appeared at Fitchburg and 35 at Baraboo - where the recent outbreak of CWD brought out a slightly larger crowd of citizens wanting to learn more.
Like a few others who attended the meeting in Dodgeville, I went with the intention of addressing a number of issues surrounding current CWD policies. Despite the fact that only six other people registered to speak and the total time of the hearing lasted less than 25 minutes, the hearing officer decided that my comments were not germane to the discussion and ruled them out of order.
As a member of the Iowa County delegation to the Wisconsin Conservation Congress, I wanted to pass on the sentiments of several area hunters about the use of ag tags to shoot trophy bucks. The policy, which began with the discovery of CWD in 2002, is especially irritating to many hunters when most of the shooting begins in August and September - a point at which much of the crop damage has already occurred and when gun hunting disrupts the archery season.
The issue also needs exposure because the agency has been reluctant to talk about it. I questioned a DNR official about the matter a couple of years ago. He dismissed the question - in a rather condescending manner, I might add.
"No, that never happens," he demured.
When pressed, that same official hedged. Okay, he says, in certain situations that may be true - when apple orchards are threatened, for example. But not in your run-of-the-mill ag lands, he insisted.
After a third, rather pointed conversation, he finally acknowledged what was commonly recognized among hunters: ag tag holders were, in fact, authorized and encouraged to shoot them all - anytime, anywhere.
As I attempted to point out at the meeting, the intent of the crop damage program is corrupted when the shooter waits, perhaps for days or weeks, for that big 10-pointer to come along while passing up any number of antlerless deer. Since only a certain number of hunters are allowed on each property at any one time, the purpose of the program is often defeated.
As this Madison bureaucrat in his well-appointed suit and tie explained (more condescension) why my testimony was irrelevant, I couldn't help but feel more in tune with the feelings of a broad spectrum of people who argue that the DNR just won't listen.
As an elected representative of Iowa County sportsmen and women, I take seriously my responsibility to speak out as a necessity to give people a voice. To be cut out of the discussion is disturbing to say the least.
A couple of things come to mind as I reflect on the experience. First, an important reality is that whoever controls the agenda controls the outcome. A prime example occurred during the last legislative session when the bill allowing 10-year olds to hunt had the support of a majority of members in both the Assembly and Senate, but never got to a vote because Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker, D-Weston, refused to bring it to the floor.
Second, I would have felt greater empathy toward the hearing officer if there were legions of people lined up to speak. In this case, however, they were few in number and brief in their comments.
To add a measure of salt to the wound, I've tried repeatedly to encourage folks not to lose faith with the system of public accountability that we all expect from our government. I still believe in that system, but at times like this, it's a real chore.
And my dark side suspects the Natural Resources Board will hear glowing reports about how smoothly everything went during the public hearings, how supportive the public is of DNR policies and how the agency stands ready to protect our natural resources by ridding the landscape of Chronic Wasting Disease.
How would they know any different? The DNR controls the agenda.
- Lee Fahrney can be reached at (608) 967-2208 or at fiveoaks@mhtc.net.
With thousands of hunters in the 19-county CWD area, only 20-25 showed up at the Dodgeville event, approximately 20 appeared at Fitchburg and 35 at Baraboo - where the recent outbreak of CWD brought out a slightly larger crowd of citizens wanting to learn more.
Like a few others who attended the meeting in Dodgeville, I went with the intention of addressing a number of issues surrounding current CWD policies. Despite the fact that only six other people registered to speak and the total time of the hearing lasted less than 25 minutes, the hearing officer decided that my comments were not germane to the discussion and ruled them out of order.
As a member of the Iowa County delegation to the Wisconsin Conservation Congress, I wanted to pass on the sentiments of several area hunters about the use of ag tags to shoot trophy bucks. The policy, which began with the discovery of CWD in 2002, is especially irritating to many hunters when most of the shooting begins in August and September - a point at which much of the crop damage has already occurred and when gun hunting disrupts the archery season.
The issue also needs exposure because the agency has been reluctant to talk about it. I questioned a DNR official about the matter a couple of years ago. He dismissed the question - in a rather condescending manner, I might add.
"No, that never happens," he demured.
When pressed, that same official hedged. Okay, he says, in certain situations that may be true - when apple orchards are threatened, for example. But not in your run-of-the-mill ag lands, he insisted.
After a third, rather pointed conversation, he finally acknowledged what was commonly recognized among hunters: ag tag holders were, in fact, authorized and encouraged to shoot them all - anytime, anywhere.
As I attempted to point out at the meeting, the intent of the crop damage program is corrupted when the shooter waits, perhaps for days or weeks, for that big 10-pointer to come along while passing up any number of antlerless deer. Since only a certain number of hunters are allowed on each property at any one time, the purpose of the program is often defeated.
As this Madison bureaucrat in his well-appointed suit and tie explained (more condescension) why my testimony was irrelevant, I couldn't help but feel more in tune with the feelings of a broad spectrum of people who argue that the DNR just won't listen.
As an elected representative of Iowa County sportsmen and women, I take seriously my responsibility to speak out as a necessity to give people a voice. To be cut out of the discussion is disturbing to say the least.
A couple of things come to mind as I reflect on the experience. First, an important reality is that whoever controls the agenda controls the outcome. A prime example occurred during the last legislative session when the bill allowing 10-year olds to hunt had the support of a majority of members in both the Assembly and Senate, but never got to a vote because Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker, D-Weston, refused to bring it to the floor.
Second, I would have felt greater empathy toward the hearing officer if there were legions of people lined up to speak. In this case, however, they were few in number and brief in their comments.
To add a measure of salt to the wound, I've tried repeatedly to encourage folks not to lose faith with the system of public accountability that we all expect from our government. I still believe in that system, but at times like this, it's a real chore.
And my dark side suspects the Natural Resources Board will hear glowing reports about how smoothly everything went during the public hearings, how supportive the public is of DNR policies and how the agency stands ready to protect our natural resources by ridding the landscape of Chronic Wasting Disease.
How would they know any different? The DNR controls the agenda.
- Lee Fahrney can be reached at (608) 967-2208 or at fiveoaks@mhtc.net.
