Originally Posted by Out back
Originally Posted by sgtred
Former employee just retired after 30 years, would like to know what hunters think about the current direction of the Dept,and what changes to the laws and how the GWs operate. What kind of grade would you give from 1 to 10.

My apologies for getting distracted. Obviously my opinion of Chuck is no secret. But regarding the original question, I think the direction of the Dept got sidetracked years ago, like 20+ years ago, well before most of the current administration. That's when they seemed to lose focus on the "conservation and natural resources" opting instead to mitigate the political implications. Money is always a driver, there's no way around it. But balancing revenue and politics can leave the wildlife out in the cold, so to speak. I do understand the difference between laws and regulations, as well as the limitations of each one. Some of the things folks want from the DCNR just isn't within their authority. Some of things our lawmakers want are not practical or beneficial to the resources. That alone is a real balancing act. I just happen to believe there are ways to increase revenue without defrauding your lifetime license holders or breaking your commitment to almost every "Consumer Group" in the state. (BTW, I really hate that term "consumer group". I believe that's an original Corky Pugh cliche).
For example, I don't believe license sales reflects the actual number of hunters, and I think the gap is really large. I believe the cheap fines and lack of enforcement are responsible for a substantial revenue shortfall. That's not an opinion about game wardens. I think the majority of them do a great job, but they are spread too thin not authorized enough overtime. Changing fines would require changing the law, but adding GWs and allowing them work whenever they deem necessary could be done with a handshake.
I disagree with moving season dates and changing bag limits purely for political gain, ignoring any available input from professional biologists in the field. Then there's the ever popular game check. I'm not opposed to using it, and have complied faithfully since it was implemented. The problem I have is that it offers numerous ways to cheat and yet we keep hearing that the majority of hunters aren't in compliance and the "data" is useless. Well, first of all, the data isn't very useful anyway... (sex, or number of points, and location). Then place the blame on hunters for not following the rules.
I will say that I'm very proud of the buck limit and I then it's already paying off in many areas. I'm also pleased with the app, and that I can now carry my license and record right on my phone.
I could go on and on but it boils down to, in my opinion, the Dept as a whole gets a 👎
But most of the GWs and other field personnel get a 👍




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Some good points here. Money is the dilemma, 30 years ago when I went to work, I attended a statewide meeting where trends were identified,that indicated license sales were declining and would continue to decline. The initial response was to develop outreach that would maintain it or increase hunting interest. In essence create hunters. That really has not come to fruition. Under Corky they were able to get legislation passed that automatically increased the price of license to keep up with inflation. Prior to that the Dept had to go to legislature to ask for license increases which was a difficult task and rarely worked. So money has in alot of ways has become the driving force, the constant search and worry about enough money to do things that the leadership in the Dept feels like needs doing with hunting and license sales on the decline generally leading into the future. There are some that believe that the legislation that allowed for the license prices to increase with inflation hasn't done the job and was a mistake because you can never go back to legislature for increases to offset declining license sales in the future. Far as the Wardens, they already work when they deem necessary, they are not assigned any shift, they work the best hours of the day, which means a lot of days begun at daylight, take a break,back at it in the afternoon, then again at night if your doing it right. That means working every weekend even those you are given off if you are dedicated, which is one long weekend every six weeks. Fines will never,even with an increase pay much more than the gas bill. The GWs catch a hell of alot of folks violating, always have always will. I know some don't believe that based on what they see and hear about in their areas. But trust me,you can't keep your job or get a raise if you ain't catching folks. Leadership has always demanded that of the officers and if you laid down, you weren't going to get a raise and if you continued to lay down, you would find yourself out of a job.