ADA statement

[coueshunter]

Taken from post #104

http://forums.coueswhitetail.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=30026&st=90

 

 

 

Posted 24 January 2012 - 06:13 PM

 

Coues Whitetail Forum Members

 

My name is Mark Bool, I am a former President of the ADA and still active with the organization.

 

I am writing to tell my side of why the ADA would not have supported HB 2072.

 

Shortly before the legislation was introduced, during a fundraising meeting this subject came up. We were only given a very rough concept of what the bill might have in it. It immediately raised concerns from virtually all of us at the meeting. Many very good questions were talked over and I can say I do not believe one of us would have supported the legislation.

 

As has already been stated the ADA never did take a vote on this issue. In fact we did not even have a board meeting during the explosion of HB 2072. It was dropped on a Friday and pulled early the following week. We never voted because it was pulled off the table and we were told it would not be reintroduced. For the ADA the issue was a moot point.

 

We were never given the courtesy of seeing the legislation before it was dropped and obviously never gave any input. This is wrong, flat wrong, and something you do not do to someone who is supposed to be your partner.

 

What is sad is that AZSFW is the type of organization that sportsmen need, and now they have damaged themselves, perhaps irreparably.

 

The ADA had contributed significant funds to aid AZSFW. While not nearly as much as AES or ADBSS, it was still a lot of money to the ADA. We felt we had received solid value for our contributions. The Commission Recommendation Board, millions of dollars for habitat work, and ten percent cap on non-resident hunters are just some of the benefits all sportsmen received.

 

Those who are talking about supporting Daniel Patterson by repealing the Commission Recommendation Board need to be very careful about what you are advocating. Sandy Bahr and Stephanie Nichols Young are loving this discussion. AZSFW had neutered them, now who will be there to speak of for wildlife and sportsmen? This is a sad time for all of those who love hunting, fishing, and wildlife.

 

As many of you know I am not a regular on this forum. Like it or not, I thought you deserved an answer! This is a one time post for me.

 

In closing, I encourage everyone to come to an ADA Board meeting. Bring your thoughts, make your voice heard, and help shape policy. The organization is ALWAYS looking for volunteers that have a genuine passion for wildlife conservation.

 

Thanks,

 

Mark

[coueshunter]

The above letter from Mark Bool outlines where ADA stands/stood on the bill. I personally dont want to see ADA thrown under the bus so I will let everyone decide after reading this letter from Mark. I respect YVRGC and AES for their "do not support" vote against the bill, and I feel that ADA's position is the same. I hope all conservation groups come on here and state where they are at regarding 2072. I know there are tons of silent watchers out there that make up a large portion of the AZ hunting community. I think it is important they know where their favorite conservation group stands..........Allen Taylor..........

[Chef]

Thanks Allen for bringing up Mark's post.

 

I will personally speak with John later this evening and update you all when that happens.

 

John and everyone on the boards of the wildlife organizations need to realize that most of the members here, as well as the silent majority of non members that frequent this site, are level headed people. The select few that have thrown accusations and flung around analogies do not speak for cwt.com. With that said, I believe he may be more apt to come on here and talk.

 

No one representing the ADA is a public relations guru and for that, they have paid the price. A lot of emotions have run high from both ends, keeping everyone from getting anywhere. If there is one thing we all are, it is passionate about AZ wildlife. Unfortunately, passion can go both ways, sometimes doing more harm than good. Loyalty, goes both ways as well. The membership needs to feel confident that it is being represented justly and with a common goal. There should be no actions taken by the organization, which can be perceived as a hidden agenda.

 

The ADA is paying the price for its lack of communication with its members and the public. With today's technology, there are avenues in place that make real time communication easy. If no one can see that, they are out of touch.

 

Please keep this thread informative and dedicated to reaching out to the many people that frequent this forum as non-members and members alike. No derogatory comments.

 

[elkaholic]

we are past their stance on the bill - we would like a yes or no answer reguarding future support for/ or having this org azsfw represnt them - simple question

 

on how many different threads do we need to ask this same question?

 

you would think it would be easy to send an email about this issue to all members and poll their answers -

[Chef]

I also want to add that there is no current board meeting planned for the ADA this month. The scheduled meeting they have is to discuss and iron out details in relation to the upcoming banquet.

 

I believe the ADA has now realized they may have to hold an emergency meeting to discuss the issues at hand or extend their current planned meeting to include allotted time for discussion of the same.

 

I hope they do.

 

 

[runningbird]

I think an emergency meeting would be a step in the right direction. There are still questions to be answered. Some of the hard feeling could have been avoided with simple honesty and accountability.

[CouesWhitetail]

Ok, here is the scoop, as has been said, normally the ADA doesn't hold a board meeting during the month of the banquet because we just have a ton of work and details to get done in a strict timeframe leading up to the banquet.

 

However, due to the obvious concern from the public over this issue, the ADA has scheduled a meeting for Feb 21 and is inviting anyone that wants to come ask questions or voice an opinion about this matter to come to Bass Pro at 6:30 pm. We will devote the first hour of the meeting to listening to comments from those who attend. The meeting will be at the Fine Gun room, which is upstairs (take the righthand staircase and then look to the right as you get to the top to see the gun room).

 

I invite and encourage you all to attend and share your opinion.

 

Tuesday, Feb 21, 6:30 pm

Bass Pro Fine Gun Room

[krp]

The bill issue was dead immediately, YVRGC abd AES pulled their support for AZSFW... that's what this is about, continuing support of sfw.

 

The review board is BS the way it stands, not one person will debate me on the issue, The antis or sfw, any agenda from either is an enemy of az hunters.

 

The only issue now is, are the orgs still going to fund azsfw, or cut ties.

 

If anyone is attempting to blame sportsmen asking tough questions and putting up evidence of impropriety, for the noncommunication of the orgs, that's another BS, same as the continued response that if sportsmen would have just supported them this wouldn't have happened. If you're not getting the support you want, reevaluate your message.

 

Sportsmen are not to blame for one iota of this debacle,.

 

Clean it up and get rid of sfw...

 

Kent

[krp]

Look, I'm not against any of the separate orgs including ADA, just john has been here talking so they get the spotlight. Let's clean this cancer out then get down to business. There could be some positives and one of the first is getting our governor tags out of The SFW/MDF Utah expo and sold at the Az banquets and ADA is the logical choice. I'm not going to go out of my way to support that unless sfw is completely out of the picture... And I'm one of the majority.

 

Kent

[Elkhunter1]

Ok, here is the scoop, as has been said, normally the ADA doesn't hold a board meeting during the month of the banquet because we just have a ton of work and details to get done in a strict timeframe leading up to the banquet.

 

However, due to the obvious concern from the public over this issue, the ADA has scheduled a meeting for Feb 21 and is inviting anyone that wants to come ask questions or voice an opinion about this matter to come to Bass Pro at 6:30 pm. We will devote the first hour of the meeting to listening to comments from those who attend. The meeting will be at the Fine Gun room, which is upstairs (take the righthand staircase and then look to the right as you get to the top to see the gun room).

 

I invite and encourage you all to attend and share your opinion.

 

Tuesday, Feb 21, 6:30 pm

Bass Pro Fine Gun Room

 

Amanda I must admit I am ignorant to these orgs. but I do understand what the bill was about. I will not be able to attend the meeting so this is my say, pls forward to meeting. If they think they can deal with this situation without the input of the people that would have been impacted the most by the passing of it they are sorrily mistaken. Very disappointed to hear of the non-communication by them. Hard to support when they don't trust the very people they represent.

 

Thank you for your time Stephen Forrest

[archerycrazy]

Although it will be a long drive and time off work, I will do everything in my power to be at the meeting.

 

Hopefully we will learn where ADA will go in the future. They are a valued organization within this state.

 

George

[audsley]

KRP,

 

The "orgs" will NOT provide adequate funding for a sportsmen's advocacy group. This was tried in the past and didn't work, and it didn't work for AZSFW. Sportsmen's conservation groups are just that - conservation groups, meaning their mission is to protect and enhance wildlife populations. Groups organized to support desert bighorns, antelope, elk, deer, turkey and so on don't work their tails off so they can give a lot of their money to another organization. These are 501 c (3) orgs and are limited in how much they can spend for what is deemed "political" purposes. They can provide some funding and probably will continue to do so, but there won't be enough to be effective unless one or more major benefactors decide to foot the bill, in which case the group's agenda will be the benefactors' agendas, or else individual sportsmen decide to pay for it, or some combination of the two. If you want an organization that serves you and me, then you and I need to help pay the bills. I haven't heard anyone say they're ready to put in $10 a year and that all other sportsmen should do the same. Until that happens, we'll either have nothing or we'll have a group that marches to someone else's drum beat, and I wouldn't expect people with deep pockets to share the same concerns as the average sportsman.

 

I never knew the men behind the curtain at AZSFW, although I did meet one of them once and quickly realized that he couldn't care less about sportsmen's access to public lands. Access wasn't a problem for him. He had other things on his mind. WHen you let others carry the load, they carry it on their terms. Why should we expect anything else?

 

Rather than focusing on what we don't like, why doesn't this discussion turn more toward what we really want and how we might get that?

[coueshunter]

audsley.....I am more than willing to give more than 10.00 towards the cause. I don't know who or how this lobbyist group should be selected so why don't you help this process along. I am very serious about this and will follow through with direct cash donation....allen Taylor.....

[krp]

There will never be enough funding, ever... but the orgs are now putting over 40 grand just in Platinum/silver/bronze dues, plus whatever they solicit their members to send in over that... what do you think the total azsfw collects from the orgs and their influence even over folks that read internet sites... 60 grand, 75, 100 thousand?

 

Would azsfw be in existence if the orgs hadn't signed off and committed to support at the onset?

 

There has been testimony in these threads that there was a concern over the sfw connection originally, but it was deemed slight and worth the chance... well the gambled failed.

 

That was then, now is now... do you support azsfw on both agenda and funding?

 

All that money went to put sfw into a powerful political base and frankly, I've asked what they have accomplished for sportsmen and been given wins that are mostly procedural wins for sfw and scant if any for the hunting community. Seems this path of throwing money at sfw isn't sound... more money is just wasteful.

 

You have lost on the investment and lost on the support of the majority in the hunting community. You have to reverse course and cut your losses before that trust will come back. Quit saying you don't have enough money and that backing sfw was justified and it's sportsmen fault for not bankrolling 'your' vision.... Get another vision.

 

I swear it's like listening to Obama cry for another stimulus that will never benefit anyone but the cronies.

 

Kent

[audsley]

audsley.....I am more than willing to give more than 10.00 towards the cause. I don't know who or how this lobbyist group should be selected so why don't you help this process along. I am very serious about this and will follow through with direct cash donation....allen Taylor.....

 

Allen, I've been trying to help this process along, but right now everyone seems hung up on the investigation, trial and hanging. As for collecting contributions, I have something in mind, but it's hard to get a web site owner interesting in working out details when there's been no sign of interest in building a sportsmen's advocacy group we can all support and don't mind saying represents us. Thanks for being the second person besides me to say he'd pony up $10 a year. Do you suppose there's a third one out there somewhere?

 

I would think ADA might be motivated to think about a re-design if only to have something positive to talk about Feb. 21.