rthrbhntng Report post Posted July 16, 2007 THE SPORTSMEN / GAME & FISH MEETING WILL BE AT THE LA QUINTA INN ON THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF I-17 AND GREENWAY ROAD! FROM 1-5 PM TOMORROW, TUESDAY, JULY 17TH. PLEASE MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO COME. READ BELOW FOR THE REASON THIS MEETING HAS BEEN SCHEDULED. To All: Bear with me as I try to give you the events of last week and what prompted a meeting next Tuesday (7 / 17) between Sportsmen and the Arizona Game & Fish Department. Last Monday and Tuesday a handful of sportsmen attended the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies meetings in Flagstaff. Part of those meetings dealt with the issue of "Hunter Recruitment and Retention". Two half day (morning) plenary sessions were held, with some excellent speakers discussing the HR&R issues. Those of us who were there were then asked to participate in a Tuesday afternoon discussion about HR&R and sportsmen / department relations and how to improve them! Deputy Director Ferrell along with just about every Division Chief, Regional Supervisor, and many more Department staff participated. We also had Commissioners Hernbrode and Woodhouse in attendance. I believe seven sportsmen participated; which was certainly not enough to adequately represent sportsmen's issues. We discussed many issues, agreed on some, disagreed on others! Central to the discussions and offered up by the Department was "Why can't we get along better?", "Don't you believe we are working to insure hunting and what is best for hunters?", "What do we need to do to improve relations and cooperation?", and others. The discussions lasted for over three hours and as you might guess, not much was settled other than agreement that we needed to meet soon with a larger group of sportsmen and try to focus on getting to the root of some issues and hopefully finding some solutions on how to improve relations. At last Friday’s Commission meeting it was decided next Tuesday we will have a meeting to get the issues on the table and begin to discuss them! Commissioners Hernbrode and Woodhouse along with a large number of Department staff will be there. I realize this is extremely short notice, particularly when the meeting time is from 1 - 5 pm on a weekday. Unfortunately this is about the only day and time, in the next few weeks that would work for many of us. I have heard many of you gripe and grumble about "what has happened to the Commission and Department". Quite frankly, now is the time to bring some of that to the table (in a constructive manner) and get your thoughts out in the open and invite dialogue, out of the public eye, and try to put some of this to rest. Here is your or your organizations opportunity to help clear the air. I hope all of you, I'm pleading with you, to come or have someone come to represent you and give your input. The Sportsmen / Game & Fish relationship is the best thing that has ever happened for wildlife, we owe it to the resource to try and improve our cooperation and get back into a better working partnership. Feel free to spread the word, please do not discount this opportunity! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dave Report post Posted July 17, 2007 Well let us see, the Commission just voted last week to have a ballot initiative in 2008 to gain tax revenue with no set method to determine how the funds will be spent. They will need the support of every sportsman’s group in the state to get it done. If you want to see how friendly they are and how much they want to reach out, ask them why aren’t we pushing for a referendum rather than a ballot initiative? See how friendly they are then. One Commissioner made a motion to do that. He was out voted 4-1. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DesertBull Report post Posted July 17, 2007 Well let us see, the Commission just voted last week to have a ballot initiative in 2008 to gain tax revenue with no set method to determine how the funds will be spent. They will need the support of every sportsman’s group in the state to get it done. If you want to see how friendly they are and how much they want to reach out, ask them why aren’t we pushing for a referendum rather than a ballot initiative? See how friendly they are then. One Commissioner made a motion to do that. He was out voted 4-1. I do not want the G&F to accept tax money. That's a bad mix. You think politics are influencing biological decisions now, just wait till they start getting tax $$$. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Outdoor Writer Report post Posted July 17, 2007 Well let us see, the Commission just voted last week to have a ballot initiative in 2008 to gain tax revenue with no set method to determine how the funds will be spent. They will need the support of every sportsman’s group in the state to get it done. If you want to see how friendly they are and how much they want to reach out, ask them why aren’t we pushing for a referendum rather than a ballot initiative? See how friendly they are then. One Commissioner made a motion to do that. He was out voted 4-1. Dave, Curious; Why would a referendum be better than an initiative??? -TONY Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dave Report post Posted July 17, 2007 It is a matter of protocol to allow the legislature the opportunity to bless it rather than going around them and more or less kicking sand in their faces. It will be interesting to see how the legislature reacts if the initiative goes forward. It will also be interesting to see what type of controls will be written into the initiative to designate where/how this money is spent. I think that would be important to know if you want support for it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Outdoor Writer Report post Posted July 17, 2007 It is a matter of protocol to allow the legislature the opportunity to bless it rather than going around them and more or less kicking sand in their faces. It will be interesting to see how the legislature reacts if the initiative goes forward. It will also be interesting to see what type of controls will be written into the initiative to designate where/how this money is spent. I think that would be important to know if you want support for it. Dave, Good point, but...the downside of that is the legislature can come back at any time and change a law it puts forth for a ballot vote, i.e. a year from now it can send the funds elsewhere. And if I recall, they can do that in-house rather than going through another referendum vote. That isn't the case with an initiative, however. Once it becomes rule of law by a vote of the people, the "hands off" rule in regards to the legislature and governor kicks in. I'm guessing this is the reason for the sand-kicking attitude. -TONY Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dave Report post Posted July 17, 2007 Tony, I got the feeling we are all going to get a lot more educated in this before it is over. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Outdoor Writer Report post Posted July 17, 2007 Dave, Hey, an education never hurt anyone. -TONY Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tjhunt2 Report post Posted July 17, 2007 Talk about a nucklehead. At 2 pm I read about the meeting and talk about reading between the lines. I told my wife I was late but I could get there before it was over and ran out the door. I got Sportsman Wharehouse on Greenfield in Mesa out of that message somehow. After SW informed me they knew nothing I then called G&F and the fellow I talked to didn't know anything about such meeting either. Then I called GH and he read it off his computer while I waited in the parking lot and I then thought to myself that I wasn't suppose to get this way until I got old. My wife said when I got home, "It doesn't surprise me." Must be the heat! TJ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
missedagain Report post Posted July 18, 2007 Anybody go? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
