Wisconsin Sportsmen Deserve Better by Scott Walker Candidate for Governor 8-19-2010
gengberg August 19th, 2010
This column appeared in the Aug. 20 issue of WI Outdoor News. This is a must read for all sportsmen and women.
Please circulate to all your sporting friends.Wisconsin Sportsmen Deserve Better
By Scott Walker, Candidate for Governor
Whether it’s landing your fly just right in one of our world class trout streams, hearing the first turkey of the season responding to your call, or the annual pilgrimage to the family deer shack, Wisconsin’s sporting heritage is an important part of why this is a great place to live.
As a sportsman, NRA member and candidate for governor, I believe three core values, along with a strong defense of our second amendment rights, will preserve and restore our sporting heritage for future generations. First, our state needs a commitment to accessibility of land for sportsmen and women of all ages to hunt, fish and trap. Second, our policy leaders must use simplicity in the drafting of hunting regulations so law abiding citizens can hunt, fish and trap without fear of breaking the law because of an obscure regulation that defies commonsense. Finally, the next Governor has to be the steward of the trust between sportsmen and the Department of Natural Resources that manages our fish and game.
I am committed to expanding hunting opportunities for all citizens interested in experiencing our sporting heritage, especially for youth, through policies like the youth mentored hunting law that allows kids to experience and learn the value of taking game. My administration will promote similar policies that increase the number of license holders who fund the preservation of habitat for us to access.
Access comes in different ways, which is why I support the law guaranteeing stewardship purchased lands are open to hunting, fishing and trapping. As well, we need to explore innovative ways that keep timber lands accessible while developing a program with the farming community to promote walk‐in access and ensure citizens’ respect of their land.
If we want to keep and increase license holders, the DNR must commit to simplifying hunting and fishing regulations so a citizen only need commonsense to start hunting and fishing, not a lawyer to interpret a DNR rule book for them. My administration will order a review of all regulations with the goal of making hunting regulations a pocket‐sized, how to guide to start hunting, fishing, trapping.
The next governor needs to do one thing above all else to protect our sporting heritage - restore the trust between sportsmen and policy makers in Madison that manage our fish and game. Governor Doyle and the current leadership of the DNR have violated our trust and there is no better example of that violation than the collapse of the whitetail population.
Despite the lack of deer in the woods - like you I saw fewer deer from my stand this year than ever before - the DNR is still saying we are over goal in most of the state. In fact their goals state that 1 out of 5 deer still need to be eradicated.
Working directly with sportsmen to restore that trust, my administration will prioritize these five policies. 1) Reassess deer population goals to ensure a successful season and healthy deer herd for the future. 2) Bring in outside experts to revise our deer counting system. 3) Focus on a return to traditional hunts ‐ enough with T‐zones and earn‐a‐buck. 4) Admit that our CWD policy of killing all the deer to save them failed and look to science and innovation for better answers. 5) Aggressively pursue delisting the grey wolf.
We will verify that trust through independent accountability measures like yearly audits of our fish and wildlife accounts as well as Pittman‐Robertson funds provided by the federal government to ensure funds are spent on hunter‐supported projects, not siphoned off into DNR overhead.
The core values of accessibility, simplicity and accountability will guide the policies that I or my appointees to the DNR and Natural Resources Board implement. Wisconsin’s historic tradition of hunting, fishing and trapping is about families and quality of life. I want to be a governor who is not just a supporter, but is an advocate for hunters, fishermen and trappers.
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