This commentary is by Glenda Bissex of Plainfield. She is the author of “Reading Nature’s Writing: Poems, Stories, Images.”
Years ago Vermont had a Department of “Fish and Game,” indicating its focus was on hunting. But that name has been changed to “Fish and Wildlife,” indicating a broader focus. Hunt, Fish, Conserve, and Watch Wildlife are four of the main categories listed on the department’s website. Its mission is stated as “the conservation of all species of fish, wildlife, and plants and their habitats for the people of Vermont.”
The Fish and Wildlife Board is responsible for all regulations. It is now composed of appointees — even the most recent ones — who seem to be acting in a way that suggests that hunting is their primary concern. Sen. Chris Bray, along with Sens. Hardy, McCormack and White, have introduced a bill (S.258) that would broaden the concerns of the Board’s members and reduce its authority. For background on why legislation is needed to make changes in Fish and Wildlife policies see Walter Medwid’s commentary.
S.258 “proposes to transfer the authority to adopt rules for the taking of fish, wildlife, and fur-bearing animals from the Fish and Wildlife Board to the Department of Fish and Wildlife. The bill would also amend the authority of the Fish and Wildlife Board so that it serves in an advisory capacity to the Department of Fish and Wildlife. In addition, the bill would prohibit the hunting of coyote with dogs.”
Selection of board members would no longer be determined by the governor but by the commissioner, the speaker of the House, and the Committee on Committees, four each.
Qualifications for board members would include “a history of involvement with and dedication to fish and wildlife, including a knowledge of fish and wildlife biology, ecology, and the ethics of fish and wildlife management.” The board must include “members of the public representing both consumptive uses and nonconsumptive uses of wildlife … nonconsumptive use of wildlife means watching, photographing, listening to wildlife, and similar other activities without engaging in hunting, fishing, trapping, or any other form of extraction.”
The bill has had an initial reading and been referred to the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Energy, of which Bray is the chair.
If you are concerned that our present approach to fish and wildlife management needs to be revised and expanded to adequately reflect the mission of the department and the views of many Vermonters, please urge your state senators to support S.258.
It is unfortunate that considerable stereotyping is involved in the debate on hunting regulations. Hunters are not brutes; people who oppose some of the practices now permitted are not ignoramuses. Naturalists and nature lovers, hunters and people who fish are those who know most intimately and value the woods and waters and wild creatures all of us are privileged to live amidst in Vermont.
And what of the fish and wild creatures themselves? Do their lives not deserve consideration? Or are the regulations just for our benefit?
