Dear Editor,
A recent letter to VTDigger regarding the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department’s failure to represent Vermonters pointed to a culture that is not reflective of the state at large. It suggested a hiring practice that ensures Vermont values are not reflected in the makeup of staff.
To add to these issues comes the department’s decision to embark upon a greenwashing campaign on Vermont Public. While there are countless sound reasons that businesses and individuals should support Vermont Public, what is jarring is the use of public funds by a state agency to recognize the Fish and Wildlife Department as a fiscal sponsor. It seems to me that the goal is to suggest to listeners, consciously or subconsciously, that the Fish and Wildlife Department’s values align with Vermont Public’s when there’s no evidence that such an alignment exists.
While other state agencies lay off staff, the Fish and Wildlife Department uses precious resources not to address wildlife issues but to fund a campaign to apply concealer to the Fish and Wildlife Department’s bruised image. Management there has lost its way, and it seems that there’s no one in either the Agency of Natural Resources or the governor’s office to mind the store.
The idea that the management of the Fish and Wildlife Department, the ANR and Gov. Phil Scott have all turned a blind eye to the issues at the department, and most grievously, the lack of representation of ordinary Vermonters at staff or management levels, is a core breakdown of state government.
Vermonters are paying an ever-increasing amount to fund the department as license sales decline, an ongoing trend for decades. Values, interests and expectations have changed, and there is an urgent need for the Fish and Wildlife Department to focus primarily on the many Vermont species facing imminent threats to their survival. Of course, fishing and hunting activities deserve their fair share of state resources, but do they deserve an extraordinary portion of state resources and an entire agency culture, too?
The Fish and Wildlife Department wants to make sure the public is fully involved in helping fund the department with a new fee to use public lands, yet it seems the last thing it wants is to have the public’s interests represented on the department’s staff or board.
A most basic requirement of government is to require that various agencies address the needs and expectations of the people. Sadly, the executive branch has failed to ensure that the Fish and Wildlife Department is transforming to meet the new moment we are in. It is also a clear demonstration of a failure of imagination.
Lisa Jablow
Brattleboro, Vt.
