I'd be the first to admit that
I am not a big fan of deer hunting. While it might be a necessity, in my humble opinion, it's at best a necessary evil. Because of that, I try to avoid going up north during deer hunting season. Unfortunately, that was not something I could avoid this year.
So when I came home, it was no surprise that the local paper had their
annual article romanticizing deer hunting.
What I did find noteworthy was that, in an amazing bit of timing, I also found this press release in my inbox:
As 600,000 Wisconsin deer hunters head to the field for opening day, Representatives Brett Hulsey (D-Madison), Fred Clark (D-Baraboo), Terese Berceau (D-Madison), Kelda Helen Roys (D-Madison) and Louis Molepske Jr. (D-Stevens Point) called on Governor Walker in a letter today to cancel the contract of James Kroll as the state’s “deer czar”. They pointed to his lack of qualifications, including no Wisconsin experience and no background in scientific management.
“While we should always be open to fresh perspectives, no outside expert has the ability to come in and remake Wisconsin’s deer management program based on a few weeks in the field,” said Clark. “If we are serious about evaluating our deer management practices, we need to bring together in-state talent and resources that will allow us to make the best long-term decision.”
“He’s come from Texas where he worked on private farms, and doesn’t seem to know how
important our deer herd is in Wisconsin,” said Hulsey, a member of the Assembly Natural Resources Committee and a lifelong hunter. “This is just another example of the governor hiring an unqualified crony who will further politicize our state government.”
Even prior to issuing his initial evaluation, Kroll has been openly critical of the DNR’s herd management practices, which were described by leading experts in 2006 as “the most comprehensive and transparent deer management program for comparable states that harvest white-tailed deer.”
Given that there is no deer management crisis, Mr. Kroll’s position is a waste of $125,000 in taxpayers’ money and needlessly politicizes wildlife management decisions made by DNR scientists and biologists, the representatives said.
“In these tough times, we need the governor to focus on jobs in our state, not on hiring someone to do the governor’s political bidding in yet another state department. This hire might hurt our deer hunting tradition and even our long term tourism outlook,” said Hulsey.
The representatives also wished good luck and to hunters across the state this weekend and throughout the season.
No one should be surprised that Scott Walker would try to foul up yet another Wisconsin tradition, like he has done with collective bargaining and clean government.
Just like his deer czar, Walker is not from Wisconsin. He does not understand, much less care, about the values that we hold dear and will do anything to preserve. The only thing Walker cares about it pandering to those who bought his office for him and are paying tens of millions of dollars to keep their puppet in the governor's chair.
Maybe that's why I saw more than a few orange clad people signing petitions this weekend. There's not many demographics that Walker has been able to completely alienate already.
Posts
