[TN-Bird] proposed 10 year moratorium on hunting sandhill cranes
- From: Rconnorsphoto@xxxxxxx
- To: TN-Bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2008 11:21:39 EST
Concerning TN Wildlife Federation and the proposed humming bird license
plate etc.:
.
Mr Butler supplied a list of good projects in which TNWF is involved and it
would be nice to be able to give full support to all they do. The issue that
is in the background, that clouds and colors everything right now is the
crane hunting issue. This summer TNWF, and Mike Butler in specific, went
before
the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency’s Board of Commissioners and
convinced
them to go forward on hunting Sandhill Cranes in Tennessee.
So far there has been no public input on this process, and therefore the
public trust of TWRA slips down another notch. Gov Bredesen knows of and has
expressed concern about lack of transparency with TWRA decisions.
The problem is that a non-game, watchable wildlife species, which many
enjoying just seeing and hearing the wild music sound going overhead, is not
perceived of by the public as a game species. Even if numbers continue to
grow,
this will take a long time. Tennessee Ornithological Society has never opposed
the hunting of bona fide game species, but no time in the near future will
the public see cranes as game, it will take a while. Hunting Sandhill cranes
in
Tennessee is an idea that’s WAY ahead of it’s time. Hunting cranes further
endangers the endangered Whooping Crane, only now just getting a toe hold on
existence, back from the brink of extinction. And TWRA already issues permits
to farmers to control crop destruction from cranes (Sandhills), so far no
cranes have been shot under this program
.
To recap: USFWS has proclaimed Sandhill Cranes to be game species. TWRA has
to submit a plan for management to the Mississippi and Atlantic Flyways
Councils before a hunt can be approved. We have been told that the process
will
take years…but no time table has been given. We don’t know if something is
going to be sprung on us at any moment, next year or whenever. And this is
bound to be an expensive undertaking for TWRA , that money could be better
spent
and would be more than revenue from permits anyway. They should just leave
well enough alone for now.
.
We should be working together on important things like fighting destructive
coal mining practices such as mountain top-removal, listed as one of the
things TNWF is working on. When a mountain top is scraped off Cerulean
Warblers
and fish in the streams below both loose. And no-one that I know of wants to
take away the rights of Tennesseans to hunt and fish, far from it. We in TOS
acknowledge that game lands can and do support non-game. But the concept of
multiple use must be acknowledge also. All species should be “managed†to
their benefit and to the benefit of all Tennesseans on all Tennessee state
property, including WMAs.
.
This is a time of change and its hard to know who’s in charge at TWRA right
now. These are hard financial times and Director Gary Myers is a short-timer,
retiring in a couple of months. Gary Myers has been an exceptional, even
visionary wildlife manager and we can only hope the TWRA Board can find
someone
with the same broad vision to replace him. By the way there will also be a
turn-over of some of the TWRA Commissioners later this spring. This board is
supposed to represent the TN public as well as TN hunters and fishers, lets
hope the Governor chooses new members with a broad view of TN wildlife. There
are some in TWRA who are in favor of a crane hunt and I know that there are
others opposed to a hunt.
.
It would go a long way in settling the issue if Mike Butler and TNWF would
acknowledge that it is premature to hunt cranes in Tennessee any time soon,
and agree to a 10 year moratorium on any crane hunt, with a one year public
comment period before any season is set. NO scheduled hunt before 2020 with
2019
a year of public comment. This is a minimum time frame with no assurance the
public would go along with it then. If he would do every thing in his power
help convince the TWRA Commissioners, Director and TWRA staff to postpone
action until then I’m sure they would go along with that. Until that time
TWF
and TWRA will not get the full confidence and cooperation of TOS and the
wildlife viewing public.
We need to be working together on things of real importance, such as truly
endangered species and habitats, and spend less time arguing about a species
that happens to be doing well.
.
RICHARD CONNORS, President
Tennessee Ornithological Society
Nashville TN 37220
(615)832-0521
**************One site keeps you connected to all your email: AOL Mail,
Gmail, and Yahoo Mail. Try it now.
(http://www.aol.com/?optin=new-dp&icid=aolcom40vanity&ncid=emlcntaolcom00000025)
=================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER=====================
The TN-Bird Net requires you to SIGN YOUR MESSAGE with
first and last name, CITY (TOWN) and state abbreviation.
You are also required to list the COUNTY in which the birds
you report were seen. The actual DATE OF OBSERVATION should
appear in the first paragraph.
_____________________________________________________________
To post to this mailing list, simply send email to:
tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
_____________________________________________________________
To unsubscribe, send email to:
tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field.
______________________________________________________________
TN-Bird Net is owned by the Tennessee Ornithological Society
Neither the society(TOS) nor its moderator(s)
endorse the views or opinions expressed
by the members of this discussion group.
Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN
wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
------------------------------
Assistant Moderator Andy Jones
Cleveland, OH
-------------------------------
Assistant Moderator Dave Worley
Rosedale, VA
__________________________________________________________
Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society
web site at http://www.tnbirds.org
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
ARCHIVES
TN-Bird Net Archives at //www.freelists.org/archives/tn-bird/
MAP RESOURCES
Tenn.Counties Map at http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/states/tennessee3.gif
Aerial photos to complement google maps http://local.live.com
_____________________________________________________________
Other related posts:
- » [TN-Bird] proposed 10 year moratorium on hunting sandhill cranes - Rconnorsphoto
