[TN-Bird] non-game report to TWRA commissioners 2.0
- From: Rconnorsphoto@xxxxxxx
- To: TN-Bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2008 21:42:39 EDT
Nongame Report to TWRA Commissioners
Wed. Sept. 17, 2008 (posted 9/18/08)
I attended the recent TWRA Commissioners meeting for a PowerPoint
presentation by Nongame and Endangered Coordinator Richard Kirk and I will
attempt to
relay the gist of the meeting.
This year TWRA has a budget short-fall, and previously the Commission had
expressed a desire to cut non-game projects, favoring game projects as central
to their mission and funding sources. Prior to Richardâ??s presentation, the
Commission had expressed strong concerns that NG & ES programs were providing
too much drain on hunting and fishing license dollars.
The aim of the presentation was to inform Commissioners of the importance of
non-game programs to both nongame and game species. Richard Kirkâ??s figures
showed that, even after spending millions of NG & ES dollars for mutually
beneficial habitat and other projects, the NG-ES program used only $42,000 in
hunting and fishing license funds. This was due to state matching funds
primarily via: bluebird plate revenue, volunteer in-kind services, university
contracts, etc.
I am not able to properly summarize Richard Kirkâ??s excellent presentation,
but
if you get a chance to see it, I urge you to do so. I donâ??t know if it can
be arranged at a TOS state meeting, but I urge each chapter to invite Mr. Kirk
to present it to their group.
One figure from his presentation that stuck with me was 25,000 â??capturesâ??
or individual species data points over the last three years. Conducting
surveys and gathering data is central to management; you canâ??t manage if you
donâ??t
know whatâ??s there.
The non-game section works on non-game mammals, reptiles and amphibians;
endangered fishes and mussels, snails, other invertebrates as well as work
with
threatened bird species, such as cerulean and golden-winged warblers. They
employ the state ornithologist and conduct Partners in Flight bird point
counts
etc.
There was an awareness about protecting habitat, and that acquiring and
protecting habitat benefits all wildlife, game and non-game. They have done so
with NG & ES federal grants, such as generated via the â??Teaming With
Wildlifeâ??
coalition, to fund most of TWRAâ??s NG-ES program.
The conservation community was invited to attend and comment. There were
supporting
testimonials by several people including Scott Davis director of the Nature
Conservancy of Tennessee. He reminded the Commissioners that all the recent
land acquisitions turned over to TWRA were purchased by donations to TNC and
state general funds etc, and not by hunter dollars.
The Agency is quite aware that they are responsible for all this. But
according to Director Gary Meyers, being responsible for all this amounts to
an â??
un-funded mandateâ??, and just operating on hunting and fishing dollars is
inadequate to manage it properly.
The result of the meeting was that Commissioners now seem to â??get itâ??.
They
understand the need to go to the legislature with the facts for proper
funding. They also realize the need to educate hunters and fishers that their
dollars are not being wasted on non-game; in fact, they are receiving as much
or
more than they are giving. The Commissioners expressed appreciation for
Richard Kirkâ??s informative presentation and suggested that he repeat it soon
after the next set of Commissioners are appointed, implying that the new
Commissioners need to be better informed concerning NG-ES programs and benefits
than
they had been prior to this meeting.
There may be some who suggest the splitting the game from non-game, but I
suggest that we need to go with the agency weâ??ve got. While there is always
room for improvement, they are on the right track and deserve a surge of
support
from the birding community for the work they do for songbirds and all
non-game animals in Tennessee. Among other things this will probably mean
writing
letters of support if and when funding matters come up in the next legislative
session. Funding for Tennessee nature at all levels, including our TN State
Parks system by the way, will need all the support we can muster next year.
Parenthetically, the subject of cranes or Crane Viewing Days did not come up
at the meeting. But Chief of Wildlife Greg Wathen informs me that there is
some money ear-marked for TWRAâ??s Region III that could be used to co-sponsor
an event, and that there is still willingness to share responsibility of a
Crane Days event, but not take it on solely as a TWRA project.
Richard Connors
TOS President
Nashville, TN
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