On Thu, 11 Jul 1996, Don Baccus wrote:
[...]
> Yes, and this is why they have primacy on many state and federal refuges.
> Money is raised via the excise tax on guns and ammunition - a tax passed
> at the instigation of hunters, something to remember the next
> time you hear a birder bitch about hunting and in the same breath
> bitch about the "Teaming with Wildlife" proposal to tax binos and
> the like for acquisition of non-game refuge lands [...]
> Hunters pay their way, we don't - we're guests
> on land they've bought, for the most part, when we bird on refuges.

Hmm, do the license fees and excise taxes really cover the cost of
staffing and running the agencies that administer hunting (excluding
non-game programs)? If so, then hunters do "pay their way." If not,
then hunting is subsidized by general taxes. (But even if hunters
overstate their case, the moral of the story remains that paying fees
and excise taxes buys clout; TWW is an opportunity for birders to buy
some clout.)

Apropos bitching birders, I myself don't bitch about hunters on NWRs,
or hunting in principle. I do, however, gripe about hunters having the
run of nearly all public lands in the fall, and the rest of us having to
work around the hunting schedule. In Washington, any public lands except
national parks and (some of) those within city limits and other populated
areas are open to hunting (fide Fish and Wildlife person at their
information number). National forests, state parks and forests, etc.,
were *not* paid for by hunters. To determine when it is safe to visit
these lands (i.e., without dodging bullets) in fall and early winter it
is necessary to obtain a hunting schedule, page through this poorly
organized booklet to determine which "Game Management Unit" a particular
locality is in, then wade through, game kind by game kind, to determine
if that GMU is open to hunting on a given date. If Fish & Wildlife also
provided a simple summary by area (GMU by GMU) of when hunting is
scheduled, it would be easier to work around hunting, and easier to
believe that F&W serves all of Washington, not just its hunters.

David Wright
Seattle, WA
dwright at u.washington.edu