At 09:19 PM 10/2/97 -0700, you wrote:
>I can't stand it any longer... I'm amazed that people appear to believe
>that conservation licenses and more taxes are an effective means of
>raising money for state government conservation expenditures.

Many pay for duck stamps and the like even though they don't hunt, to
raise money for conservation.

If this
>so called conservation license has been around since 1981, why has the
>implementation of issuing them failed so miserably?

Ding Darling NWR, which has charged admission for a long time, is as packed
as ever.

>I firmly believe
>that a license will keep new-comers away from getting interested in
>wildlife viewing.

Fees don't keep people from getting into the NFL, NBA, or MLB. Nor, for that
matter, rock gigs, the symphony, or Disneyland.

Are you saying that Nature, at perhaps 1/10th the cost of admission to
Disneyland, can't compete?

I could point out, I guess, that Yellowstone and other NPs are every bit as
crowded this year, as last, despite the recent doubling of fees (which only
really accounted for inflation since the last time fees were set in the
1970s).


> For conservation efforts to be successful many, many
>people have to care about the quality of habitat.

Sorry, many people who care and are willing to pay for quality habitat,
whether
it be through taxes or visitation fees.

Do you think habitat protection and enhancement comes for free???

>Sure, hunters have paid because
>they like have blinds built and waiting for them and lots of animals to
>kill.

Amazingly, many birders apparently spend money on airplane tickets to places
like SE AZ, S FL and other birding nirvanas, rent $35/day cars, stay in
$40/night
motels, bird with $900 Zeisses, then bitch at a daily $3 entrance fee to
the local
refuge they're visiting.


>Plus you have to have money to regulate the activities of people
>running around the great outdoors will weapons so they don't kill each
>other and all the remaining wildlife.

Hunting accidents are exceedingly rare.


>And more tax!!!! My guess is that many retailers are going to have a
>hard time supporting this (hello, REI). They will just loose sales to
>people like me who will order their next set of binos from Focus.

Ummm...all points of retail sale, including mail-order, will pay the tax
(if you're talking about the Teaming With Wildlife tax).

I imagine many hunters argued against the ammo/gun tax in the same way
when it was proposed by hunting groups, but look at how much habitat has
been bought by these fees.

In case you didn't notice, the TWW initiative comes from conservationists,
those who perhaps are more realistic than you (i.e. we realize it takes money
to conserve resources).

> I'd
>rather see that whopping 8% I'm already giving the gov'ner get used for
>something useful like conservation programs.

They're not mutually exclusive. Your state can choose to give all your
taxes to conservation on top of new TWW taxes if it wishes. This, indeed,
would be cool.

>I gladly forked over $25 bucks this summer to the forest service so I
>could park at a trail head. I also gladly donate my time to do trail
>work. My reasoning here is that we have the opposite problem on our
>trails; overuse and abuse. Charge them money to keep some away and
>invest in much needed trail work.

I don't like the way these fees are implemented, myself, as there's no
reflection of use (as one who hopskips around a lot). If there were some
sort of regional pass, or if they honored the Golden Eagle Passport I buy
for $50 which says it's good for "all US Fee areas" (oops) I'd feel better.
A $25/per forest fee, throughout the West? As one who next year will perhaps
make $5K/$6K freelancing nature photography and writing, I cringe at the
thought of $3/day fees several times a day as I charge around gathering
background material. Or, passes for three NFs in Utah on a quick trip, a
$75 fee to collect info for possible use someday, after which income tax
and the like.

Sorry, the current system as implemented this year is skewed to the
stay-at-home
who goes to the forest once or twice a year, or never travels.

I can't understand why there's not at least a Regional Pass. I live within a
couple hours drive of several NFs, we're speaking of a pretty large tax on my
everyday life.

And it's going to be spent on things like gates to close parking lots at dusk,
paving of trails, more developed (vs. pit-and-grate) campsites - stuff I don't
give a shit about.


> I've never had trouble parking at a
>wildlife refuge or have been overwhelmed with the numbers of birders
>stepping on my toes.

And I'm sure you profusely thank the hunters you occasionally meet for
funding these refuges that you've been able to enjoy free of charge?

If not, you're an ingrate. A welfare birder, in a sense, living off the
largesse of those who fund the purchase and maintenance of these lands (no,
I've never hunted, but I know where the money comes from).



- Don Baccus, Portland OR <donb at rational.com>
Nature photos, on-line guides, and other goodies at
http://donb.photo.net