Subject: Santa Claus etc.
Date: Dec 24 10:15:16 2003
From: Bruce Whittington - fieldnat at pacificcoast.net


Input from north of the 49th here (well, actually I am a little south,
but you know what I mean), the land of leading edge funding cuts, and
no park naturalist programs. I would gladly support user fees for
"non-consumptive " use of wildlife, if I thought the money went to
support things like good science (and it IS debatable where the money
goes). But I think the bigger issue here is, rightly or wrongly,
naturalists have a much less significant voice in conservation issues
because they do not contribute as much in the way of license fees etc.
And I have rarely seen the level of voluntary support for conservation
work from naturalists that you see in a Ducks Unlimited fundraiser, for
example. We simply have to start putting our money (or more of it)
where our mouths are.

Bruce Whittington
Victoria, BC
mailto: fieldnat at pacificcoast.net