Wisconsin DNR partners with HSUS

[Doogie]

Nolte whats wrong with your state......other than letting you live there lol


http://www.jsonline.com/sports/outdoors/93646084.html

DNR steps on toes with partnership

Posted: May 12, 2010 |(40) Comments

Spring has sprung and the 2010 class of wild ones is appearing on the Wisconsin landscape.

As it has for years, the Department of Natural Resources is reminding state residents not to pick up young wildlife, such as fawns and bunnies.

The animals may appear to be orphaned, but they are most often just fine, with a doe (the word for female deer and rabbits) nearby.

And if uninjured, they always fare better outdoors than when taken in by a human. We tend to provide inadequate or even toxic food, to say nothing of the implications of a wild animal imprinted on humans.

You've likely heard the message before, but you've never heard it like this: To spread the word this year, the DNR has partnered with a frequent opponent on hunting and wildlife management issues - the Humane Society of the United States.

The DNR and the HSUS have teamed to produce and buy air time across the state for a pair of 30-second radio spots.

The pieces began airing Monday and are planned to run through June 13. One is titled "Don't Bother Wildlife in the Wild," the other "Wildlife Are Not Pets."

The spots feature a young female voice which asks the public to respect the wild nature of wildlife. If an animal is truly injured or orphaned, have an adult contact the DNR, she instructs.

But it's the partnership, not the message, that's drawing the most attention.

"My initial reaction was shock and disbelief," said George Meyer, executive director of the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation and former DNR secretary. "If I hadn't seen it on the DNR's Web site, I would have thought it was a hoax."

Meyer said while there is value in communicating with all groups, partnering with the HSUS is a step too far.

"This is a group that has worked to end hunting, fishing, trapping and the animal livestock industry," Meyer said. "A partnership like this, even on a non-controversial issue, has the risk to be seen as an endorsement of the HSUS in general."

Chief warden Randy Stark has taken the point for the DNR on the campaign.

"This is a classic case of deeply held views and assumptions," said Stark, a graduate of the National Conservation Leadership Institute at Harvard University. "I understand the negative reaction by many in the hunting community."

"But our conservation objectives are unchanged. This is an opportunity to expand our network and work with a new partner on a common interest."

The campaign pairs the DNR, which has a mission that includes supporting fishing, hunting and trapping, and the HSUS, which has filed lawsuits to stop bear hunting in California and bison hunting in Wyoming and is currently involved in a court case to halt hunting on federal wildlife refuges.

Clear-cut differences
Here in Wisconsin, the HSUS was an opponent of the mentored hunting bill, which allows beginners ages 10 and up to hunt when accompanied by an adult. The bill was signed into law last year.

The HSUS also opposes delisting of the gray wolf in Wisconsin, an action the DNR supports.

Based in Washington, the HSUS has 11 million members in the U.S., including 220,000 in Wisconsin, said Elise Traub, deputy manager of the group's wildlife abuse campaign.

(The HSUS has no affiliation with local animal shelters and animal welfare groups such as the Wisconsin Humane Society in Milwaukee).

In recent years, the HSUS has been expanding its programs, some of which could appeal even to the hunting community.

The HSUS started an anti-poaching campaign in 2008 and has offered $180,000 in rewards for the arrest and conviction of poachers, according to Traub.

It was among the groups that offered rewards in the Wisconsin "thrill killing" cases involving snowmobilers and wildlife in recent winters.

Traub said the group also has funded canine units for wardens in California and a robotic elk to help catch poachers in Oregon.

While declining to state whether the HSUS opposes all hunting, Traub said the group works on issues it sees as "most abusive."

"We focus our efforts on the extremes, like poaching and canned hunts," Traub said.

The "baby wildlife" campaign, however, is the first partnership between the HSUS and the Wisconsin DNR.

"We can't argue with the content, but we are awfully disappointed in the partner the DNR has chosen," said Rob Sexton, vice president of government affairs for the U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance, a Columbus, Ohio-based organization that seeks to protect hunting, fishing and trapping rights.

Sexton feared the partnership would help the HSUS "sanitize its image."

"A lot of people confuse them with local animal shelters and don't know their work against hunting and fishing," Sexton said. "This could make them more effective in those areas."

"I hate to see it."

Sexton said if the DNR needed a partner for the campaign, it should have looked to organizations that support hunting and fishing.

The cost of the $12,000 campaign is being split between the DNR and HSUS. The DNR is paying its $6,000 share with money from the wildlife management and law enforcement accounts.

The HSUS is also distributing the campaign to its Wisconsin membership, presumably by e-mail. The spots can also be accessed on the DNR's Web site.

Stark said he was taking some "incoming" regarding the campaign, which was announced Tuesday.

He said it was important for the public to understand there are clear differences between the department and the HSUS.

"This isn't going to change our stance on hunting, trapping or wolf management," said Stark, a chief proponent of the Mentored Hunting Bill. "It's our job to do what's in the best interest of conservation, and sometimes that means walking across that bridge."

More cost-effective
Stark said the partnership will help the DNR get more air time for the campaign in a time of restricted budgets and to distribute it to a larger, new audience in the HSUS membership.

If the message reaches more people, the savings in staff time and money are potentially huge, Stark said.

Just one fewer case of an illegally taken deer, especially in the Chronic Wasting Disease management zone, could free his staff for a hundred hours of proactive work on other projects, Stark said.

"Granted, this is different than any relationship we've had in the past," Stark said. "But these are new times and require new thinking."

"I feel if we can bring in a new group like this on a shared interest, without compromising our goals or beliefs, we'll be better off down the road."

It's sure to be the most heard - or heard of - set of spring wildlife public service announcements in state history.

[Peter Meyer]

check out "Hound hunter speaks out against HSUS" on YouTube. California's Fish and Game Commission took $5000 from the HSUS. Unbelievable. -Pete

[RIFLEMAN]

Pete,

It wasn't the Commission that accepted the donation. It was the Department.

[Nolte]

Doogie,

It doesn't suprise me one bit that the DNR would do something like this. I could go on and on about situations they have screwed up and the list just keeps getting longer.

Stark is a dandy too, I remember when I was a little kid he was busy trying to bust everyone in our county. He would HAMMER you if given the chance for some stupid little ticky-tack regulation. Go figure that the DNR would promote the biggest A-hole to the top spot.

The DNR seems to forget that hunters and fisherman are the ones that pay their salaries.