Game hearings too important to be missed

Wisconsin asks little of its people who hunt and fish.

You need licenses, of course, and stamps and permits where appropriate.

You have to obey the rules and regulations that govern each activity. Seasons, bag limits, size limits, shooting hours.

If you choose to cut corners on that over a regular basis, chances are you will be caught and you will pay a price.

That's about it, really. The state wants hunters and anglers to keep the environment clean. It wants us to blow the whistle on those we observe breaking the rules. It wants us to be good, responsible citizens.

That, for the most part, is what is required to hunt and fish in this state and not all of the above is mandatory.

There is one thing missing here. One thing that is not required. One thing that is not even suggested other than in the most passive sense.

And that is attendance at the spring fish and game hearings.

It should be mandatory.

It should be required by law.

Any person who is licensed to hunt or fish or both should have to attend these sessions to remain a sportsman or sportswoman in good standing.

Now listen. Your grumbling and grousing can be heard right now. You are saying, among other things, that Reed's rifle is jammed again. He's playing the game with only 50 cards. His elevator ain't reaching the top floor.

Have at it, in any case. It's your right. But, in the process, do some thinking.

In the roundest of round numbers, Wisconsin is home to over a million people who hunt or fish or both. In addition, we share those activities with an army of out-of-staters.

Now, next Monday, the spring fish and game rule hearings will be held in every county of the state. You know what the total attendance will be based on past performances?

Somewhere between 8,000 and 10,000. Maybe 11,000.

That is a disgrace to the hunting and fishing community. It puts a red mark on our foreheads. In another civilization we'd be stoned and cast from the village.

But no. What we have said in the past and will say again is that, sure, it is a smaller number than we'd like, but it ain't bad considering other meetings in other persuasions. And, of course, we will say that the final total, whatever it is, represents those who care the most about the activities.

We will write off again, in other words, the fact that only 10,000 hunters and anglers out of a million or more will show up for the hearings.

Somebody will correct me, for certain, if I am wrong, but I can't think of any other meeting of hunters and anglers that is more important than the spring hearings.

This is the time and the place where most of the significant regulations that govern hunting and fishing will be set up for eventual passage or defeat.

It is the one place, the one time where an individual sportsman or sportswoman can make a difference.

Now you can use all of the excuses you want to use to justify why you decided to stay home and watch television.

The meetings are too long, right? There are too many questions. It's all cut and dried anyway. The vote makes no difference. I didn't get a chance to talk. The audience is always loaded with special interests, so why try to beat it?

The next step after that is to visit the corner saloon, pound on the bar, rant and rave about the "dumb DNR" that would saddle you with such rules and regulations.

In truth, I guess, there is no practical way to enforce mandatory attendance at the spring fish and game hearings. Anyway, the meeting rooms wouldn't be large enough to hold the crowd. Beyond that, it wouldn't be democracy, would it?

But there is this, that is also truth:

For every pleasure, there is a price. A few are willing to pay it. Most are not.

Hunters and anglers know all about that if they look inside themselves.

The meetings are next Monday night. Each will begin at 7 p.m. In Milwaukee County, it will be at Whitnall High School in Greenfield. In Waukesha County, it will be at the Expo Center.

It is not mandatory that you attend. But it should be.

Copyright 1995
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