THE HUNTER DECLINE
Rex Burress
The flower-lovers of Butte County. who traditionally go up on Table Mountain to see the local spring wildflower spectacle, were surprised this year when they encountered a big sign just inside the turnstile informing visitors that a $4.31 pass was required for entrance!
There was no place on site to buy a permit, so most people just burst right on through, not to be denied access to what they thought was their right and freedom. I mean hundreds so proceeded--to the point enforcement of the rule was futile, so the Department of Fish and Wildlife gave it up...after I had gone ahead and bought a yearly pass!
Therein lies the motive: Fish and Wildlife are short on monies in lieu of a hunter decline, and are trying other methods of fiance to stay afloat. It is big bucks to hunt these days, not only because of the pricey permits, but equipment and travel-costs have become equated to big business. Some of the decline is the new attitude of wildlife protection and wildlife watching in a non-firearm approach, which means shelving the guns and acquiring binoculars.
Since Table Mountain Ecological Reserve is under the jurisdiction of Fish and Wildlife, they are looking to benefit from the great number of people out flower watching by use of a permit. Already Gray Lodge Wildlife Area has the $4.31 permit requirement to merely enter the refuge and look at the birds. If you have a hunting or fishing permit, no “wildlife watcher” permit is required at their facilities, which indicates what direction the move is coming from.
Is it fair that a Federal system that dispenses our tax dollars can't manage the income to provide a free place for tax payers to roam? Vast sums are siphoned off to fight wars, build pipelines and tunnels, and thousands of other questionable uses, but our resource guardians don't get enough of the cut to guarantee public access to public hills and dales. There was a time when hunting licenses were quite inexpensive, and entrance into places like Yosemite was free, but it's an arm and a leg now, quite effectively pricing some people out.
The same condition applies to fishing. Fish Hatcheries now raise fish to stock the waterways in order to make fishing attractive to justify fishing and purchasing permits. Some people fish for more than fish--the soothing joy of nature--but the many won't buy a license if they don't catch a fish.
People care about the environment and are willing to contribute to its well-being, but tapping the bird-watching folks, photographers, river watchers, for just the permission to enter seems excessive. Will the example be extended to city parks, river walkways, Lake Oroville trails, desert exploration, and such outdoor activities?
Hunting licenses started out as a worthy cause. The first hunting permit was sold in New York in 1864 to control feather hunters who were slaughtering egrets for their plumes! Passenger Pigeons had already been slaughtered, and the last one died in a zoo in 1914. There was demand for egret plumage to decorate lady's hats, but some women objected to the method and forced action to save the egrets. Much of the nation's wildlife was already diminished by uncontrolled hunting.
Wildlife protection got a major boost with the Lacey Act in 1900 that prohibits the trade of wildlife, fish, and plants that are taken illegally. Other safeguards were added right up to Nixon's Environmental Protection Agency in the 1970's, including the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act of 1937 that guaranteed hunter fees go to sustain healthy wildlife.
Audubon bird watching enthusiasts, CA Native Plant Society, and a cluster of clubs pursuing the aesthetics of wildlife and artistic outdoor activities on public and private lands have never been confronted with paying for that privilege. What is the modern world going to look like?
“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul alike.”--John Muir