mike rossi

Long Island Retriever Field Trial Club HUNTING RETRIEVER CLUB April 23rd and 24th, 2016 Otis Pike Preserve, Manorville, NY Info: http://huntingretrieverclub.org/PREMIUMS/2016_Premiums/April/Long_Island_4-23-16.pdf

All I have to say is this: If you advocates of investment are correct in that this ensures stable, permanent funding for the DEC, and maybe you are correct; then the pheasant stocking program is not only secure but prepaid, therefore, closure of Reynolds should make anyone who holds a lifetime license and hunts pheasants members of a class action lawsuit against the state.....

Maybe they do collect the interest as you indicate, but I don't remember it being reported that it was done as such. I don't know if it pays the Legislature's pensions, but I am curious about who pays the pensions of DEC staff when they retire. If it is taxpayers, better hope Patrick Kwan and Casey Phieffer don't find out. If I was judge or jury I would interpret the existing assent law as this to be a diversion of license revenue. Apparently however, the DEC remains eligible for PR grants. The revenue from lifetime licenses is turned over to the State Comptroller (Tom DiNapoli) who puts it into the "Short Term Investment Pool", which is better known as "STIP". Short term does not mean it is returned to the DEC and it is not returned. After a specified time period, a specified (percentage) of interests reverts back to one of the conservation fund accounts. As I remember it, and I might be wrong, the DEC does NOT get all of the earned interest, but rather a percentage of it. Don't take my word for this, I am not sure if I am remembering it all and even if I am things change, sometimes behind closed doors. (This would be a good investigative project for all you young republican studs on this site).

There are certain things mentioned in posts number 9 and 32 that seem to be reasonable and may be valid points which I may have not fully considered. I am considering using this information in future articles. I would be less hesitant to use them if you can explain how you arrived at those conclusions, and, giving me your real name and where you live would better bolster your credibility. Otherwise, it requires me fact checking what you are saying from square one instead of square two.

If my memory serves me, it was about 6 months ago, maybe a year ago, that the DEC received its FIRST interest dividend. The amount was nowhere near the revenue collected. Not sure when the lifetime license was launched, or what year the big promotion for it was, but it was a while ago. From statements made by DEC staff, upper level management, the department is not able to carry out certain projects and is also unable to obtain matching federal grants because they are operating in part on interest. They must be getting a pretty good interest rate for it to be worth forfeiting a 3:1 matching dollar program they do not have to repay. If the whitetail deer population was facing a disease threat that would cause them to die off or not grow antlers bigger than 3 inches, you would not want the DEC to wait for an interest dividend would you? On the game species side of things, the DEC would like to boost the turkey population. There are also concerns with many non-game species such as the rusty blackbird, the bog turtle, the woodrat, the monarch butterfly, native bees, the European honeybee, the pirate perch, and many others. Threats to species or the environment are like cancer, the sooner it is treated, the better the chance of recovery. or, if you prefer an economic analogy, if you don't invest in car maintenance the repair bills are more costly. I am going to rest my case right here. This is a subject I was interested in at a time when it may have been possible to do something about it, but I am no longer interested in.

Very true....

I understand that. But while it outlives the individual the environment dies.

I have heard this argument before.... But the fact is, if daddy holding a lifetime hunting license no longer is an active hunter, then he isn't buying a license for his offspring. Even prior to lifetime licenses, the DEC had a very limited ability to calculate how many "active" hunters there are. Lifetime licenses have made this even more difficult. Without a fair estimate of how many "active" hunters, how can it be assumed parents will perpetually buy birth-3 age group lifetime licences for their kids? Or accurately project how many kids they will have to begin with?

The ruffed grouse society, pheasants forever, and ducks unlimited have an annual budget that is similar to that of the DEC Division of F,W, and MR. If those organizations handed over their donor's money to the goverment and only used the interest gleamed off of the sum for habitat conservation they would: 1) Not have many donors 2) Would not have conserved a fraction of the habitat that they have. Instead, they would have all these "future plans" contingent on funding.

They didn't have a balance sheet previous to the poorly thought out lifetime license scheme? The gradually extinction of the hunting culture is not something the DEC is not aware of. When most / all hunters are gone, the DEC is still going to develop new funding strategies, they already started. They are not going to maintain the same level of funding created by the life time license sale boom that occurred when it was promoted. They are going to want and/or need more. What you are essentially saying is that the DEC can operate perpetually on the interest from the lifetime license boom. If they cant accomplish all their goals now, then how can they later? They cant , plus there will be other tasks to add to the pile.

Another thing Phade did not factor in is the ability for the DEC to obtain federal matching grants which do not have to be repaid. If the DEC cannot come up with matching dollars, it cannot obtain Pittman Robertson grants. Its my understanding that the current situation is in fact that the DEC does not have the funds to meet the match for many grants it wants to apply for, and, as a result, projects are not getting started.

You are rationalizing and defending a mistake that was made. Conservation is not wall street. Conservation is about taking care of problems as soon as possible. You dont do that by taking millions of dollars away and returning 6 percent a year later or what ever the formula is/was. What you do instead is you take all the money you have available and create budgets for that amount of money to get conservation work done without going broke. You dont wait for the interest when you have the cash and let species, natural resources or ecosystems erode while in the process of waiting for that interest. I made a video about this a couple years ago, in it I stressed "conservation matters are time sensitive". Nobody was interested so I took the video off of you tube.

We hope you'll join us on March 19th for our Annual Meeting and our Annual Dinner at The Natures Inn at Bald Eagle State Park in Howard, Pennsylvania. You'll find the event to be great fun as well as educational; you'll get to enjoy a great meal and help us fund woodcock habitat and research; and you'll be part of a celebration for our our favorite bird--the American woodcock! For more information and registration information, contact us through our website email: [email protected].

The funds from the sales of lifetime licenses are invested and the DEC gets the interest. This interest goes to the division of fisheries, wildlife, and marine resources. If you buy an annual license, the entire fee goes directly to the division.

Take the NY Dove Hunting quiz. See if you are a good dove hunting advocate! http://www.poll-maker.com/Q51PGM

That is the "OP"s wording, now read what the director of the division of wildlife said....

Scan with your phone to subscribe, or click link below: http://thebirdhuntersofnewyork.weebly.com/sign-up.html

4th Annual Mid-Hudson Valley Chapter of the Ruffed Grouse Society Conservation & Sportsmen’s Banquet SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2016 Social Hour: 5:30 p.m. Dinner: 7:00 p.m. BEST WESTERN PLUS KINGSTON HOTEL & CONFERENCE CENTER 503 Washington Avenue Kingston, NY 12401 Tickets, Reservations: Rick Affuso PO Box 578 Marlboro, NY 12542 845‐742‐7574 845‐236‐7160 Bus. [email protected]

We added another one, check it out: http://thebirdhuntersofnewyork.weebly.com/

Source: http://tpwd.texas.gov/newsmedia/releases/?req=20160218b&nrtype=all&nrspan=2016&nrsearch 20 More Days of Dove Hunting Tops Slate of Proposed Regulation Changes AUSTIN – Texas dove hunters would get an additional 20 days this fall under proposed changes to the 2016-17 Statewide Hunting Proclamation for Migratory Game Birds up for public comment. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has approved a 90-day Texas dove season, the longest in 80 years. TPWD staff proposes to integrate the additional 20 dove hunting days early in the season to take advantage of migrating birds. The traditional September 1 dove season opening day in the North and Central Zones would remain, while the South Zone would open Sept. 23. The first segment in the North and South zones would extend through Nov. 13, while the Central Zone would run until Nov. 6. The season would reopen statewide Dec. 17 and run through Jan. 1, 2017 in the North Zone, Jan. 8, 2017 in the Central Zone and Jan. 23, 2017 in the South Zone. The daily bag limit for doves statewide would remain 15 and the possession limit 45. The Special White-winged Dove Area would be restricted to afternoon only (noon to sunset) hunting the first two full September weekends on Sept. 3-4 and 10-11. Hunting in this area would reopen Sept. 23 and continue through, Nov. 13, and then reopen Dec. 17 through Jan. 19, 2017. During the early two weekends, the daily bag limit would be 15 birds, to include not more than two mourning doves and two white-tipped doves. Once the general season opens, the aggregate bag limit would be 15 with no more than two white-tipped doves.

2016 Training at Stewart State Forest Westchester Retriever Club: http://www.westchest....com/index.html 2015 Training Fees. to be sent to Marilyn Sheridan, Treasurer 14 Bush Rd Damascus Pa 18415 Training info will be updated when available The following is 2015 info for comparison purposes only! (Pending DEC approval) Tuesdays from TBD Weekend dates TBD. Fees: $60 per dog for the entire season for ACTIVE paid WRC members UNTIL Feb 1 . After Feb 1, $110 per dog. $125 per dog for the entire season for non-members, non-paid members, and non-active members, UNTIL Feb 1. After Feb 1, $150 per dog. DAILY fees: $15 per day per dog for active paid members, and $25 per day per dog for all others. Remit daily fees AND signed release to Treasurer. See training page for application/release and additional details.

2016 Training at Stewart State Forest Westchester Retriever Club: http://www.westchester-retriever.com/index.html 2015 Training Fees. to be sent to Marilyn Sheridan, Treasurer 14 Bush Rd Damascus Pa 18415 Training info will be updated when available The following is 2015 info for comparison purposes only! (Pending DEC approval) Tuesdays from TBD Weekend dates TBD. Fees: $60 per dog for the entire season for ACTIVE paid WRC members UNTIL Feb 1 . After Feb 1, $110 per dog. $125 per dog for the entire season for non-members, non-paid members, and non-active members, UNTIL Feb 1. After Feb 1, $150 per dog. DAILY fees: $15 per day per dog for active paid members, and $25 per day per dog for all others. Remit daily fees AND signed release to Treasurer. See training page for application/release and additional details.

DU NY State Convention

Phade, I see my post #20 in response to yours I missed that your house is near land that is no longer in your family. Well I hope my commentary is useful anyway. But your point is well taken, an animal that is part of the landscape is a tie that binds. It is likely that there are countless people in the state that regard the pheasant in the same way you do, good post!

More than one person on this site has said they follow posts because they want to watch a fight. So we have non- hunters not interested in the subject, trolling to entertain other non-hunters who also are not interested in the subject. These sort of attention seekers are encouraged by a willing audience and bring the thread around in an almost endless circle until someone doesn't want to play anymore. By the time the post is rested, most of the substantial information within the thread is lost or conflated. That makes some Mr. Cheese happy,he wins in his mind, smiles and logs off.