Lobbying State Legislatures and Wildlife Agencies

[Nsmith163]

Lots of us (myself included) disagree with the way our states manage wildlife populations. How many have lobbied their state legislatures or wildlife agencies to change aspects of the states' game management? Did you do it as an individual or as a larger group or organization? Were you successful?

I'm not asking to engage in a political debate, instead I am looking for a discussion on strategies that may be used to make a positive impact on our state's big game populations through lobbying.

 

[BuzzH]

I have, successfully quite a bit, both legislatively and with wildlife agencies (GF, FWP, Etc.).

IME/O, I don't believe you HAVE to be connected to a group, and in some cases being a representative of a group can be cumbersome and counter-productive.

I can also you tell you that a single person, or a small group of individuals, that are motivated can have a pretty big amount of influence.

As much as people make it sound like they get involved, very few do. That means a couple things:

1. Those that do, tend to get their way.
2. The decision makers are very eager to listen to those that show up.

Lots of ways to skin a cat, but developing personal relationships with those that make the decisions are pretty vital. Don't recommend pie in the sky stuff, don't just gripe. Take your problems, and more importantly, clear solutions to those problems.

The advantage to being a representative of a group, is you'll be able to interact with all the other advocacy groups in the State, make connections, and get invites to a lot of the working groups, agency committee stuff, etc.

Making contributions to State elected officials can be pretty effective and it doesn't take a lot of money to get a seat at the table...

Its exciting that someone posted this thread, wildlife and public lands need more advocates and people that are willing to get involved.

If you want specific things that myself and a few others have changed...I can provide that.

 

[hutty]

Done it off and on for the last 20 years , sometimes as part of a larger group and sometimes as an individual. Had some solid success here in Maryland as a group (increased sunday hunting, black bear season, allowing trapping to continue). Part of a group brings more views and potential issues but there is strength in numbers.