dog
Great post and right on point. That is where I was trying to take this conversation with PBH. PBH stated anglers raised concerns about the harvest of rainbows and smaller size of the rainbows at Panguitch Lake to the biologists at the open house. But that is the rub, the anglers and biologists can’t do anything about it. Any open house from now on should start off with somebody from the DWR reading a disclaimer such as; “The purpose of this open house is to NOT solicit comments or feedback. Nor is this open house the proper method to discuss and implement fishing regulation changes. The purpose of this meeting is informational only. Any and all other issues must be presented at a RAC meeting”. The open house format is a great informal way to meet the biologists but anything close to a recommendation or suggestion by a member of the public frankly would be a complete waste of time. As dog said in his post, the RAC’s and WB in the end are who decides how we fish in Utah not the public not the biologists.
Re"the RAC’s and WB in the end are who decides how we fish in Utah not the public not the biologists."
Right, It could be said that even the RAC’s are just a “dog-and-pony show” and that the WB will do whatever it wants , or is told to do by its benefactors. The RAC’s only make recommendations, not set policy. As the TD example shows, the WB often will ignore a RAC proposal altogether.
One area of reform is that both the WB and the RAC system are broken down into regions. Each region holds equal weight, but the overwhelming percentage of population (both general population and sportsmen) live in the North and Central regions. The current configuration grossly overrepresents the rural areas and underrepresents the citizens of the Wasatch front. The Governor has the ability to appoint a second WB member to the board to represent the more populous areas. He should be encouraged to do so by letter or email at this time.
As I said before, over the long haul, reform in the WB system or cessation of the WB with the DWR then being put in charge of making its own decisions is what I would like to eventually see. The RAC’s maybe can continue to be used in a new system, but as of now, their decisions have little teeth
reform?
dog mentioned that the WB is 6 politically appointed positions. They are – but therein lies the problem. They are politically appointed positions WITH NO ACCOUNTABILITY. These positions ARE NOT voted on. The appointees have ZERO accountability. Further, once the appointee accomplishes his/her personal agenda, they simply quit, because they have no further interest in other issues. Case in point: Tom Hatch. He got what he wanted, and quit. He didn’t make the majority happy, but who the hell cares? There is no accountability.
The open houses certainly do have some bearing still. When it comes to making changes, etc., the RACs and WB will often times take recommendations from the DWR more seriously than they do the general public. It doesn’t always work out this way. But, I’ll take my chances with trying to work with the DWR, than without them.
thanks Amy. Will there be one in the northern region where most of Utah lives?
Liprippa, I just received an update on the northern region open house. Here are the details:
DWR Northern Region Fisheries Open House
June 1 from 4–8 p.m.
Sportsman’s Warehouse (Ogden)
1137 West Riverdale Road
Riverdale, Utah
Also, if you want to share your feedback on the fishing at Flaming Gorge, Steinaker, Red Fleet, Starvation or other waters in the Uintah Basin, there’s an open house tonight in Vernal from 5–7 p.m. It will be held at the Uintah Basin Fire Center (340 North 100 West. Note: this is the small building behind the Forest Service Supervisor’s Office on Vernal Avenue.)
RE"They are politically appointed positions WITH NO ACCOUNTABILITY. These positions ARE NOT voted on. The appointees have ZERO accountability. Further, once the appointee accomplishes his/her personal agenda, they simply quit, because they have no further interest in other issues. Case in point: Tom Hatch. He got what he wanted, and quit. He didn’t make the majority happy, but who the hell cares? There is no accountability. "
Spot on. There is no accountability. Why? Part of it is the system. The other is ignorance among the sportsmen of the state. My original question of “how many anglers on here know that it is the WB that calls the shots and not the DWR” is something I would love to know. I would bet a brand new rod that the percentage on BFT is low, very low. One answer is education. If anglers hold the WB accountable as they should, instead of always blaming the DWR for everything, then they may see more responsiveness. I would also note that there is at least one sportsmens group that ,at least for now, has WB reform as a priority. (UWC)
RE"The open houses certainly do have some bearing still."
I like the open houses. I’m looking forward to the one up here. Nevertheless, concerned anglers should know going in what expectations are if they have suggestions for meaningful change.
WOW I am one who didn’t know..
So how can we change it??
Just what can we do about the WB and who are they?? What is WB??
The WB is the Utah Wildlife Board. They consist of 6 members appointed by the Governor and the DWR head is a nonvoting member. They make the final decision on any Wildlife related regulation in the State.
hehehe…
That’s funny. Cliff just caught one! And here all this time, I didn’t think that ol’ bassrods still had it in him…
Nice catch cliff.
There are actually seven appointed members of the Utah Wildlife Board. Here’s the brief explanation that we’ve started adding to the regulation guidebooks:
Who makes the rules?
The Utah Wildlife Board passes the rules
and laws summarized in this guidebook.
There are seven board members, and
each serves a six-year term. Appointed by the
governor, board members are not Division
employees.
The Division’s director serves as the
board’s executive secretary but does not have
a vote on wildlife policies.
Before board members make changes
to wildlife rules, they listen to recommendations
from Division biologists. They also
receive input from the public and various
interest groups via the regional advisory
council (RAC) process.
If you have feedback or suggestions for
board members, you can find their contact
information online at wildlife.utah.gov.
Wildlife Board members
*Rick Woodard, Chair
Ernie Perkins, Vice Chair
James F. Karpowitz, Division Director and Executive Secretary
Jake Albrecht
Del Brady
Bill Fenimore
*Tom Hatch
*Keele Johnson
- The June 9 board meeting will be the last meeting for these members. Dr. Mike King and John Bair will be replacing Keele Johnson and Rick Woodard, respectively. Tom Hatch has resigned and will be replaced before the board meets in August.
You can learn more about the RACs and Wildlife Board at http://wildlife.utah.gov/dwr/hunting/board-rac/363-rac-involvement.html.
Amy Canning
Communications Specialist
Utah Division of Wildlife Resources
Thanks for posting that up Amy. You are right, there are currently seven voting members. My bad.
The current rules for the WB actually allow for the Governor to appoint up to 2 members per region. The UWC is seeking to have Gov. Herbert appoint 2 candidates for the more populous regions to more equitably represent the urban and suburban sportsmen. It is up to him, and we’ll see what happens.