Dear HCN,
Jon Margolis’ article on
the Teaming With Wildlife initiative (HCN, 12/23/96) was accurate
with only one slight error: The states would pay 25 cents, not 30
cents, to get the matching 75 cents of each dollar provided by the
initiative.
Since snowmobiles and ATVs are not on
the list of recreational products to be assessed a user-fee, ATV
manufacturers have been actively opposing this
initiative.
The state of Missouri has shown how
increased and diverse funding sources build additional
constituencies that are committed to all of the state’s natural
resources. That funding has benefited the state’s fishing and
hunting programs as well as nongame conservation, educational
programs, a great state parks system and even an urban wildlife
program. While recreational opportunities abound in Missouri, I
have not heard any complaints that the Missouri Department of
Conservation has been renamed the Department of
Recreation.
As someone who hunts and fishes, the
only insult I see is when all that expensive outdoor gear I buy
contributes to neither the nongame wildlife populations nor to
ever-shrinking habitat. I look for Teaming With Wildlife to offer a
solution to this inequity.
Meredith
Taylor
Dubois,
Wyoming
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline We need the team.
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