You just never know
For many years many of us have been jealous of the Missouri MDC (DNR). While our own SCDNR has languished with one funding cut after another, Missouri taxpayers voted the MDC a 1/8 cent sales tax that went directly to their own fund. Just imagine. 1/8 of every penny in sales tax in the state goes into the DNR coffers.
Pretty soon after the 1/8 tax was implemented, the MDC literally had more money than they knew what to do with. They had hired all the wardens, biologists, and staff that they needed. The bought all the new boats, trucks, atv's, planes, choppers, and gear that they could think of. Pretty soon the money was piling up on top of itself so they started buying up land for public hunters and fishermen to enjoy. They built enormous waterfowl habitats that effectively shortstopped the majority of the Mississippi Flyway mallard population.
Still the cash kept rolling in and in. We howled about it from the standpoint that they were stopping ducks that would normally keep coming down the Flyway and some would make the Tennesse Crossing that serves South Carolina so well on those Alberta Clippers.
But mainly we were just jealous of the incredible shape that the Missouri MDC was in when compared to our own broke dick DNR that was having to limit miles driven because we just didn't have the funding.
Even here on SCDUCKS we tried to get the legislature to even CONSIDER giving our DNR a sales tax percentage. Hell some of the lottery money even. Anything to get SCDNR the incredible power that the MDC was enjoying. We were told NO. No way. Not no how.
So we have remained jealous of the great things that the MDC was able to accomplish with the 1/8 tax.
And still the cash kept rolling in...
And this is where the story takes an incredible turn....
From a well known Missouri hunter who was answering the question about DNR Funding...
Timber Rat - 10 years ago your words could have been mine....then the MDC got so much money that they HAD to spend it, or every other govt. agency was gonna try to get at it when times got hard....and times did get hard.
Next thing you know, our hunting was regulated to the point that nearly every state owned public ground was "redeveloped" (in order to spend the money), with new regulations that left most of our public duck ground unhuntable to the majority of folks......resident or not. You either stand in line for a draw, or forget it.
On top of that, the PUBLIC who do not hunt or fish decided that there was no way they were gonna get cut out of all that public money, and just like that, some of the bext duck ground in the country (the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers) was "developed". Bike trails, horse trails, viewing platforms, and less then 10 parties a day allowed to hunt what little ground they do flood.
It gets worse......the State Water Patrol was short of money, so guess how they handled that one? They contracted with the MDC to "patrol" the duck hunting areas.....yep, guys getting stopped for not having flotation devices, lights, etc. IN FLOODED CORNFIELDS WITH LESS THEN A FOOT OF WATER....and money flowed from the MDC to the Water Patrol....to help the budget of another state agency. We screamed like hell on the cafe about it...to the point where I actually got PM'd by the head of the Water Patrol.
There are too many like examples to name.
You would do well to keep a close eye on your agency. I don't think, because of the huge hunting hertitage there, that you will run into the same problems that we now face.....BUT......once you start talking tax money, it's easy for outsiders to claim they have certain "rights" as well.
A state agency, or any govt. agency for that matter, with too much money is potentially dangerous. A large bureacracy does one thing.....IT TRIES TO GROW ITSELF SO THAT THE FOLKS WITH THE PUBLIC JOBS CAN BE MORE SECURE IN THEIR JOBS.
Ya'll watch your leaders......it's a slippery slope you're headed down.
Old, you are correct. In the early stages of the 1/8 tax they bought land, lots of it. And man, for some years we had some great public duck hunting.....walk in hunting, like it should be.
Then they got to the point where they had so much new land that it needed to be managed in some way......so they quit buying new land with the same frequency, but still the money kept coming......and like I said above....they HAD to spend it, or face more groups wanting to get their hands on it....and so they spent it....by "redeveloping" much of the duck land they bought.
Unfortunately, "redeveloping" meant more levees, and more parking lots, and then regulating how many people could use it on any given day, and it took LOTS of people to so that, and lots of new jobs....but still the money kept coming...HUGE amounts.....and pretty soon, the MDC didn't give a rats ass what the hunters and fishermen, who used to pay for the agency, wanted.....as long as the agency kept growing.
They had to keep spending the money, and then "other non-consumptive" groups started crying about being left out.....and so the bird watchers and "conservationists" got in on the game....and then lobbied for, and won, seats on our commission....until we got to the point where a simple majority of our commisioners have never even held a hunting license.
I'm warning you boys........watch your azzes.....more money means LESS beholding to those of us who hunt and fish....because they really don't need you....the money comes anyway.
From Bob Staton, a recently retired long time division chief of the MDC. Long read but well worth it. We should hope that we can learn from this...
The year was 1965 and the place was the Missouri Department of Conservation’s Trimble Wildlife Area. I was a 16 year old temporary summer employee that was living a dream, a dream to work for the MDC. I had collected Missouri Conservationist magazines like some kids collected baseball cards. I remember the goose roundups and getting to meet a lot of employees that were an important part of MDC history. Some of them, like Ted Shanks who was in charge of waterfowl areas, now have Conservation Areas named after them.
I remember one evening when Ted Shanks, along with Mike Milonski, the Chief of the Wildlife Division, was talking with several other employees. They were drinking adult beverages and eating fried fish and discussing the MDC, conservation and other related topics. Mr. Shanks made the comment that many things were changing, some for the best and some for the worst. One thing he said stuck with me all these years. He said that the typical MDC employee was changing. Many of the employees in 1965 did not have college degrees, many had military experience, and most had direct ties to the land through an agricultural background. Mr. Shanks said that someday the MDC would begin to change as more and more non-hunters and non-fisherman were hired. Mike Milonski and others said that would not happen. Mr. Shanks just smiled and said it was already happening. He said the real changes would come when people like that were there long enough to be elevated into leadership positions where policy and direction decisions were made. Several argued that the Conservation Commission and Director would never allow that to happen. The Conservation Commissioners loved hunting and fishing as much as the rank and file employees did. Mr. Shanks pointed out that this would no longer be the case when Commissioners are appointed that don’t share our passion for hunting and fishing. Several said that will never happen.
Mr. Shanks may or may not have realized how true his predictions would become. I was fortunate to get a permanent job with the MDC in 1978, just after the 1/8th of 1% sales tax was passed. This was a tax that Mr. Shanks probably didn’t foresee, but one that probably helped make his prediction come true even sooner. I had the privilege of working for almost 30 years for the MDC.
I got to see a lot of great things happen and some not so good things. I got to see a hunter education program grow and utilize some outstanding volunteers, as well as lead the charge to reduce hunting accidents in Missouri from well over a hundred per year to around 30. I got to see F.E. “Bud” Eyman lead the charge to expand hunter education into a broad based outdoor skills program and also promote the shooting sports and the development of more public shooting ranges. Bud was later elected to the National Rifle Association’s Board of Directors, and the MDC and NRA worked together on several joint projects that benefitted hunters and shooters in Missouri. Missouri was the first recipient of the NRA national award on shooting range development.
Move forward to today and there have been a lot of changes. The NRA national meeting held in St. Louis last year had little MDC involvement or participation. This was the same year that Missouri certified its 1,000,000th hunter education student, as well as celebrated the 50th anniversary of hunter education in Missouri. A great opportunity was missed for a national recognition of the work the Missouri hunter education volunteers had been able to accomplish. I heard that some of the MDC leaders said they didn’t realize the NRA meeting was going to be in Missouri. However, a year earlier, prior to my retirement, I made mention of this in an “expanded staff” meeting at the Jefferson City headquarters. In addition to this, any NRA member would have received notice of the meeting. However, many of the people in MDC leadership do not belong to the NRA. In fact, following Mr. Shanks predictions, how many of them hunt and fish?
About a year prior to my retirement, Bryan Bethel and I attended a committee put together to discuss hunter recruitment. I remember that for the entire first hour of our first meeting we discussed whether we really needed more hunters or even hunters at all in the future. When we got back to my office, Bryan and I discussed how unbelievable it was that the meeting started that way.
I remember another meeting with the Outreach and Education Division leadership and the leadership of Fisheries Division. We met to discuss ways to expand the number of fisherman. Lorna Domke, Outreach and Education Division Chief, said and I quote, “It offends me that the MDC would spend my tax dollars to recruit new hunting and fishing permit buyers.” She also said, “Why do we need more hunters? With less hunters we can spend more money on activities like bird watching.” One of the Fisheries Division leaders argued with her about this. He said if we let our base erode, that base being hunters, fisherman, and trappers, what will the MDC do if they ever lose the 1/8th of 1% sales tax? Then the main source of income will be from the sale of permits. Lorna just rolled her eyes and said that we are never going to lose the sales tax.
I remember Lorna saying in several staff meetings that our field staff were spending way too much of their time on hunter education, shooting sports, youth hunts, and shooting ranges. She wanted them to spend more time on non-consumptive activities like bird watching, backpacking, canoeing, etc. In other meetings, Lorna stated she didn’t like the word “recruitment” used with hunters and fisherman. Words were some how important to Lorna for some reason. I remember the first meeting that I had with Lorna, along with the other two Assistant Outreach & Education Division Chiefs. I made the comment that because of our reorganization we need to make our field staff aware of our chain-of-command. Lorna immediately said that she hated that word. I said, “What word?” David and Don, the other two Assistant Chiefs looked as puzzled as I did. She said, “Chain-of-command. I hate that word. It is so military.” I said, “Well I guess we differ, because I like the military.” Then I suggested the term “line-of-supervision” and she said that was fine, so we proceeded.
I began to hear Mr. Shanks talking again in my memory.
I remember just prior to my retirement Lorna put together a committee to plan a Division Conference. She named a young lady to be chair of that committee. At one of their meetings the chairperson suggested a main speaker, and one of the other committee members pointed out that this person had strong anti-hunting ties. The chairperson said, “So what is your point?” A main speaker at that conference ended up being a speaker with an anti-gun and anti-hunting history.
When the MDC decided to create the “Next Generation” plan, each Division was asked to participate. Rick Flint and Bryan Bethel were directly under my supervision at the time. I asked them each to submit to me ideas to include in parts of the Next Generation Plan. I also wrote several thoughts I had on the future of the MDC and how we could best serve the resource and the people. Naturally, a lot of Rick’s, Bryan’s, and my comments were tied to hunting and hunter education, fishing and aquatic education, trapping, shooting sports and shooting ranges, along with ideas on other outdoor activities. I submitted these to Lorna, who was my supervisor. When the Next Generation plan came out, I noticed none of Rick’s, Bryan’s, or my comments were included. I asked Lorna about this and she said she had forgotten to include our comments. Who would have ever thought that would happen?
Later Lorna said she wanted us to create a new education program called “LOS,” Learning Outdoor Schools. The first part of this program was an aquatic education program. She had some of her hand-picked folks write this and then asked me to critique it. I read it and asked her how she could have an aquatic education program that did not include fishing. She sent it back and fishing was added as a voluntary alternate.
Another time, I was required to attend a leadership training course which our current Director was also attending. When we got to the course, only about half of the class that was signed up to attend was there. For whatever reason, the others had decided not to attend. At lunch, the Director asked several of us for suggestions to stop this from happening so often. He was concerned about the instructors’ time as well as costs of materials. I suggested that the supervisors of those employees could provide a written memo to explain why their employee or employees didn’t attend or call to cancel. One of the section leaders at the class looked at me and said that idea was archaic. I began to hear Mr. Shanks speaking again and began to count the days until my retirement.
Near the end of the same leadership training class, the instructor asked us to name a great leader that we had as a role model. The first name that came to my mind was President Ronald Regan, not because of his political affiliation, but because of his leadership qualities. The Director raised his hand and the rest of us, who were being good subordinates, waited to hear from him. He stated that President Jimmy Carter was his leadership role model and I about fell out of my chair. The President that allowed American hostages to be held by Iranian terrorists for 444 days. The same hostages that were released while President Ronald Regan was taking the oath of office as President. I realized that based on the “archaic” comment and this one, that I was now a dinosaur (so to speak) and retirement couldn’t come too soon.
Mr. Shank’s prophecy had come true. I realized that we now have people in leadership and direction setting positions with a different kind of agenda. They lack the emotional attachment to hunting, fishing, and trapping, as well as any ties to the land. They do not understand why the 2nd amendment is so important to not just our enjoyment and way of life, but ultimately to our freedom.
Some have accused me of being a disgruntled, retired employee and that is fine. If having strong feelings for the history of the MDC and the many great people who have and are working there is being disgruntled, then I am disgruntled. If loving the sights and sounds of the woods coming alive while I seek game, or watching the swirl of large fish moving towards my lure is being disgruntled, then I am disgruntled. If watching a young boy or girl shoot their first quail, or seeing them feel that familiar tug on the end of their line is being disgruntled, then I am disgruntled. If loving the familiar smell of gun powder and Hoppe’s gun oil, or getting goose bumps and a lump in my throat when I hear the Star Spangled Banner, labels me as archaic and disgruntled, then so be it. I’ll bet there are a lot of us that fit that definition and we just want to see future generations have the opportunity for those same memories.
Mr. Shanks, if you can hear me, then God Bless you and your words of wisdom that a 16 year old boy could never forget.
Bob Staton
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