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Economy Down, Poaching and Budget Cuts Up
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April 03, 2009
Economy Down, Poaching and Budget Cuts Up
By Kim Hiss
We've all seen plenty of headlines and blog posts regarding the effects of the economic downturn on hunting. But the more I hear, the more I appreciate the difficulties of the poaching situation in particular.
A little reading led me back to this January story on cbs5.com, which focused on poaching increases in California and Florida (an official quoted in the piece contended that most fish and wildlife trends start in these two states).
While the story said new stats are not yet available, California records show that from 2005 (when the economy was stronger) to 2007 (when it began to dip), the number of poaching-related violations jumped from 14,150 to 17,840. It also highlighted illegal bear kills, which increased from nine to 49. State officials are apparently calling 2008 "The Year of the Extreme Poacher," and recent arrests include the discovery of 335 waterfowl found in a suspect's freezer (including protected species), the poaching and selling of venison to a meat market for $150 per deer and the harvesting of abalone.
Meanwhile in Florida, poaching-related arrested have involved the the discovery of 20 dead does and stags and another case involving 771 undersized lobster tails.
But of course the economy has hit both sides of the poaching war. According to the story, Florida wildlife officials report a decrease in poaching arrests because of budget-related staff cuts. And California only has 374 game wardens to patrol the state.
In terms of the magnitude of the current poaching situation, one California official said, "Not since the market poaching days of the early 1900's have we seen waterfowl poaching of this scope." Another official added, "A lot of poachers would go into the same category as drug dealers and automobile thieves; they're tenacious... It's really frightening to see what's been happening."
Ironic that the economic downturn seems to be encouraging more poaching incidents while simultaneously cutting back the forces responsible for stopping them -- another tough issue in already tough times. -K.H.
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Comments (15)
Big surprise that with the economy going down, the loss of jobs, and the way the government is turning into a socialist state, that the people are turning to taking what they can to survive, to save what money they can before it gets taken away, and ignoring the laws because these laws aren't helping those who abide by them but helping those who break them. The politicians have to wake up and smell the coffee, start paying their taxes like all of the average people out in the real world do, and start using common sense, instead of throwing money at something that doesn't work.
I can see the obvious connection, with unemployment high there is little or no extra money to purchase licenses. Also, when a household can't make ends meet because the adults in the home can't find work, have exhausted their savings, maxed out their credit cards, and lost their home all while trying to exist on the pittance they get from unemployment and/or welfare, and there isn't enough money left over to provide food until the next check comes in, you have a difficult decision. Put your children, spouse, self to bed hungry for however long it is until you get the next check or the one after or take your shotgun, bow, rifle and break mans law and feed your family. I personally believe that in the situation we are in economically, that NO fines or criminal charges should be filed on a person in the above scenario, but if the person is a glutton like those mentioned in this article, then they should loose everything.
Considering the combined bag limits whether it be big game, upland birds, fishing or whatever. Each license/tag holder can put away enough meat for the year, legally.
These poachers are opportunistic after personal financial gain or just plain greed. It is not just the poachers, what about the business’ who are buying their products and supporting the poachers cause.
I do not agree with poaching, there is no need for it. You speak of irony, bad economy and encouraging. It would be interesting to know what the break down of those numbers are that you posted, are they all seasoned poachers, wannabes or are some of them just trying to feed their families, desperate times require desperate measures kind of thing. What about the business’ that start the proverbial ball rolling and encourage and enable this breed to grow and prosper. Like all things in life there is more to it than meets the eye.
In Florida, I can vouch for those numbers. About 3 months ago, after deer season had been over, the cowboy on my property saw trucks entering. He called the police and then went out to look for them in his truck. He found them at the cleaning station of the property! Using the lights and fridge to their pleasure. They got hit with a hefty fine and hopefully some jail time. But the cowboy at my place always says he hears gun shots from the road from people in trucks going down the highway looking for deer with spot lights.
As a Wildlife Officer (Game Warden) I am bracing for this exact thing. If people keep losing jobs and money keeps getting tighter and tighter, the poaching will increase. At that point I am in a big dilemma - it would be tough for me to write a guy a $1500 (for example) ticket for killing a deer to feed his family. It would be case-by-case for sure...
I HATE pochers! I can understand taking game out of season to feed a family, but it is still wrong. That would be a tough call, and one that you are in the wrong either way. Once you allow it, it becomes more difficult to enforce, and almost promotes it. Conservation only works if everyone follows the rules.
The game officers had a difficult job with limited rescources as it was, how can you cut when you don't have much to begin with. I hope all those who serve in this job don't get too frustrated with the current budget cuts.
Clarification: The author writes that there are 374 game wardens here in California (the lowest ratio per capita of all the states). More importantly, only 192 of those brave men and women are in the field, and our beleaguered wildlife suffers accordingly. I'm told that Florida has 700 wardens, Texas 500.
A California warden's salary is only 3/5's that of a Highway Patrolman. And he/she is far more likely to be shot while on duty than your average cop. No wonder there's a dearth of applicants for the job. Compounding the problem is California's horrendously overpriced housing market.
As for the poachers, I say NO MERCY! Whether they're doing it for profit, or to put food on the table. This is a nation of LAWS (or at least it usedd to be).
The number of sport hunters has been decreasing steadily for years, for a variety of social and economic reasons.
Human overpopulatio is a major part of our wildlife problems. The majority of California's new immigrants (mostly Asian and Latin American) have no history of or respect for wildlife conservation or protection. We're expecting an increase of 25 million people in California over the next 40 years. Not acceptable. Rather than attempting to prepare for it, we should be working to stabilize and diminish these numbers nationwide. Or prepare to kiss all our wildlife goodbye.
But, hey! All this may be moot if James Lovelock (The Gaia Theory) is right. He say's that global warming is irreversible, and that much of Florida and California (and the world) will be under water by the end of this century.
Cheers,
Eric Mills, coordinator
ACTION FOR ANIMALS
Oakland, CA
I think some of the juristiction for game law violations should be carried over to the local police or sheriff departments. I know my local game warden is worked to death and many times does not have the resources to investigate all of the calls that he gets.
Is poaching poachers poaching?
I have to agree with rjw, filling your tags should provide enough food to feed your family until next season. I do know that filling your tags is not always possible,or easy. There are always extenuating circumstances and I guess it would matter to me if the person truly did not have the opportunity to fill their tags during the season. As for poachers and the buyers of their ill gotten meat. STRING EM UP!
Not an easy issue, for sure -- especially when you start sorting out differing poaching scenarios, which of course vary hugely. J-Johnson17, thanks for sharing your perspective on that point regarding the wildlife officer's dilemma. As EricMills and others say, the agencies responsible for our wildlife resources are in serious need of support. Though, it's certainly hard to imagine that materializing any time soon. -K.H.
This where the public at large needs to get involved. Stop the poacher by reporting him/her.
We can be the extra eyes and ears of the "192 brave men and women," of California/your state,and report a poacher!If we see a poacher in the act or hear them boasting, and do nothing, then we have just become an accomplice and participated in their crime!
REPORT A POACHER!
Post a Comment
Big surprise that with the economy going down, the loss of jobs, and the way the government is turning into a socialist state, that the people are turning to taking what they can to survive, to save what money they can before it gets taken away, and ignoring the laws because these laws aren't helping those who abide by them but helping those who break them. The politicians have to wake up and smell the coffee, start paying their taxes like all of the average people out in the real world do, and start using common sense, instead of throwing money at something that doesn't work.
Considering the combined bag limits whether it be big game, upland birds, fishing or whatever. Each license/tag holder can put away enough meat for the year, legally.
These poachers are opportunistic after personal financial gain or just plain greed. It is not just the poachers, what about the business’ who are buying their products and supporting the poachers cause.
I do not agree with poaching, there is no need for it. You speak of irony, bad economy and encouraging. It would be interesting to know what the break down of those numbers are that you posted, are they all seasoned poachers, wannabes or are some of them just trying to feed their families, desperate times require desperate measures kind of thing. What about the business’ that start the proverbial ball rolling and encourage and enable this breed to grow and prosper. Like all things in life there is more to it than meets the eye.
In Florida, I can vouch for those numbers. About 3 months ago, after deer season had been over, the cowboy on my property saw trucks entering. He called the police and then went out to look for them in his truck. He found them at the cleaning station of the property! Using the lights and fridge to their pleasure. They got hit with a hefty fine and hopefully some jail time. But the cowboy at my place always says he hears gun shots from the road from people in trucks going down the highway looking for deer with spot lights.
As a Wildlife Officer (Game Warden) I am bracing for this exact thing. If people keep losing jobs and money keeps getting tighter and tighter, the poaching will increase. At that point I am in a big dilemma - it would be tough for me to write a guy a $1500 (for example) ticket for killing a deer to feed his family. It would be case-by-case for sure...
I HATE pochers! I can understand taking game out of season to feed a family, but it is still wrong. That would be a tough call, and one that you are in the wrong either way. Once you allow it, it becomes more difficult to enforce, and almost promotes it. Conservation only works if everyone follows the rules.
The game officers had a difficult job with limited rescources as it was, how can you cut when you don't have much to begin with. I hope all those who serve in this job don't get too frustrated with the current budget cuts.
I think some of the juristiction for game law violations should be carried over to the local police or sheriff departments. I know my local game warden is worked to death and many times does not have the resources to investigate all of the calls that he gets.
Is poaching poachers poaching?
I have to agree with rjw, filling your tags should provide enough food to feed your family until next season. I do know that filling your tags is not always possible,or easy. There are always extenuating circumstances and I guess it would matter to me if the person truly did not have the opportunity to fill their tags during the season. As for poachers and the buyers of their ill gotten meat. STRING EM UP!
Not an easy issue, for sure -- especially when you start sorting out differing poaching scenarios, which of course vary hugely. J-Johnson17, thanks for sharing your perspective on that point regarding the wildlife officer's dilemma. As EricMills and others say, the agencies responsible for our wildlife resources are in serious need of support. Though, it's certainly hard to imagine that materializing any time soon. -K.H.
This where the public at large needs to get involved. Stop the poacher by reporting him/her.
We can be the extra eyes and ears of the "192 brave men and women," of California/your state,and report a poacher!If we see a poacher in the act or hear them boasting, and do nothing, then we have just become an accomplice and participated in their crime!
REPORT A POACHER!
I can see the obvious connection, with unemployment high there is little or no extra money to purchase licenses. Also, when a household can't make ends meet because the adults in the home can't find work, have exhausted their savings, maxed out their credit cards, and lost their home all while trying to exist on the pittance they get from unemployment and/or welfare, and there isn't enough money left over to provide food until the next check comes in, you have a difficult decision. Put your children, spouse, self to bed hungry for however long it is until you get the next check or the one after or take your shotgun, bow, rifle and break mans law and feed your family. I personally believe that in the situation we are in economically, that NO fines or criminal charges should be filed on a person in the above scenario, but if the person is a glutton like those mentioned in this article, then they should loose everything.
Clarification: The author writes that there are 374 game wardens here in California (the lowest ratio per capita of all the states). More importantly, only 192 of those brave men and women are in the field, and our beleaguered wildlife suffers accordingly. I'm told that Florida has 700 wardens, Texas 500.
A California warden's salary is only 3/5's that of a Highway Patrolman. And he/she is far more likely to be shot while on duty than your average cop. No wonder there's a dearth of applicants for the job. Compounding the problem is California's horrendously overpriced housing market.
As for the poachers, I say NO MERCY! Whether they're doing it for profit, or to put food on the table. This is a nation of LAWS (or at least it usedd to be).
The number of sport hunters has been decreasing steadily for years, for a variety of social and economic reasons.
Human overpopulatio is a major part of our wildlife problems. The majority of California's new immigrants (mostly Asian and Latin American) have no history of or respect for wildlife conservation or protection. We're expecting an increase of 25 million people in California over the next 40 years. Not acceptable. Rather than attempting to prepare for it, we should be working to stabilize and diminish these numbers nationwide. Or prepare to kiss all our wildlife goodbye.
But, hey! All this may be moot if James Lovelock (The Gaia Theory) is right. He say's that global warming is irreversible, and that much of Florida and California (and the world) will be under water by the end of this century.
Cheers,
Eric Mills, coordinator
ACTION FOR ANIMALS
Oakland, CA
Post a Comment