Fish Cops In Short Supply
There's a story in the Times- Standard today about a dog being killed by a mountain lion down at Confusion Hill. I can't find the story on the T- S web site.
The story seems to emphasize the slow response Fish and Game made to the scene, not getting there until four days after the incident. The Sacramento Bee coincidentally ran this story on the state of game warden recruitment and retention in California.
Something I rarely think about. I'd never realized how thinly spread the fish cops are in this state.
posted by Fred Mangels @ 8:12 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
California Game Wardens need our help. Please Send the below letter to
Governor Schwarzenegger so that we can show our support for those who
help support us and our wildlife.
Email - governor@governor.ca.gov
Dear Governor Schwarzenegger:
As a California citizen, I am very concerned about serious neglect of
our natural resource protection and law enforcement.
The California Fish and Game Wardens have been the thin green line of
natural resource protection for more than 130 years. But in the last
decade, they have suffered significant staffing cuts, and repeated
injustice in their pay and compensation.
At this time, the staffing level for Game Wardens is equal to that of
the 1950s.
California is the third largest state with one of the lowest staffing
rates for Game Wardens in the nation. When considering the number of
wardens per capita, we fall to the bottom.
You speak of restoring California. Start with our Game Wardens. They
need only two things: Parity in pay and return and full funding of
their lost positions.
With the cost of living in California, pay and benefits are a factor
in any job. With Game Wardens, the pay has fallen so far behind all
other law enforcement, like California Highway Patrol and local
agencies, that finding qualified recruits and keeping officers is
extremely difficult. Game Wardens have state law enforcement
authority, federal law enforcement authority, and they patrol the
159,000 square miles of the state along with the 220,000 miles of
ocean considered state jurisdiction. They have a tremendous
responsibility, deal with some of the most armed and dangerous
individuals in our society, and patrol alone at night â€" they deserve
parity in pay.
Want to really help California? Invest in public safety, invest in the
public good, invest in our Game Wardens. The service and protection
they offer our state and our people is priceless. California has never
needed them as much as they do now. I urge you to endorse the efforts
to give our Game Wardens the compensation they deserve.
Sincerely,
__________________________________________________________________________
Fish cops? I don't know about my state of Illinois, but locally they're rough bastards! I can attest to that... they're even in those remote places checking lincenses regularly. My neighbor was fined $50 bucks for fishing in a river with his son without one.
we need less laws, not more, less inffingement on basic freedoms. for god's sake let the people fish with thier kids free from hassles, if the native maerican's can do it, we should be able to also. level the damn playing field.
Fred - the article is at the Redwood Times site. RT is owned by TS.
Post a Comment
<< Home