It’s up to you by John C. Street

By now you should know that ……

A small, a very small, group of people, ideologically wed to the concept of “Ecosystem Management,” has succeeded in usurping authority over the management of Pennsylvania’s whitetail deer herd. This group claims a scientific mandate for their actions but even their own science refutes this claim. And they, despite overwhelming opposition, have co-opted enough political juice to have their way.

Is this simply a case, as author, Robert Hanlon, opined, where we should “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity?” Or is there something else afoot?

Well, evidence suggests we can rule out stupidity as an option. Is it maliciousness, then? That might be putting it mildly.

At the beginning of September, the Allegheny County Sportsmen’s League produced an hour-long video tape of a presentation made by John Eveland wherein he irrefutable proves that a group of people – a very small group of people at that – have completely taken over the decision making process for the management of Pennsylvania’s deer herd. (Note: this tape can be accessed through the League’s web site at www.acslpa.org)

Worse, their management program is based on the pabulum of an ideology, not the hard data of sound science.

But what is most alarming is that this group has been able to marshal up enough political cover to shield their pantheistic ideology of ecosystem management from the glaring light of public scrutiny.

As this is being written, a bookmaker would have to give better than even odds that they’ll not only escape being held accountable for perpetrating the biggest wildlife management boondoggle in Pennsylvania’s history, but will proceed without so much as a slap on the wrist.

What happens next, therefore, is entirely up to you.

In a previous column I asked, “Whatchu’ gonna’ do about it?” and promised that I’d come back to help you answer that question. The following, then, are two simple steps that you can take to help solve this problem.

First, if you have not done so already, please go to the Allegheny County Sportsmen’s League’s web site (address provided above) and access and view the eight-part series on the “Mismanagement of Pennsylvania’s deer herd.” And while you’re on that web site, print out the twenty page, printed version of this report and read it along with the background bio of John Eveland, the man who courageously brought this boondoggle to light.

As you are watching this series, it’s going to dawn on you there might be a case to be made for bringing legal action against the politician who provided cover and muscle for the perpetrators of this scam. Please do not get yourself into a tizzy over this. The only legal action that needs to be taken will most likely be done for you on November 2.

And please know there are seven people - the current members of the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s Board of Commissioners - who can stop this boondoggle dead in its tracks. You only need to let one of these seven people (the Commissioner who serves your district) know how you feel about this travesty in order to have an impact.

Step two, then, is to write a brief, simple letter in your own words to the PGC Commissioner who serves your district (his name and address are available at www.pgc.pa.us).

In this letter, tell your Commissioner that you have watched the John Eveland video. Tell him you will not allow this travesty to be swept under the rug. And finally, ask him to respond to you with his personal plan to clean up the mess.

That’s it. That’s all you need to do.

But please do not forget …..

The economic carnage from this travesty has yet to be fully calculated. By all preliminary indications, however, the scale of the carnage is already enormous. And it’s growing.

Making financial sacrifices of this magnitude might be justifiable for a legitimate wildlife crisis.

Forcing these sacrifices, however, for a questionable ideology that has little – arguably nothing – to do with any of Pennsylvania’s wildlife is a travesty …..  a travesty that was planned and is being perpetrated by a handful of unaccountable people whose pantheistic view of Penn’s woods has no verifiable context in legitimate wildlife or forestry management.

At the present time, the PGC’s Board of Commissioners appear content to keep there heads down in the hope that this will blow over.

So now, it’s up to you.