The Division of Wildlife Resources – I still call them the Game Department – is broke, busted, penniless. They had to borrow nearly $7 million from the state to make ends meet at the end of the fiscal year. The Pooh-Bahs in Richmond said, “We’ll loan you the money, but you’ve got to raise license fees.”
The DWR is responsible for enforcing fishing, hunting and boating laws and managing all the Wildlife Management Areas. Their revenues come solely from the sale of hunting, fishing and boating licenses, plus some federal monies. They get zero from the State, but their responsibilities extend beyond checking licenses and ticketing erratic boaters.
A few years back, they changed the name of Game Wardens to Virginia Conservation Police and now our Game Wardens are frequently called in on drug busts, roadblocks and other law enforcement duties.,
Why should a fisherman have to pay for officers to do roadblocks? In addition, DWR personnel handle all the conservation duties for the entire state – caring for birds of prey, monitoring endangered species, searching for the lost and injured in boating, swimming and hiking accidents and the like.
Now DWR has to go hat in hand and beg for money from the Great Wizards of Richmond. License fees are expected to be increased from a base of $22 up to $27 a year, which in itself is not bad – except that when demand is falling, does it make sense to increase prices? We are losing hunters and fishermen hand over fist, and these increases will only increase that trend. Wouldn’t it be wise to encourage – especially for young people – the enjoyment of hunting, and fishing and outdoor opportunities instead of having them holed up on their rooms with I-phones and video games?
The State of Virginia should pay their fair share of the huge cost of conservation and Game Wardens should not be required to become ordinary police officers unless reimbursed by the State.
Virginia’s treatment of all the dedicated people in our Game Department is disgraceful.
