Dear Wisconsin tournament angler:
Approximately 90 tournament supporters attended the first of seven public hearings on proposed changes to Wisconsin Administrative Code NR 20.40 that will outright ban live-release fishing tournaments between July 1 and Aug. 31 and effectively prohibit organizations like FLW Outdoors and The Bass Federation from hosting events in the state due to excessive permitting requirements and excessive fees specifically targeting tournament anglers like you.
The hearing in Fond du Lac was a step in the right direction, but we need to keep pushing forward to keep the proposed changes from becoming law. We need your help and so do local marina, hotel, restaurant and service-station owners and their employees, who stand to lose millions of dollars in revenue and ultimately jobs if the proposed changes are adopted. In fact, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources’ own study in conjunction with the Wisconsin Department of Tourism, the University of Wisconsin – Madison and the Chippewa Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau shows that a single tournament can contribute $2.1 million to small businesses. In its proposal to the Natural Resources Board, however, the DNR states that the proposed changes will have no effect on small businesses.
Please get together with your fishing friends and attend as many of the remaining public hearings as possible to let your voices be heard.
When attending the hearings, be sure to testify even if somebody else has already made your point. Numbers count when they total up the public comments. At the Fond du Lac hearing, many people passed up the chance to testify because the points they wanted to make had already been made by others. Don’t pass up the opportunity to speak.
If you ask questions, you still need to testify to get your points in the record. The comments made during the Q & A portion of the public hearing are not recorded and are not part of the official record of feedback to the Natural Resources Board. In Fond du Lac, many more people asked questions than actually testified, and many of those questions were critical of parts of the DNR proposal, either explicitly or implicitly. Those concerns, however, are not automatically made part of the record. People who ask questions must also submit an appearance slip (available at the hearing location) and then formally testify to be sure their comments are recorded. It is the testimony that gets summarized for the Natural Resources Board, not the questions or the commentary that accompanies the questions. Don’t’ just ask questions. Be sure to testify.
Whenever possible, be specific with your recommendations for changes or additions to the rules. It is not enough to stand up and say you are vehemently opposed to the whole proposal. Attacks on the DNR’s integrity and character don’t help our cause. Give specific suggestions for addressing post-release mortality, which is the perceived problem that the Natural Resources Board believes is present. Suggest specific measures using ice and other live-well additives, fast moving weigh-ins, and use of in-water weigh-in technology. Offering proven steps that the tournament community can take to address post-release mortality concerns is helpful. It may also be helpful to question how mandating harvest tournaments, as the DNR proposes, can help reduce mortality. Killing 100 percent of the fish rather than releasing 98 percent of the fish does not seem to be a reasonable solution to this issue. Even using the DNR’s own data the vast majority of the fish released during a tournament will survive to be caught again.
Unless we show up in force at the remaining hearings, the proposed changes will be implemented and tournament anglers and small business owners throughout Wisconsin will pay a heavy price.
In addition to testifying at the hearings, please e-mail Wisconsin Natural Resources Board Chairman Gerald O’Brien at [email protected] and Wisconsin DNR Treaty Fisheries Coordinator Patrick J. Schmalz at [email protected] to express your concerns. Ask how the proposed changes will benefit Wisconsin fisheries, anglers and small businesses, and offer alternative solutions to the perceived problem of post-release mortality.
To review the proposed changes in their entirety, visit
Wisconsinbass.com
We are heading in the right direction, but the fight isn’t over. Please testify at as many of the remaining hearings as possible:
• November 1, La Crosse – 7 p.m., Strzelczyk Great Hall, Cleary Center, UW-La Crosse, 615 East Avenue South.
• November 2, Fitchburg – 7 p.m., Fitchburg Community Center, 5510 Lacy Road.
• November 8, Green Bay – 7 p.m., Auditorium, Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary Nature Center, 1660 East Shore Dr.
• November 9, Sturtevant – 7 p.m., Suite IV, DNR Service Center, 9531 Rayne Road.
• November 14, Spooner – 7 p.m., Spooner Agricultural Research Station, W6646 Highway 70.
• November 15, Rhinelander – 7 p.m., Theater, Nicolet Technical College, County Highway G.
Sincerely,
Charlie Evans
President and CEO, FLW Outdoors