Budget cuts mean less Fish.

[Walleye Express]

This is a DNR-All message.

As you know, our continuation budget expires November 1. We continue to work with the legislature and the administration to find a funding solution for our 2008 Department budget. Part of our budget solution was built around the passage of hunting and fishing license fee increases. In meetings that NRC Chair Keith Charters and I have had with the legislative leadership, it is clear that there is little support for passing those fees at this time. Without that revenue or other funding sources, we are looking at deficits in not only game and fish programs but also in other activities across the Department.

In order to be prepared to address those deficits, I have started the process to make significant program cuts beginning as early as November 1, 2007. Attached you will find a document that outlines programs that will be affected.

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Great Lakes, Great Times, Great Outdoors

www.michigan.gov/dnr

DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES FUNDING CRISIS

General Fund reductions and depletion of several of our major restricted funds (Game and Fish Protection Fund, Forest Development Fund and Park Improvement Fund) will require additional and more severe budgetary measures than have been implemented to date.

Since Fiscal Year 2005, DNR has reduced its programs by more than $20 million. These reductions were much more extensive than the list below, but to give you a few highlights, the cutbacks included:

· significant reduction of conservation officers with more than 50 vacant conservation officer positions, resulting in reduced effort in public safety and protecting natural resources, delays in responding to complaints, and little or no officer presence in certain areas of the state

· a 60 percent decrease in production and planting of hatchery Coho for Lake Michigan, resulting in a negative impact on sportfishing and the charter boat industry

· fewer wildlife population surveys and reduced bovine TB and CWD monitoring, compromising the Department’s ability to manage wildlife populations and monitor for diseases, which increases the risk for a disease to become established and endanger wildlife populations

· fewer fire officers and reduction in fire equipment replacement, jeopardizing wildfire protection

· a decrease in timber marking as a result of not filling vacant positions and decreased disease monitoring compromising the health of our forests

· decreased staffing and maintenance of facilities in our state parks and recreation areas and eliminating all non-emergency trail repairs

Without the prospect of license fee adjustments to offset structural deficits in the Game and Fish Protection Fund projected at $2.5 million in Fiscal Year 2008 and $13 million in fiscal year 2009, or finding resolution to address additional deficits in the Forest Development and Park Improvement Funds, drastic reductions to programs and staff will occur. Listed below are the additional program cuts, by fund, that will be implemented beginning November 1, 2007.

General Fund

Reduction of $1.05 million

Reduction of 12 staff

The Department will implement the following reductions:

· Closure of state forest campgrounds, pathways, cross country ski trails

This reduction will increase the number of closed state forest campgrounds from 20 to 22 and elimination of all pathways. These closures will result in a significant decrease in recreational opportunities which will impact local economies that depend on the tourism generated through these activities.

· Reduce disease surveillance for bovine tuberculosis

This reduction would result in the loss of the TB accreditation level currently awarded the state. This will have a significant impact on the cattle industry. Monitoring for chronic wasting disease, avian influenza, West Nile, etc. will be greatly reduced increasing the health risks for wildlife and humans.

· Elimination of general conservation law enforcement by conservation officers

Conservation officers will not be allowed to address general conservation law violations which will degrade public lands such as game areas, state forests, state parks, etc.

Game and Fish Protection Fund

Reduction of $6.2 million

Reduction of 58 staff

· Close 2 fish hatcheries

Loss of 1.2 M coho, 1.9 M Chinook salmon, 845,000 brown trout, and 485,000 rainbow trout. The economic impact of these reductions will be monumental as fishing boosts the state’s economy by $2 billion annually.

· Eliminate remaining fish surveys (creel clerks)

Angler harvest data will not be collected and is therefore not available to use to assist in the management of the state’s fisheries resources. This will also eliminate the ability to evaluate ports across the state for compliance with the 2000 Tribal Consent Decree.

· Close research station

Eliminate the ability to evaluate and make management recommendations on inland coldwater fisheries including trout rivers streams and lakes negatively affecting fishing opportunities.

· Eliminate university research and reduce fish health activities

Opportunities will be lost to respond to current disease issues.

· Eliminate use of Great Lakes research vessels

Twenty five years of continuous data collection on harvest mortality and fish health would end compromising our ability to adjust harvest regulations and hatchery stocking programs.

· Reduce conservation officers

This will result in increased illegal activity such as poaching, increased accidents and injuries due to violations of hunter safety regulations and reckless operations of ORV, boats, snowmobiles, etc. Remaining conservation officers will be at greater risk due to the lack of backup, increased response time, etc.

· Reduction in emergency dispatch for conservation law violations

Emergency dispatch will not be available from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

· Closure of managed waterfowl areas

Loss of over 28,300 acres of hunting areas. This equates to 300 days of lost hunting opportunity. Hunting alone annually brings in $1.3 billion to Michigan’s economy.

· Translocation of nuisance animals

Nuisance bear and geese will no longer be moved. Over 6,000 geese have been removed in Southeast Michigan resulting in greater wildlife-human conflict and disease concerns.

· Office closures and elimination of presence in field offices

Forest Development Fund

Reduction of $1 million

Reduction of 9 staff

Additional reductions are necessary if $1 million is transferred to the Michigan Department of Agriculture for conservation districts. As these reductions are implemented and affect future revenue, the need for further reductions will compound. Fiscal Year 2008 reductions will be as follows:

· Reduction in timber marking, regeneration, planning

This will negatively impact the amount of timber that is marked, regenerations efforts, oil and gas reviews, use permits and leases, recreation, planning, forest certification and fire response, which will negatively affect tourism and a $13 billion timber industry in the state.

· Elimination of natural features inventory reviews

Loss of forest certification will likely negatively impact the state’s ability to sell timber reducing state revenues.

Park Improvement Fund

Reduction of 253 staff

Infrastructure conditions continue to deteriorate. To address the structural deficit in the Park Improvement Fund, the Department will cease taking reservations in April 2008 for at least 37 state parks, which will close during Fiscal Year 2009. Reductions will be implemented in Fiscal Year 2009 as follows:

· Closure of at least 37 state parks and recreation areas and scenic sites

This reduction will affect millions of visitors annually, eliminating many opportunities for our customers to experience the outdoors through either day use or overnight stays. These closures will also negatively affect local communities who depend on the economic stimulus provided by the state parks. Visitors to our state parks contribute more than $580 million annually to Michigan.

· Closure of 8 interpretative centers

Closure of the interpretative centers will result in the loss of a critical educational opportunity to inform the public about conservation practices, stewardship, and natural resources management.

10/22/07

[JWheeler]

I wonder with all of these cuts being made and the impact it will create not only on local communities but Michigan tourism industry as a whole, if some private firm, sportsmans club, any association with interest in these areas will help try to pick up the slack. Meaning that, could this be better served by being run by the private sector? The thought I am having here is, that monies raised for fishing would go directly to the fishery. Not just the fishing, but hunting waterfowl, I mean everything. There wouldn't be the political crap that goes along with State & Fed. Government overseeing things. Things would be totally different, but is change the worst thing here. If something doesn't change and we continue down the road to cutting as much as we can, we as sportmen and women of Michigan stand to lose a lot!!!

[Priority1]

W.T.H. are they going to do with the extra license fees they will collect next yr? Give the politicians enough rope, and they will belly up this great state. What needs to be cut is their HUGE benefit package, and put them all on part time.

[Walleye Express]

Wheeler.

I'm agreeing with you whole heartedly on this subject. Back a few years ago when both our walleye club and MSSFA wanted to volunteer and do more in all the fish harvesting, raising and planting categories we were politely turned down in most cases other then harvesting pond fingerlings for planting, or box raising and feeding a few salmon or steelhead in area club rivers or marinas, saying or suggesting in all istances that the DNR professionals could do a better job. I'm sure they could when scientific technicality versus simply compitent labor came into play. But I always figured one professional from the DNR could simply direct any small volunteer crew, and both time and money could be saved to release other DNR personnel to do other things in other places. I got permission a couple early springs in a row to help Biologist take walleye eggs at the Dow Spillway. That was because one of my better long time friends was that regions Biologist. I was treated civilly but not what I'd call respectfully, and more like a spy for my efforts by the (All high paid Professional) DNR crew that were there that day. I would personally volunteer some of my own down time again now to do creel surveys or other easy (non technical) tasks at a few local ramps around the Saginaw Bay if given the chance. And I'm sure others all up and down the great lakes shorelines would as well. Not really sure how to convey that message to the DNR now though, or rather doing so at this time would set a new (unwanted in the long run) precident or bruse any professional egos for even considering or allowing it. But the time for all DNR (Job security) issues is long past now with this budget crises looming.

[Walleye Express]

Dan:

This raises a lot of good questions. I think we (the DNR) definitely need the involvement of the public right now in helping to resolve the pending budget crisis. However, the way they could help the most is to advocate with the legislature for inclusion of the DNR in general fund appropriations and to simply pass the license fee increase bill. As it appears right now, the legislature is not only omitting the DNR from sharing in any of the new revenue being raised by their tax increases, but we are hearing that they are further more saying that they will not pass the license fee increase any time soon. This is the source of the budget crisis in the DNR. The simple fact is that you cannot run a natural resource agency without dollars. The DNR actually enjoys considerable public support (for our mission). We are a "quality of life" agency and nearly all citizens benefit from this. We have a long history of being user supported and we ask little of the general fund. Yet hunting and fishing and other outdoor activities generate billions of dollars in economic activity in the state and many hundreds of millions of tax revenue, yet none makes it back to the DNR for game and fish support. We either need general fund support or a license fee increase. Its that simple. Here are some startling statistics; Michigan is responsible for the stewardship of more water (coastal and inland) than any other state in the country, twice as much as the next closest state, 14 times the average state. Yet, Michigan spends just $0.95/acre of water while the national average is $15.80/acre. See the attached PowerPoint for these stats and graphics. We are woefully underfunded by national standards. The current budget short fall is $2.5 million and with no license fee increase (by 2010) the short fall will be $40 million. This is a turning point for the DNR. If our funding situation isn't modernized, the future Department will be unrecognizable by what we know today.

In regards to your idea and question of using volunteers in lieu of DNR personal, I would say a few points: First our experience is that while many are enthusiastic to volunteer, when the time comes, only a hand full will actually show, and of those some have to leave early, etc etc. Day two many discover that our work has elements of hard physical labor, the weather is often inclement, the novelty wears off fast and the work becomes tedious and laborious. Day three, no one shows up. You can't plan field projects not knowing what your personnel resources are. For example, creel survey interviews are admittedly not terribly hard to do but the data recording does have to go into an electronic PDA device and it can be finicky. Secondly, there is science behind the creel survey design and to be statistically valid (usable) certain criteria have to be met. This shifts have to be 8 hours long. Often there are few to interview still the clerk has to remain. Boredom is a real challenge in this job. Then many of these shifts have to start as early as 6 am. Many have to start later but don't end until 10 PM. Then we need these shifts covered 5 days a week. We also need air flights to do the pressure counts. Those are expensive. There are liability issues too. To pull off a statistically valid creel survey on Saginaw Bay we have 5 full time clerks working a total of 8,667 hours/yr. Say you can find volunteers to give 8 hours a week for 10 months out of the year (very hard to do I would suspect) you would need 108 such volunteers.

Probably 80% of our work is not field work. It is desk work, working on computers, doing analysis, writing reports, attending meetings, representing the state. Volunteers simply can't do that sort of work for obvious reasons. Still, I agree that there are times and places that volunteers can and have been a big help. We regularly use volunteers with our walleye pond program. The Chinook net-pen operations, and many others. It has to be a right fit however. These programs have to be designed and nurtured over time consistently working with specific clubs or organizations. I regret if any stakeholder volunteer was ever treated with anything less than respect by a person with the DNR. It should never be that way, I can only say that frustration is running high amongst employees right now. We are all eager to do our jobs but are being stymied by a lack of financial resources. Michigan spends less on its Fisheries resources (management and research) than any other state in the country on a per water acre basis. While we have more staff than many other states, we have far far more resources to be responsible for. I encourage clubs, lake associations, and user groups to contact their legislators and call on them to fully fund the DNR and not let the revenue needs of our states precious resources fall between the cracks. Put another way, this is not about the DNR, it about our natural resources, our heritage, and our quality of life in Michigan. That's what's at stake. These things have ranked high in Michigan's priorities for centuries. If we don't act now, ours will be the first generation to fail to meet the standards established by all the Michiganders who have come before us.

[Walleye Express]

Here is Your Chance to TAKE Action: Call Today

We have less than a week before the state must finalize its FY 2008 budget

Severe Program Cuts Announced for Game and Fish Programs

Michigan’s hunting and fishing heritage in jeopardy- Call your legislator today!

Your help is needed immediately! On November 1, 2007, a new fiscal year will begin. Without hunting or fishing license fee increase or support from another funding source, Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources has announced the following cuts in Game and Fish Programs:

· Close two fish hatcheries

· Eliminate remaining fish surveys

· Close fisheries research station

· Eliminate university research and reduce fish health activities

· Eliminate the use of Great Lakes research vessels

· Reduce conservation officers by 14 and not fill 20 vacancies

· Reduce hours of operation for the Report All Poaching Hotline

· Close managed waterfowl areas

· Close field offices

· Stop translocation of nuisance Canada geese and bear

While MUCC is concerned about what is included on this list by the DNR, we are even more concerned about the dismantling of our conservation heritage. These cuts will be made and all of us fully understand the significant damage that they will cause on our hunting and fishing programs. While a long-term sustainable funding mechanism is needed, an increase in the hunting and fishing license fees can be part of that solution and will help to avoid these drastic cuts.

Action:

Please call your legislator today and tell them to fix this problem! In addition, call the following four people who control the DNR’s budget and tell them that these cuts are unacceptable and that the DNR’s budget deficit must be fixed. Remind them that hunters and anglers have invested in our great outdoors and because of this investment, we have hunting and fishing opportunities unmatched by any other state. We want these opportunities to continue. We stand ready to invest in wildlife and fisheries management through a license fee increase.

Speaker of the House Andy Dillon: 888-737-3455 (toll-free)

Representative Michael Lahti: 888-663-4031 (toll-free)

Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop: 877-924-7467 (toll-free)

Senator Michelle McManus: 866-305-2135 (toll-free)

[Walleye Express]

Got a few E-mail addresses as well.

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

This may (in the long run) effect all you tournament and regular guys who fish in Michigan as well.

[JWheeler]

W.E.

Appreciate the follow ups!!

[JWheeler]

Called your numbers listed above. They informed me that they are being swamped with phone calls on this issue. That is good, means that there are a lot of people disgusted with this.

Good Job

[Walleye Express]

Called your numbers listed above. They informed me that they are being swamped with phone calls on this issue. That is good, means that there are a lot of people disgusted with this.

Good Job

Everyone who calls has my praise. We can disagree about a lot of things on these boards, even dislike some different pesonality types (mine comes to mind). But by God we all love what we have here in this state and if a simply phone call or an E-mail is to much to do, better get a golf membership in the coming years, because the fishing and hunting might start to get a lot tougher.

[Priority1]

Thanks for the all the info Dan. Every sportsman in the state should be on this.

[Walleye Express]

October 30, 2007

Dear Capt. Manyen:

Thank you for contacting me to express your concern over proposed cuts in the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). I share your concern for our state's natural resource heritage I appreciated hearing from you.

Recently, the DNR put forward a list of reductions that would have taken effect in the event that the legislature and Governor failed to come to an agreement on the 2008 budget. "I am happy to report that the Senate and House of Representatives adopted House Bill 4354, which contains the 2008 DNR budget, on Tuesday, October 30, 2007". It is currently awaiting the Governor's signature and it is anticipated that she will approve the bill.

Under the legislation, funding was provided for the threatened programs. Details on the contents of HB 4354 are available on www.michiganlegislature.org.

Once again, thank you for contacting me.

Sincerely,

Michelle A. McManus

State Senator

35th District

[JWheeler]

I too received the same e mail today. I guess they heard we were pissed!!