Politics in Conservation
By Bob Randall on Sunday, February 17th, 2019 in Conservation, No Comments
I was just reading a thread in the Trout Unlimited Open Forum about trout stocking plans in the State of Pennsylvania. The interesting thing that caught my eye was that the PA Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) is badly underfunded. They have been in such a contentious argument with the state legislature over whether to raise the license fees that the director of the agency resigned. The PFBC can’t do its job because of politics. That’s why the separation of the Missouri Department of Conservation from the state legislature is so important. Back “in 1935, sportsmen from throughout Missouri came together to form the Conservation Federation of Missouri (CFM). They organized with the purpose of taking conservation out of politics. Their initiative petition campaign resulted in the creation of the Missouri Department of Conservation, a non-political conservation agency that has been a model for other states.”
BTW, the MTFA is a proud affiliate of the CFM. 
“In 1976, CFM spearheaded successful passage of the conservation sales tax to create stable broadbased funding for Missouri’s forests, fauna and fish.” Politicians like to be in control (in the case of the MDC, they’re not), AND THAT IS WHY THERE IS A BILL IN THE STATE LEGISLATURE THAT WOULD CHANGE THE FUNDING MECHANISM FOR THE MDC. You can read more about this and keep up with other proposed legislation that affects conservation at the federal, state, and local levels at the CFM’s Legislative Action Center. You’ll have to sign up (it’s easy to do) or log in to access this information.