The N.C. Bowhunters Association and members of the state Wildlife Resources Commission have been in a feud about access to meetings.
The bowhunters group, which has about 1,400 members, wants to be assured of access to the commission's committee meetings. Commission members and staff have previously said that those committee meetings are not covered by the state open meetings law and that committee chairmen have the discretion to invite visitors.
But the commission has apparently now reversed itself. A person who has submitted public comments to the commission forwarded an e-mail message sent Thursday to "Wildlife Stakeholders," in which commission chairman Wes Seegars said that all committee meetings will be announced publicly.
It's at those committee meetings, said Ramon Bell, president of the bowhunters association, where the decisions are really made.
"When they have these committee of the whole meetings and commission meetings, generally, they just have a show of hands. It's not really a meeting," Bell said. "It's already pretty much engraved in stone at that point."
Seegars could not be reached Friday.
Earlier this week, Seegars told The Insider, a state government news service, that he only tried to make association members understand that some of their tactics damaged their credibility. "Anytime we had a disagreement with them, they would take it personally," Seegars told The Insider. "They have been incensed over this stuff and I don't know why."
More after the jump.
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The commission sets the rules that govern hunting and fishing in the state. Bell said the flap began in July when a subcommittee of the commission began considering changes to the three deer hunting seasons — bow, gun and muzzleloader. The proposal at the time was to extend gun season to overlap with bow season statewide.
The association's members got wind of the preliminary proposal and Bell distributed the commissioners' contact information to his members.
Members apparently flooded the commission with letters and messages.
In March, Betsy Foard, a commission staff member told Bell in an e-mail exchange that only full commission meetings would be announced to the public. Foard could not be reached Friday.
Comments
Wildlife Commissioners and Perdue
April 13, 2009 - 6:08pm — Isaac136You can't vote them out of office but you can contact the politicians who appointed them and tell them what you think about it.
The commissioners mentioned in the magazine article are the governor's appointees.
Re: Commission, bowhunters in feud
April 13, 2009 - 3:54pm — mountainmanCould the sportsmen of this state ban together and vote these jerks out of office??? I mean democrats,republicans and independents standing together with one voice. We have had these same politicians in raliegh for way to long. They have got so rotten and corrupt, they think they know longer anwser to the people. How they keep getting elected is a mystery to me. Come guys we can change this!!!!
Re: 5 reasons why you might be a wildlife commissioner
April 13, 2009 - 2:03pm — j1c2kpRobinhood, 5 reason list is so true. Just politics as usual in NC. Look at the DOT board, college trustee boards, etc. Just who you know babe.
5 reasons why you might be a wildlife commissioner
April 13, 2009 - 12:22pm — robinhoodYou might be a wildlife commissioner if:
1. You have a Marc Basnight tattoo.
2. The governor on your outboard is Bev Perdue.
3. Your favorite charity is the NC General Assembly.
4. Your hunting license is a $100 bill.
5. Your daddy's first name is Senator.
Alleged Abuse by Wildlife Resources Commission
April 11, 2009 - 9:33am — Isaac136What the Dome doesn't mention is the "rest of the story" carried by North Carolina Sportsman magazine online, which reports the allegations made by three witnesses to Wes Seegars' referring to his political influence with the governor to try to discourage the Bowhunters' opposition. The magazine also referred to statements by one of the bowhunters that another of the commissioners, the son of a senator, called him to point out his political pull with his "daddy" and the governor by way of indicating the power the commission had to thwart any opposition mounted by the bowhunters.