A conservation group is asking Gov. Bev Perdue to investigate whether political campaign contributions and influence played a part in how members of the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission got their seats.
The N.C. Wildlife Federation said testimony during the State Board of Elections hearing into former Gov. Mike Easley suggested that former commission member Gary Allen might have offered big donations to the N.C. Democratic Party. in exchange for keeping his seat on the commission, which regulates hunting and fishing.
"If these allegations prove true," said Tim Gestwicki, executive director of the federation, "We call upon Governor Perdue to immediately demand the resignations of any individuals who were appointed under such inappropriate circumstances. She should then appoint duly qualified, representative citizens to serve out any replaced terms."
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Re: Wildlife group wants politics ferreted out
There is growing awareness with various hunting communities in North Carolina that the WRC has veered off track. The current executive director has no background in wildlife management issues, much less a degree in biology. He doesn't hunt, and only started fishing when he began pursuing the job of being director. What hunting experience he has now he gained after becoming director. Whether those hunts were about making nice with fat cats or were inspired by a sudden and previously undetectable love for the sport is open for speculation.
Meanwhile, the current leadership of the Commission are men who are accustomed to bullying their way with money or by citing their friendship with the governor (or powerful kin) as a means of advancing agendas that the biologists who actually care about resource management cannot agree to support.
Maybe no one cares. After all, the demographics in this state are changing and the available land for men and women who can't afford their own vast tracts is shrinking. Or maybe the Wildlife Resources Commission has devolved even as its members have increased because while the increased seats at that table spelled increased donations for the governors, the values that used to support the appointment of men of integrity are no longer part of the current system of state government.