In a letter titled “Back Panter’s Reform of Fish and Wildlife Council” published in the News Transcript on July 11, 2007, political activist Cathy McCartney celebrated a backdoor deal by Democratic machine politician (state Assemblyman) Mike Panter to make political influence the key to the Fish and Wildlife Council as a triumph of “democracy.” How ironic.
Ms. McCartney, it seems, would prefer that decisions about the wildlife of New Jersey be made with a view toward political expediency rather than actual wildlife science.
Assemblyman Panter has determined that the best way to ensure that the Fish and Wildlife Council is managing New Jersey’s natural resources wisely is to remove all the people who actually know something about wildlife science and replace them with political appointees. And while they may not know anything about wildlife, at least they know all about political life in Trenton. Once appointed, they will do what they are told by the people who keep their political bread buttered, and that’s the only thing that Mike Panter thinks should matter for New Jersey wildlife.
In her letter, Ms. McCartney makes the ridiculous claim that “over 99 percent of New Jersey residents support non-lethal wildlife management.” This is either a bold-face lie on her part, or an error so foolish as to invalidate her every claim. Either way, it’s a perfect example of how any idea can be made to look appealing so long as you ignore the costs involved.
In 2006 the state of New Jersey sold resident hunting permits to many times more than 1 percent of residents. So unless hunters are simultaneously willing to pay to support their sport and to also support the statewide abolition of hunting, it’s clear that Ms. McCartney is fabricating facts as she goes. But is there anyone else out there foolish enough to believe that 99 percent of the people will support anything as expensive and ineffective as nonlethal “birth control for deer” if they knew it would involve a tax increase to pay for it?
Then again, an activist like Ms. McCartney would probably do anything she can to keep facts out of the discussion. For instance, according to the New Jersey Department of Transportation, deer were responsible for $38 million in damage during 2001, and since then the estimate has only gone up. With New Jersey’s Wildlife Commission safely in the hands of people worried about toeing the political line instead of acting on sound wildlife management science, and our deer population managed with expensive birth control instead of hunting, that number will be set to skyrocket.
Not only is hunting a perfectly safe way to deal with the widespread overpopulation of deer in New Jersey, but it also generates income for the state rather than putting further strain on the already overburdened taxpayers. But it’s been clear for a long time that the taxpayers are the last people that Mike Panter cares about.
Like most of our feckless and inscrutable politicians in Trenton, he is only interested in doing things for people who will give him some political capital.
Whether they are confirmed liars like Ms. McCartney is irrelevant if it brings him a little more legislative control over people’s lives.
Thomas Costello
Marlboro