North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission Executive Director Gordon Myers said a proposed move of public hearings to consider changes in fish and game laws “does not represent a compression in the schedule that would impede public input.”
The WRC will consider moving the traditional January 2011 public hearing to September 2010. The WRC likely will vote on the proposed change at its Dec. 2 meeting in Raleigh.
Some groups and individuals have said that, by moving public hearings five months ahead of their traditional January dates, sportsmen would have less time to consider proposed changes to wildlife and fisheries laws.
Richard B. “Dick” Hamilton, director of the North Carolina Wildlife Federation’s Camouflage Coalition and a former WRC executive director, pointed out the move would mean the September 2010 deer season will start before public hearings would be completed and deer-harvest data for the 2010 season would not be available before season and bag-limit rules for 2011 would be voted on.
The proposed September rules cycle option would have the WRC voting on 2011 deer rules Nov. 3, 2010, two months before the end of the 2010 deer season.
“It’s kinda crazy,” Hamilton said.
But Myers hinted in an e-mail exchange with NorthCarolinaSportsman.com that the “Rules Cycle September Option” will not be a done deal at the Dec. 2 WRC commissioners’ meeting. Some commissioners already have voiced misgivings about this proposed change, according to sources.
“It is very important to note that the ‘September Option’ is one idea for consideration,” Myers wrote in the e-mail exchange. “It is among a range of ideas the Commission is exploring to ensure the rule-making process is as effective as possible. In fact, we are examining options to better engage stake-holders at the front end of the rule-making cycle by conducting regional public-input meetings during February and March.”
However, the September Option was the only schedule presented at the November WRC meeting and didn’t list possible 2010 public-input meetings. It is possible February and March input meetings could be scheduled later by the WRC.
Myers wrote that he was confident the WRC could inform sportsmen about upcoming changes in game and fish laws, even with a new public-hearings schedule. He insisted there was no plan to keep sportsmen in the dark about new proposals.
“Engaging our stake-holders is a priority,” he wrote. “It is through their involvement that we will better understand values, priorities and preferences of the public. Accordingly, we will continue to utilize the public-hearing process in each district and will continue to add enhancements to the hearing process.
“We recognize our obligation to clearly inform stake-holders about changes, and we will be diligent in our efforts. We are in the process of implementing a variety of communication tools in an effort to help our stakeholders stay informed. We have recently made enhancements to our news-release protocols, established an e-mail news update that reaches more than 67,000 stake-holders and we are better utilizing technology, including our Web site, to share information about meetings and proposals.
“I am confident that sportsmen and women would become aware of changes.”
Critics of this plan have noted the proposed public-hearing date changes are a response to what happened in 2009 when almost 20 WRC-approved game-and-fish law changes for the current (2009-10) seasons were delayed by protests at the North Carolina legislature.
Two proposed changes — shaving a week off bow-only season and adding it to muzzleloader deer season, along with allowing blanket use of crossbows — were opposed by North Carolina Bowhunters Association letters sent to the legislative Rules Review Committee. Other proposals, including allowing bowhunting on Sundays, were opposed by other groups.
All delayed proposals will be reconsidered at the 2010 legislative session. But without the Rules Review protests of 2009, these law changes already could have been in place.
They also could have been in place if the WRC had filed them as “temporary” rules at the same time they were filed as permanent rules in 2009. However, the agency didn’t play the “temporary rule” card. Myers wrote that only some of the delayed 2009 proposals could have met “temporary rule” status.
But, he wrote, the WRC now will consider using temporary rules if letters of protest are filed.
“In addition to examining calendar changes and incorporating public input meetings, we are examining the use of temporary rulemaking for those rules that would be eligible,” Myers wrote. “In accordance with (State Statute) 150B-21.1, the Wildlife Resources Commission may adopt temporary rules when immediate adoption is required by the need for the Wildlife Resources Commission to establish any of the following:
a. No wake zones.
b. Hunting or fishing seasons.
c. Hunting or fishing bag limits.
d. Management of public game lands as defined in (General Statute) 113-129(8a).”
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