[BCNnet] Fw: Proposed changes in IDNR Conservation Police

[Alan Anderson]

Changing the subject a bit to a statewide issue,  Dale Bowman's column today
in the Chicago Sun-times discusses a proposed change in how the Illinois
Department of Natural Resources would 'police' state parks and refuges.
It might have a large effect on how 'fish and wildlife' laws and regulations
are enforced, or how well they are 'able' to be enforced.

Alan Anderson, casresearch@comcast.net, Des Plaines, Cook Co.

----- Original Message ----- 

Subject: Proposed changes would leave outdoorsmen in cold


> http://www.suntimes.com/output/outdoors/cst-spt-out14.html
>
>
> Proposed changes would leave outdoorsmen in cold
>
> January 14, 2004
>
>
> Stupid season has opened in Springfield.
>
> According to sources inside and outside the state capital, Gov.
Blagojevich
> plans to gut the Illinois Conservation Police and merge it into the
Illinois
> State Police and to move staffing at state parks and state fish and
wildlife
> areas from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to Central
> Management Services. The announcements are expected Thursday.
>
> These plans must be shot down by a coalition of traditional hunting and
> fishing groups and non-consumptive groups such as the Sierra Club and the
> Audubon Society.
>
> "Those are rumors; there is nothing to back them up,'' said Abby
Ottenhoff,
> the governor's spokeswoman.
> On the contrary, a veteran site superintendent said. He said the plans are
> already in motion.
> "I don't understand how it would work,'' he said. "If I need somebody, am
I
> going to have to get him from 20 miles away?''
> The plan was hatched by deputy governor Bradley Tusk, according to a
> Springfield source, who added, "[People] need to not only say 'No' but
> 'Hell, no.' Maybe it will let them back out of it gracefully, if you get
to
> them early.''
> Ways to contact Blagojevich and to find and contact your legislators are
> listed below. This is something that needs to be done immediately.
>
> It has been a lousy stretch for Blagojevich and the IDNR.
>
> The latest political maneuvering came Monday. Tony Mayville, who joined
the
> IDNR as manager of mine safety and training in March, miraculously was
> appointed director of the Office of Land Management and Education. His
chief
> qualification, apparently, was his role as the Democratic chairman of
> Washington County.
>
> The respected Tim Hickmann is back managing day-to-day operations of the
> state parks as manager of the Division of Land Management.
> Morale-busting stunts such as that make anything believable under
> Blagojevich.
>
> "[Merging the Conservation Police] will absolutely kill fish and wildlife
> enforcement,'' one senior IDNR staffer said. "The priority will be drugs
and
> traffic.''
> "God, I heard of that 20 years ago,'' another veteran IDNR staffer in
> Springfield said. "A lot of folks would sure hope they aren't doing
that.''
>
> Nothing against drug enforcement or traffic control, but I want my CPOs in
> the field enforcing game and fish laws. Illinois is already disastrously
> understaffed in terms of CPOs.
> One scenario has the CPO force being gutted and semi-replaced by state
> police. That's backward. CPOs already do the traditional state police
> training (and generally rank at the top of the class), then undergo
> significant additional training in conservation policing.
>
> Considering the problems we have in the Chicago area (one CPO per 800,000
> residents) in getting a basic CPO presence with a dedicated force, imagine
> if we depended on state police for that service.
> The whispers seem very plausible. Tusk became a political wunderkind in
New
> York by centralizing services after 9/11. But Illinois is not New York.
>
> "It is crazy,'' one staffer said. "I don't know what they're thinking.''
>
> To voice your opinion to Blagojevich, e-mail governor@state.il.us, call
> (217) 782-0244 or write Office of the Governor, 207 State House,
> Springfield, IL 62706. To find your legislators, go to www.elections.
> state.il.us/dls/pages/DLSAddress crit.asp.
>