And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
Ventura's DNR flap about
more than just Alan Horner
http://www2.startribune.com/cgi-bin/stOnLine/article?thisSlug=GROW24&date=2
4-Jan-99&word=indian&word=indians
Doug Grow / Star Tribune
Gov. Jesse Ventura botched up big time when he
named Alan Horner to be commissioner of the
state's Department of Natural Resources.
So how did our manly governor respond to his
mistake?
He pointed fingers at everyone but his
administration. Ventura blamed the media for
committing the sin of scrutiny, and he bashed
people within the DNR for Horner's numerous
shortcomings. (Did this guy ever step outside
without violating some sort of regulation?)
It's perfectly predictable for Ventura to blame the
media. Pols have been doing it for decades.
But why bash the DNR? Ventura and his
spokesman, John Wodele, say the DNR is in
desperate need of change. They become vague,
however, when they talk about the sort of change
needed.
It appears that, in naming Horner to the position,
Ventura and his minions spent a lot of time
listening to a narrow group of Minnesotans who
see the DNR as their enemy. This bang-bang gang
is made up of a small faction of hunters and
anglers who have just enough vision about
outdoor issues to see to the end of their gun
barrels.
Their leading spokesman is Sen. Bob Lessard,
DFL-International Falls, who had an eight-year
feud with Rod Sando, the progressive who headed
the DNR under Gov. Arne Carlson.
Sando irritated Lessard and his followers by
paying attention to science, not the whims of a
bunch of old boys with guns and fishin' rods.
A few of the so-called outrages committed by
Sando's DNR:
During the brutal winters of 1996 and 1997, the
bang-bang gang wanted the DNR to feed deer in
northern Minnesota. But previously the DNR had
done a study that showed that it was foolish to try
to set up feeding programs. The deer lived in areas
that were inaccessible because of deep snow.
"They [Lessard and other legislators] accused us
of not using common sense," Sando recalled. "I
told those [legislative] committees we could help
those deer if the darned snow wasn't so deep. . . .
We finally said, 'You decide. This is a political
decision. If you want to spend the money to feed
the deer, spend it.' That frustrated them."
Lessard and other northern Minnesota
legislators have been pushing hard for the DNR to
conduct extensive walleye-stocking programs. But
again they ran into Sando and his ilk, who had the
audacity to try to find long-term solutions. Sando
tried to explain that it would be far better policy to
use funds for "ecosystem management" rather
than stocking fish, which mostly would get eaten
by larger fish. Sando's approach pushed the
rational thinking that if lakes are cared for and
harvests limited, the fish will breed naturally. By
ignoring the ecosystem surrounding lakes, no
amount of stocking will matter in the long term.
"They had this circle-the-wagons mentality every
time we came up with something," Lessard
grumbled.
But the biggest thing that put Sando's DNR in
hot water with a small percentage of Minnesotans
was the issue of treaty rights. Under Sando's
leadership, the DNR worked hard to come up with
compromises that would keep peace on the shores
of Lake Mille Lacs. Sando was successful. There
has been peace on the shorelines. But his enemies
accused him of dastardly conspiracies with the
Indians.
How does Ventura fit in all of this?
Clearly, Ventura heard the noise being created by
Lessard and a minority of other Minnesotans
about the failings of the DNR. Horner was
acceptable to the Lessard-led group, though
Lessard denies that he lobbied Ventura on
Horner's behalf. Clearly, though, Horner would
have represented the interests of the bang-bang
gang had he been able to stay in office. A clear
signal of that was that Horner was expected to
name Julie Shortridge as his spokeswoman. She
has worked closely with Lessard and others who
have opposed any sort of compromise with the
Ojibwe.
What Ventura didn't seem to understand is that
the bang-bang gang's anti-DNR sentiment doesn't
represent Minnesotans' feelings.
In June, in preparation for pushing an amendment
that "preserves" hunting and fishing rights for
future generations, an organization called the
Minnesota Outdoor Heritage Foundation hired a
firm to poll Minnesotans about things outdoors.
The results? The DNR that Ventura says is in
such desperate need of change may be the most
trusted government institution in the state. The
poll indicated that 79.4 percent of Minnesotans
had a favorable opinion of the DNR. By
comparison, just 56 percent had a favorable
opinion of the Legislature, 49.8 percent had a
favorable view of the organization Pheasants
Forever, and 38.4 percent had a favorable view of
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
(PETA). <<end excerpt
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Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit)
Unenh onhwa' Awayaton
http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/
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