Director's Message

A Message from Board President Phil Riddle

When wildlife managers actually act in the best interests of wildlife in dealing with everything from habitat threats to enforcement of game laws, they frequently step on some toes. Whether it’s a result of constant attacks by disgruntled citizens and powerful special-interest groups or their relative lack of political clout, today’s wildlife managers are hesitant to speak up. No longer are they able to manage wildlife and habitat with objective science. Regrettably, their decisions are now subjected to considerations of how much money will be lost or gained by profit-motivated special interests.

We all recognize that major environmental conflicts are created by those who have personal gains in mind. Strong nonprofit conservation organizations can help turn the tide by speaking the unspeakable, challenging powerful special interests without fear of repercussions and offering conscientious wildlife and land managers hope for a brighter future for wildlife and the land.

Unfortunately, some conservation nonprofits follow the same path as some agency natural-resource managers, failing to fight for science-driven decisions and compromising with special interests rather than taking a firm stand on what’s right for the resource. It’s understandable: who wants to be labeled radical environmentalists or tree-hugging wackos by powerful industry groups and their supporters? It’s far more comfortable to be one of the "good ol’ boys." But when the good ol’ boys are the ones who defy all sound environmental laws and practices designed to produce a renewable resource base, sides have to be taken.

So the role of nonprofits willing to take on this challenge is not easy but it is simple: they must tell the truth. Government employees can’t successfully confront special-interest groups because an uninformed public and politically controlled agencies won’t give them the support they need. But public apathy generated by ignorance of the issues, no matter how pervasive, will eventually give way to truth-telling, if the facts are given to them in large enough doses. Eventually, citizens will be able to change the politics infecting their resource-management agencies. Until then, nonprofit conservation organizations can take the reins, without fear of losing their jobs or falling from political favor.

Successful nonprofits will challenge bad decisions of natural-resource agencies from a position of strength, in the courts. This is not to say that they shouldn’t try to work within established processes to resolve differences. But until citizen apathy is transformed into public action which challenges profit-motivated good ol’ boys and replaces irresponsible leaders insensitive to the needs of the environment, courts may have to be the battle ground.

Placing the environment in the hands of our current state officials, with enforcement by state agencies, is the kiss of death. There is an ongoing movement, by those contributing most to the degradation of the environment, to remove resource-management authority from federal agencies and give it to local governments. This is not putting the fox in the hen house, it’s dropping the blade on the guillotine.

There can be little doubt that without nonprofit conservation organizations, profit-motivated interests would control and destroy the very things that make Wyoming the state that it is. To suggest that local governments can serve as conduits to show federal agencies what’s important within individual communities and the values of those communities is quite frightening. Their "solutions" will maintain "custom and culture" at all costs. And the costs will be high in the sacrifice of species and taxpayer dollars.

Nonprofits and the public must take a firm stand by insisting that, in some areas of our state, wildlife is more important than customary and traditional resource exploitation. Will getting groups of opponents to sit down and talk accomplish anything? With few exceptions, there is little to be gained by forming consensus groups to address these problems. There can be no meaningful outcome unless all sides possess equal political power. So, nonprofits will have to take a strong stand and utilize the court system where politics is set aside in the interest of justice. The environment and wildlife cannot be compromised for the benefit of special interests.

State and federal agencies charged with managing our natural resources must know that we will hold them accountable when they make decisions based on politics rather than law and science, but they should also know they can count on us for support when they make the right decisions. Too often, we have criticized bad decisions but said little or nothing when good decisions are made, making the latter less appealing to decisionmakers. When they act to protect our natural resources, conscientious resource managers are weary of being attacked by special interests and not getting the support they need — and deserve — from citizens.  After being punished again and again for doing the right thing, it becomes very easy to do the wrong thing to avoid further punishment. By supporting and helping agencies implement and enforce existing laws, rules and regulations, we can also take some of the political heat generated by special-interest groups.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel. Political establishments and profit-motivated interests that have traditionally resisted sound science in favor of unethical and damaging environmental practices are beginning to crumble. It’s happening all around us, but as it is in almost all cases, Wyoming is the last to come around. Nonprofits, supported by legal counsel, dedicated conservation activists and some wildlife and land-management professionals, are beginning to overcome the odds. They are challenging special interests and their government allies in the courts with sound legal and moral arguments. The full light of public and legal scrutiny is starting to  hine, at last, on the operations and motives of those who would sacrifice Wyoming’s irreplaceable natural bounty to the bottom line.

Phil Riddle

(Retired Wyoming Game & Fish Department game warden and regional wildlife supervisor Phil Riddle is WOC’s board president.)