I posted this on another thread in the General Forum, but I feel compelled to post it here as well.
How about some legislation that prevents individuals from profitting from the sale of big game tags? True conservation organizations are filled with unpaid volunteers that give of their time, energy and even their wealth to support the conservation efforts. The unsung heroes of wildlife management. Some people have tapped into this segment of society to take advantage of the money that is generated for their own personal benefit.
The profiteers use the same model as a couple of other businesses. Take a good cause where a lot of hardworking, honest volunteers are making a difference, like the care and feeding of orphans. Thousands of volunteers give of their time and money to help children all over the world without the expectation of financial reward. Who can turn down the teary face of an emaciated orphan pleading for food? Along comes the profiteer, sees a good thing and starts his racket. The naive and unsuspecting donate and the profiteer funds just enough to appear legitimate and pockets the rest. Or another of my favorite scams, churches. Church A asks the membership to pay tithes, give other offerings and fund special programs. No one in the church is paid, they are all volunteers with no expectation of financial gain. They are interested in performing the Lord's work. All of the proceeds go toward the advancement of the church, helping widows and orphans, disaster relief and feeding the poor. Church B is run by a profiteer. He provides a place for his parishioners to worship collects the same monies, but that's where the similarities end. He pays a franchise fee to the national organization and keeps the rest to pay for his big house on the hill.
In my opinion, the guys that make money off the backs of starving orphans, posing as a man of God, or posing as a conservationist are all the same. They took something good and worthwhile and perverted it for their own benefit.
What started out as a worthwhile program for wildlife conservation, as Tony pointed out, has now been perverted. Sportsmen and G&F organizations in other states see $76 million being raised and think of all the good that money could do. What they fail to recognize is the risk of the profiteers waiting in the wings to sieze their chance. Sportsmen throughout the west need to be vigilant, demand accountability, and refuse to be lulled by the "at least they do some good" mentality. We can make a difference and see the money gets into the right hands.
No one will agrue the merits of working on behalf of the welfare of wildlife. The problem is the business model of SFW, what it has done to conservation efforts throughout the west, and how it undermines the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation.