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NAU prof in middle of lion dispute
By HOWARD FISCHER
Capitol Media Services
03/24/2004
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PHOENIX -- Saying her concerns have been ignored, Gov. Janet Napolitano is weighing whether to seek a revamp of the Game and Fish Commission to put the director under her control.
Opponents decried such a move, contending it would politicize wildlife management in the state.
Napolitano said Tuesday the agency has not made the case to her -- or to the public -- that the mountain lions in Sabino Canyon near Tucson pose any sort of danger. She said Game and Fish is pursuing the trapping of up to four lions without having a plan.
She cited the comments of Paul
Beier, a Northern Arizona University professor, who told Capitol Media Services all the evidence he sees so far leads him to believe the lions pose no danger, even though the normally nocturnal hunters were active during daylight hours.
Part of the problem, said Napolitano, is that all she can do is ask questions. That's because she gets to name only one new commissioner a year for a five-year term on the five-member board and cannot force current commissioners to resign.
And the director is hired -- and fired -- by the commission.
"You have to be governor for a long time before a commission is occupied by your appointees," the governor said. She said a change in the system, where she would appoint the agency director and be able to fire that person, may be in order.
"It's certainly something we're going to take a look at, given the difficulty of communicating with Game and Fish over this very sensitive issue," she said.
Napolitano said there are going to be more instances where humans "bump up against wildlife and wildlife habitat." She said that means the state needs "a more reasonable process for how we're going to deal with that" which measures the risks.
"I think what has been demonstrated so far is how not to do it," she said of the agency's efforts.
But Hays Gilstrap, one of the veteran members of the commission, said making the director answerable directly to the governor "politicizes wildlife management."
"Instead of having a wildlife agency (run by a professional) you would have a person that may or may not know anything about wildlife," he said, potentially making the position a patronage appointment.
That assessment is shared by Herb Guenther, currently the director of the state Department of Water Resources, a position that is subject to gubernatorial hiring and firing. But before that, Guenther was a member of the commission, where he weathered an effort in 1995 by then Gov. Fife Symington to engineer a similar move and put the agency until gubernatorial control.
"There's too much temptation to satisfy political constituents by making demands on the department," Guenther said. He said having the director report to the commission ensures that the agency is run "on a scientific basis."
Napolitano said on Tuesday she still lacks the answers she wants and seeks further delay before Game and Fish removes the lions. But she said it would not be her fault if, during a delay, a child is attacked and killed.
"I think if Game and Fish had handled this process correctly from the beginning, we wouldn't be having these kinds of questions," she said. "I think Game and Fish has handled this very poorly."
But Joe Carter, another commission member, said there already has been too much delay. In fact, he still supports the original decision to hunt the lions that have lost their fear of humans, saying this new effort to tranquilize them "is a dangerous mission."
Napolitano continued to chide the commission on Tuesday for first authorizing that up to four "problem" lions be killed and, more recently, that the animals be tranquilized and taken out of the area. She said that new decision was no better than the first one, which she said was made "without working through what all of the ramifications are."
Gilstrap said that is disputed by his agency's own scientists. He said Game and Fish is not trying to rid the area of all mountain lions but simply the few that are acting in ways that suggest they may be stalking humans.
Napolitano also said there was no confirmation of a mountain lion sighting near a school. But Gilstrap said the animal was seen by two adults and even tracked the next day on school ground
By HOWARD FISCHER
Capitol Media Services
03/24/2004
[ write a letter to the editor | email this story ]
PHOENIX -- Saying her concerns have been ignored, Gov. Janet Napolitano is weighing whether to seek a revamp of the Game and Fish Commission to put the director under her control.
Opponents decried such a move, contending it would politicize wildlife management in the state.
Napolitano said Tuesday the agency has not made the case to her -- or to the public -- that the mountain lions in Sabino Canyon near Tucson pose any sort of danger. She said Game and Fish is pursuing the trapping of up to four lions without having a plan.
She cited the comments of Paul
Beier, a Northern Arizona University professor, who told Capitol Media Services all the evidence he sees so far leads him to believe the lions pose no danger, even though the normally nocturnal hunters were active during daylight hours.
Part of the problem, said Napolitano, is that all she can do is ask questions. That's because she gets to name only one new commissioner a year for a five-year term on the five-member board and cannot force current commissioners to resign.
And the director is hired -- and fired -- by the commission.
"You have to be governor for a long time before a commission is occupied by your appointees," the governor said. She said a change in the system, where she would appoint the agency director and be able to fire that person, may be in order.
"It's certainly something we're going to take a look at, given the difficulty of communicating with Game and Fish over this very sensitive issue," she said.
Napolitano said there are going to be more instances where humans "bump up against wildlife and wildlife habitat." She said that means the state needs "a more reasonable process for how we're going to deal with that" which measures the risks.
"I think what has been demonstrated so far is how not to do it," she said of the agency's efforts.
But Hays Gilstrap, one of the veteran members of the commission, said making the director answerable directly to the governor "politicizes wildlife management."
"Instead of having a wildlife agency (run by a professional) you would have a person that may or may not know anything about wildlife," he said, potentially making the position a patronage appointment.
That assessment is shared by Herb Guenther, currently the director of the state Department of Water Resources, a position that is subject to gubernatorial hiring and firing. But before that, Guenther was a member of the commission, where he weathered an effort in 1995 by then Gov. Fife Symington to engineer a similar move and put the agency until gubernatorial control.
"There's too much temptation to satisfy political constituents by making demands on the department," Guenther said. He said having the director report to the commission ensures that the agency is run "on a scientific basis."
Napolitano said on Tuesday she still lacks the answers she wants and seeks further delay before Game and Fish removes the lions. But she said it would not be her fault if, during a delay, a child is attacked and killed.
"I think if Game and Fish had handled this process correctly from the beginning, we wouldn't be having these kinds of questions," she said. "I think Game and Fish has handled this very poorly."
But Joe Carter, another commission member, said there already has been too much delay. In fact, he still supports the original decision to hunt the lions that have lost their fear of humans, saying this new effort to tranquilize them "is a dangerous mission."
Napolitano continued to chide the commission on Tuesday for first authorizing that up to four "problem" lions be killed and, more recently, that the animals be tranquilized and taken out of the area. She said that new decision was no better than the first one, which she said was made "without working through what all of the ramifications are."
Gilstrap said that is disputed by his agency's own scientists. He said Game and Fish is not trying to rid the area of all mountain lions but simply the few that are acting in ways that suggest they may be stalking humans.
Napolitano also said there was no confirmation of a mountain lion sighting near a school. But Gilstrap said the animal was seen by two adults and even tracked the next day on school ground
