Periodically, the legislature decides it wants to manage hunting and fishing, oblivious to the headaches it will bring upon itself.
In 31 years as a journalist and a former employee of two state wildlife management agencies, I have learned that most fish or wildlife related proposals are 50-50 propositions. Half of the people support any one issue, and half of the people oppose it. That means half of an active and motivated constituency is alternately, but perpetually, unhappy.
That's a no-win situation for an elected official, but we've also learned that anytime politics enters the realm of resource management, the resources suffer.
That's why Arkansas voters enacted Amendment 35 in 1945. Arkansans deeply value sustainable game and fish resources, and Amendment 35 entrusts their stewardship to professionals.
The wisdom of this arrangement is indisputable. Some states have better hunting, and others have better fishing, but for both, Arkansas is one of the best.
Naturally, people sometimes get unhappy when they don't get their way with the Game and Fish Commission, especially when a new regulation gets inside somebody's wallet.
That appears to be driving the legislature's latest interest in influencing the Game and Fish Commission's regulatory process.
As reported in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on Wednesday, the Arkansas Legislative Council wants to review and approve the Game and Fish Commission's proposed rules.
On Wednesday, Jim Goodhart, the Game and Fish Commission's legal counsel, said the agency already sends its proposed regulations, or rules, to the Secretary of State. It also posts them on its website and advertises them in the Democrat-Gazette, where they also are disseminated editorially.
In the spirit of openness and transparency, Goodhart said if the Legislative Council wants its own copy, the agency will be happy to oblige.
To steal a line from former University of Arkansas, Fayetteville basketball coach Nolan Richardson, Ray Charles could see that this is about more than information.
Striped bass fishing guides opposed a regulation the AGFC passed Thursday restricting the transportation of live-caught bait between different water bodies. The commission supported its staff's recommendation, so the guides called their legislators.
On Aug. 15, state representatives Grant Hodges (R-Rogers), Mary Bentley (R-Perryville), Charlene Fite (R-Van Buren), Dan Douglas (R-Bentonville), Bruce Cozart (R-Hot Springs), Matt Pitsch (R-Fort Smith), Mickey Gates (R-Hot Springs), Laurie Rushing (R-Hot Springs) and Les Warren (R-Hot Springs), along with state senators Lance Eads (R-West Fork), Gary Stubblefield (R-Branch), Terry Rice (R-Waldron), Allan Clark (R-Hot Springs), Bill Sample (R-Hot Springs) and Scott Flippo (R-Bull Shoals), sent a letter on House of Representatives letterhead listing eight objections about the regulation.
Seven objections cited the economic impact the regulation might have on charter anglers. Not one addressed the health and sustainability of the resource, which the regulation is intended to protect.
The eighth item said, "We feel the Arkansas General Assembly has not had the opportunity to adopt legislation that could address this issue by statute. A delay will give us the opportunity to make needed changes to state law to assist the commission in achieving the objectives of the proposed regulations."
That's an in-your-face challenge to the Game and Fish Commission's regulatory authority. Goodhart and Jeff Crow, the AGFC's director, interpret the latest request to approve regulations accordingly.
"Our response to that was we were concerned that it crossed over a line that perhaps the legislature could be inserting themselves into the regulatory process," Crow said. "We respectfully declined to send those out because they were not consistent with Amendment 35."
The AGFC has an impressive record in court, where this conflict seems to be headed.
"That's obviously something that the commission is going to have to decide," Crow said, "but the legislature overtly becoming involved in the regulation approval process would not be consistent with our understanding of Amendment 35."
In 2012, the commission vigorously debated whether to appeal its lawsuit with the Corps of Engineers over timber damage at Black River Wildlife Management Area to the U.S. Supreme Court. It was a classic Faustian bargain. Accept a lucrative one-time settlement from the Corps and forfeit its right to future litigation, or risk millions of dollars and credibility to redress a consistent pattern of abuse from a seemingly unbeatable opponent.
The commission voted 4-3, against the advice of then-director Loren Hitchcock, to appeal. Goodhart and the commission won Arkansas Game and Fish Commission v. United States (the landmark Black River decision) against what legal sources said were overwhelmingly long odds.
The legislature might carefully consider its latest infatuation with game and fish matters. The vote probably won't be that close again.
Sports on 09/24/2017