CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia’s new DNR Director Steve McDaniel joined me for a conversation on Northside Automotive West Virginia Outdoors Saturday, February 11, 2017. Although on the job only five days, McDaniel was eager to connect with the hunters and anglers of West Virginia.
During our hour-long conversation we touched on a number of topics which are currently on the front burner for hunting and fishing in the state. Here were highlights of our conversation:
BACKGROUND:: When I first heard the name “Stephen McDaniel” as a the governor’s pick to be DNR Director, the most common response was, “Never heard of him.” Tell us about your background.
FLORIDA?: A common remark I have heard form many in learning about you is, “He’s from Florida. How can a guy from Florida know what we need in West Virginia.” I wanted to give you a chance to respond to that concern.
LISTENING TO THE STAFF: This is a high profile job and you’ll face decisions which impact a lot of people in areas where they have passionate feelings. However, you have a wealth of talent and institutional knowledge in the state’s wildlife biologists to guide those decisions. Sometimes those conflict with the desires of sportsmen.. How involved and influential will you be in your staff’s work or do you step back let them do the job they were trained to do?
BUDGET CONCERNS: Like most leaders of state agencies, the budget is a massive concern. The state is basically out of money. Although hunting and fishing programs are largely insulated by dedicated revenue from hunting and fishing license dollars and money from federal excise taxes on hunting and fishing gear, parts of the agency are vulnerable to spending cuts. Specifically the State Parks. I’m sure you’ve had conversations about this. How do you tackle the task?
MARKETING HUNTING AND FISHING: West Virginia has tremendous outdoor adventure opportunities, but in recent years the marketing of the state’s hunting and fishing opportunities have been largely ignored. Will that change?
ELK REINTRODUCTION: Do you like the elk reintroduction your predecessor led and will you be equally enthusiastic about seeing it continue?
BUCK MANAGEMENT: There has been considerable discussion among many on social media about managing the state’s deer herd for trophy bucks. Among those conversations have been discussions about creating antler restrictions or a limit on the number bucks hunters can kill. That’s a controversial subject, but where do you stand?
BOW ONLY COUNTIES: West Virginia has a unique situation in that four of its counties in southern West Virginia are archery hunting only. Although started out of a necessity to preserve a fragile deer population, it has grown into a robust opportunity to kill not only trophy deer, but now bear or wild boar as well. Do you advocate lifting the archery only restriction?
SUNDAY HUNTING: Last November, voters in eleven West Virginia counties voted overwhelmingly in favor of Sunday Hunting on private property. The Division of Natural Resources has always remained neutral on the matter when it has come up in the legislature. Given the strength of that statement by voters in the last election, are you willing to take a position and back legislation which would open up Sunday Hunting statewide in West Virginia in all counties?
HABITAT MANAGEMENT: One of the biggest problems facing the future of hunting in West Virginia is habitat management. Cutting timber on a large scale hasn’t been happening in West Virginia in almost three decades and our forests show the impact with a lack of habitat diversification. Within your capacity and on the lands the DNR controls, will you advocate for improved habitat management and responsible timbering?