FLATWOODS, W.Va. – A group of West Virginia sportsmen hope to reignite the influence hunters and fishermen enjoyed in the 1990’s under the so called “Camouflage Coalition.” During those years, Sportsmen wielded considerable influence and sway, particularly with lawmakers. Their numbers were daunting and could be rallied to action swiftly when an issue of importance was to be addressed. The same group was also well known to members of the Natural Resources Commission. Leaders of the newly formed coalition believe the influence has waned in recent years, but can be recaptured.
“We’re all sportsmen and we’re all conservationists and experts in our own field. That’s what brings us together today,” said Jerod Harman, former member of the Natural Resources Commission and President of the West Virginia Wildlife Federation. “We may have a lot of different passions that are vast and varied, but we are sportsmen. When you put all the minds in the same room we can accomplish a lot of things.”
Harman led what was described as a Sportsman’s Summit in recent days in Flatwoods. More than 20 individuals representing a number of different groups attended. Along with Harman, the group included former Commissioners Tennis Cook and Greg Burnette. At least four retired DNR employees were in attendance, including Gary Foster the former Assistant Chief for Game Management and Mark Scott the former Assistance Chief of Fisheries. The group included representatives of the West Virginia Bear Hunters Association, West Virginia Deer Hunters Association, National Wild Turkey Federation, and members of Trout Unlimited. There were representatives of the state’s timber industry and outdoor guides and outfitters. One member of the Legislature, Delegate Scot Heckert, was also in attendance.
“Years and years ago, the Wildlife Federation served a really important responsibility in getting positions out to legislators. Bills came up that could be damaging to hunting and fishing, but throughout the state there was a pretty good network with just a few phone calls and word got around. Suddenly there were a whole lot of phone calls coming to Charleston. There’s a real need for that to disseminate information out to make people aware so they can react,” said Foster.
“In order for us to have a unified voice, we have to have a way to share information to know about the others,” said Rodney Greathouse with the International Bowhunting Organization.
Kevin Ware with the West Virginia Bear Hunters Association suggested the need to be on offense instead of always trying to defend what’s in place.
“We have been proactive one time. Every other time we’ve been defensive. If there are things we want done, we have to start prior to the legislative session,” said Ware.
Heckert suggested staying in close contact with lawmakers during their Interim Meetings in the months the Legislature is out of session. The Wood County Delegate suggested speaking with one unified voice is a laudable goal which will get attention.
“If they’re looking at us as a group, I have a lot of like minded colleagues in Charleston and at home. The more we bond together and the more people in each individual group get involved, the stronger the voice will be,” he explained.
“I think the reason a lot of sportsmen are reactive, rather than proactive, is we don’t know anything until bills get dropped, then the reaction begins. We need a way to be proactive by knowing about bills ahead of time,” said former Natural Resources Commissioner Greg Burnette.
Although much of the discussion centered on actions of the Legislature, Harman made it clear the organizational meeting was prompted by the recent appointments to the Natural Resources Commission by Governor Patrick Morrisey.
“There is an outcry of sportsmen who are very upset with the possible lack of knowledge of our new Commissioners. Most of the new Commissioners, I don’t think had ever been to a Commission meeting. They weren’t known sportsmen, they hadn’t led organizations, so we have people making decisions for sportsmen without having the experience necessary. We need to come together as sportsmen to let them know where we stand,” Harman said.
“We’ve had three bear biologists since 1960 or 1970 and they’ve done a great, great job in this state. We need to make sure the Commissioners listen to those biologists,” said Ware.” I know from my side of things, they try to make more opportunities for us to be in the woods. That’s what worries me with the new commissioners is we could lose that.”
“Some people were overlooked because they weren’t going to lean certain ways on certain things. You get appointed if you’re willing to do A, B, C, and D. If you’re going to think on your own, you won’t get appointed,” said Heckert.
“Together we’re going to be a lot better. I was told about four years ago there were some groups you couldn’t get in the same room. Well, here we are, we’re all together as sportsmen. We all buy license and we all have passions,” Harman said.
The group went through the proposed regulations which are to be voted on this Thursday in the spring meeting of the Commission. They plan to pass along the group’s position on each of the suggested game and fish law changes prior to Thursday evening’s vote.