In Texas, it is the occurrence that is the bane of hunters that comes only once every other year. During the four month season, hunting and fishing finds itself in the Texas Capitol building in Austin. Many hunters are unaware of the impact of the legislature on their activities. There can be special interest groups or politician mandates. There are also budget restrictions placed upon the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, which sets a upper cap on the amount of money that the legislature can spend in a year.
In the Texas House, there are a few misunderstandings on where the committee assignments are after the election of Joe Straus to the post of House speaker. This has given hope to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, as nothing has cut into their budget so far. However, it is too early in the game to be able to tell what will occur. The TPWD staff heads to the capitol, not to lobby (which is against the rules) but will provide testimony on the bills that will impact their budget, or the natural resources of the state in general. There have not been any sort of bills that deal with the natural wild life or fisheries, but there is one hot topic that has kept the TWPD on edge. The TWPD is going through what is known as the Sunset Revue, where its necessity and performance are evaluated and a determination is made as to whether or not to keep the department and if they keep it, how to improve it.
Now the TWPD has seen good days and bad, almost all of which was tied to their bookkeeping methods and such. Now that it dealt with, it looks that the TWPD will breeze through the review this time around. The committee overseeing the TWPD review has raised a concern over the invasion of aquatic plant species into this state, which the TWPD is putting millions of dollars and a large number of man hours, along with other agencies, towards the problem. The number one threat is the giant salvinia, but the hydrilla and water hyacinth are also a threat. The biggest issue behind this invasion is that there is a list of prohibited plants for aquarium and water garden usage, but it fluctuates too slowly to match what is going on. The solution is to switch to an approved plant list, where anything not on the list will require special approval.
Hunters will have to face the same consequences as some one with a speeding ticket, when the TWPD joins a 30 state license compact. What will occur is that out of state hunters who violate game laws, as well as Texas hunters in other states, will suffer a more severe penalty. The result is that wardens confronting a violation will have to present them to a Justice of the Peace for processing. A warden can write a ticket and send the hunter along, and if they fail to correspond, their license in Texas and in their home state may get revoked. This all includes the quarter of a million fisherman and 70 thousand hunters from Texas who travel out of state.
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Originally posted 2009-03-04 14:58:04. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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