Opinion - The Baraboo News Republic is reporting today that Wisconsin State Parks could be opened to more hunting.  The opening line of the article states, “Voters in Sauk County and elsewhere overwhelmingly supported a proposal to allow trapping and hunting in state parks during last week’s statewide fish and wildlife rule hearings.”  The problem of course, is that these “Voters in Sauk County and elsewhere” are a minority within a minority.  These are folks who attend such hearings specifically because they have an agenda in one direction or another.  They are not, as the casual reader of this article may suppose, voters as a whole, but select, activist voters. In the case of Wisconsin State Parks, this is an important distinction.

First let me say I’m not opposed to hunting in the parks. Yet, as a frequent park user I am aware of the restrictions put on hikers, bikers and other park users when hunting is allowed.  (Our local park, Devil’s Lake State Park, does allow limited hunting in some areas.) The trick is balancing everyone’s desires as much as possible while serving the best interests of the park as a whole. In reading the article I was struck by what I thought should have been some rather obvious questions that could have given balance and fleshed out such a headline as, “State parks could be opened to hunters”.   First, how many “Voters in Sauk County” actually voted? What percentage of county voters do these hearing attendees or “voters” represent?  How about on a statewide level? Who uses the parks most often and in the largest numbers, hunters or recreational users such as hikers, climbers, campers, cyclists etc.?  Are the majority of park users local residents or tourists from outside the county or state? If as I suspect local users and hearing attendees are a small minority of regular park users (certainly in our area), then how much influence should they actually have in such decisions?  I assume no more than the percentage of folks they actually represent. Public hearings are great in that they allow anyone with a concern to step up and try to sway government opinion but they are rarely representative of the public as a whole.

Now this brings up the most obvious question, “What percentage of actual park users, those most effected by such rulings, support more hunting and trapping in the parks?”  Shouldn’t we ask ALL the folks who use the parks regularly? It would certainly be easy enough. Why don’t we hand out a quick survey or ballot to everyone who buys a Wisconsin Park Sticker, Bike Pass or reserves a campsite?  You wouldn’t get responses from everyone, but certainly you will overwhelm the number of those who voted on this recent resolution. Let’s then compare numbers and opinions again. If the majority support more hunting so be it, but you know where this is going… Chances are that if you asked the majority of folks who actually frequent Wisconsin State Parks  rather than the attendees of “Fish and Wildlife rule hearings”, you may find you get another result entirely.  Sometimes a little context is a good thing. (Before things are put to a vote that actually effects us all.)

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