Friday, October 30, 2009
Aiming for votes: Deeds, McDonnell tackle questions on the Virginia outdoors
Mark Taylor
Mark Taylor's Outdoors column and notebook appears regularly in The Roanoke Times.
Recent columns
Creigh Deeds and Bob McDonnell recently spoke with Roanoke Times outdoors reporter Mark Taylor about some key outdoors-related issues Virginia's next governor may face.
Q: You are on record as supporting a piecemeal lifting of the ban on Sunday hunting. What do you see as the advantages of such an approach over a statewide policy.
Q: Virginia’s management of menhaden has been criticized by some as encouraging exploitation of the important coastal forage species. How familiar are you with the menhaden issue and what is your position on the current management system?
Q: What do you see as the most critical threat to outdoors recreation, not only hunting and fishing, but so-called non-consumptive activities such as hiking, biking, paddling, etc.?
Q: You are on record as supporting a piecemeal lifting of the ban on Sunday hunting. What do you see as the advantages of such an approach over a statewide policy.
Q: What is your opinion on the so-called right-to-retrieve law that allows unarmed hunters to go onto private land to get their dogs even if that land is posted? Do you feel the current law is sufficient?
Q: What do you see as the most critical threat to outdoors recreation, not only hunting and fishing, but so-called non-consumptive activities such as hiking, biking, paddling, etc.?
Q: What more could Virginia do to capitalize on its natural resources, while also protecting those resources?
Democrat Creigh Deeds
Q: Talk about your personal connection the
outdoors.
A: I grew up in Bath county. I know that I was
wetting a line and learning to fire a rifle before I went to school.
I grew up in the country. I’m not athletic. So in the afternoon, all through school, I wasn’t good enough to play ball so I wasn’t at practice. I was in the woods pretty much from September until it got real cold, like January. And then I’d go coon hunting at nights when I was a teenager.
I grew up in the country. Grew up in the woods. My wife and I came back to Bath County to raise our family. It’s part of the fabric of our lives, the outdoors
I grew up in the country. I’m not athletic. So in the afternoon, all through school, I wasn’t good enough to play ball so I wasn’t at practice. I was in the woods pretty much from September until it got real cold, like January. And then I’d go coon hunting at nights when I was a teenager.
I grew up in the country. Grew up in the woods. My wife and I came back to Bath County to raise our family. It’s part of the fabric of our lives, the outdoors
Q: You are on record as supporting a piecemeal lifting of the ban on Sunday hunting. What do you see as the advantages of such an approach over a statewide policy.
A: Sunday hunting, in the community where I live, frankly, is something I
don’t think people would favor very much.
My kids grew up riding and it’s one day of the week during the hunting season that they can get out with their horses and get out in the field. I just don’t know how it would go over in some communities.
An issue like this is something that ought to be addressed on a locality by locality basis.
My kids grew up riding and it’s one day of the week during the hunting season that they can get out with their horses and get out in the field. I just don’t know how it would go over in some communities.
An issue like this is something that ought to be addressed on a locality by locality basis.
Q: What is your opinion on the so-called right-to-retrieve law that allows
unarmed hunters to go onto private land to get their dogs even if that land is
posted? Do you feel the current law is sufficient?
A: I’ve carried legislation on that before. It’s created real tension.
I think one of the biggest challenges that people face is the availability of hunting land. A lot of landowners, or some landowners, have threatened to close their land to hunting, and some have closed their land to hunting because of abuse of the right to retrieve.
I support the right to retrieve. Here’s the thing: You and I can see no trespassing signs. Dogs can’t. So you have to be able to retrieve your dogs. There has to be some check on it.
I carried legislation three or four years ago that required a hunter to identify himself, which I just think is common courtesy, when they are retrieving dogs.
Frankly, I think when most people are retrieving dogs they are not abusing it. Those that do [abuse it] threaten private property rights, and they threaten private property being available. I’ve introduced legislation in the past to increase penalties because I think you need to send a signal. I think most people are courteous and do the things they are supposed to do and every once in a while you’re going to have a bad egg and that’s going to create problems for everybody else.
I think it’s one of those areas where you need to be constantly aware to ensure you’ve got the right balance to make sure private property rights are respected and that people can retrieve their dogs, but that you’re not doing something that’s going to make hunting more difficult in the future or property less available.
I think one of the biggest challenges that people face is the availability of hunting land. A lot of landowners, or some landowners, have threatened to close their land to hunting, and some have closed their land to hunting because of abuse of the right to retrieve.
I support the right to retrieve. Here’s the thing: You and I can see no trespassing signs. Dogs can’t. So you have to be able to retrieve your dogs. There has to be some check on it.
I carried legislation three or four years ago that required a hunter to identify himself, which I just think is common courtesy, when they are retrieving dogs.
Frankly, I think when most people are retrieving dogs they are not abusing it. Those that do [abuse it] threaten private property rights, and they threaten private property being available. I’ve introduced legislation in the past to increase penalties because I think you need to send a signal. I think most people are courteous and do the things they are supposed to do and every once in a while you’re going to have a bad egg and that’s going to create problems for everybody else.
I think it’s one of those areas where you need to be constantly aware to ensure you’ve got the right balance to make sure private property rights are respected and that people can retrieve their dogs, but that you’re not doing something that’s going to make hunting more difficult in the future or property less available.
Q: Virginia’s management of menhaden has been criticized by some as encouraging exploitation of the important coastal forage species. How familiar are you with the menhaden issue and what is your position on the current management system?
I’ve been on the legislature for 18 years and I’ve been on the natural
resources committee the whole time. I was on the agriculture committee and then
I was on Vic Thomas’ conservation and natural resources committee and now I’m on
agriculture, conservation and natural resources in the Senate.
And I guess my point in telling you that is that anybody who has been on those committees as long as I have would be unaware of menhaden only if he or she wanted to be unaware. I’ve been pulled from every side on that issue.
I’ll tell you, Mark, when I came to the General Assembly I didn’t really want to be on the courts of justice or money committees, I wanted to be on the conservation and natural resources committee. I wanted to be on Vic Thomas’ committee. These issues are the ones I live and die for.
And I guess my point in telling you that is that anybody who has been on those committees as long as I have would be unaware of menhaden only if he or she wanted to be unaware. I’ve been pulled from every side on that issue.
I’ll tell you, Mark, when I came to the General Assembly I didn’t really want to be on the courts of justice or money committees, I wanted to be on the conservation and natural resources committee. I wanted to be on Vic Thomas’ committee. These issues are the ones I live and die for.
The menhaden issue is also one where you have to, from my perspective,
you’ve got to let the science control that topic because there are people that
are emotional on both sides. On one side you’ve got the conservationists and
fishing community people who say menhaden are not only filter species that clean
the [Chesapeake] Bay out, but they are feeder food for sporting fish that used
to be in abundance in the bay.
On the other side you have people who say that menhaden provide a source of
employment not only for the companies that sell bait to commercial fishermen,
but Omega protein, which is the big industry, the only industry, really, out on
the Northern Neck.
So it’s a balancing act and you’ve got to let the science control the
issue. We passed legislation a number of years ago that basically says we’re
going to adhere to the science. Right now, I’m not convinced that the science
dictates that we put addition restraints on menhaden fishing. But that’s subject
to change. Because I’m convinced that we have to follow the science there. And
if there’s no doubt that convinces me otherwise I’ll do whatever I think is
right on that issue.
Q: What do you see as the most critical threat to outdoors recreation, not only hunting and fishing, but so-called non-consumptive activities such as hiking, biking, paddling, etc.?
A: There are a bunch of threats. In hunting and fishing you’ve got the
decline in licenses sold, the decline in the people who support the sports. I
think that hunting and fishing are so much bigger than sports. It’s a way of
life.
I grew up a meat fisherman and a meat hunter. You eat what you catch and you eat what you kill and it’s just a part of the way of life. It’s in decline for a number of reasons. That’s one reason I’m a little more open to Sunday hunting than I have been in the past. And I’ve got to tell you I’ve voted against it for the most part and my wife would run me out of the house if she didn’t have that day, to be out in the fields with the horses without people firing around.
I grew up a meat fisherman and a meat hunter. You eat what you catch and you eat what you kill and it’s just a part of the way of life. It’s in decline for a number of reasons. That’s one reason I’m a little more open to Sunday hunting than I have been in the past. And I’ve got to tell you I’ve voted against it for the most part and my wife would run me out of the house if she didn’t have that day, to be out in the fields with the horses without people firing around.
The bigger threat as I see it is a loss of habitat, a loss of ground you
can hunt on, and fish on. A loss of access to the outdoors. The river I grew up
on and I live on now is the Cowpasture river. We’ve had fish kills up there the
last few years. and fish kills in other rivers that really threaten the great
outdoors experience until we really figure out what’s killing the fish. That
threat to water and opportunity to [unintelligible] whether it’s landowners who
are mad over abuses of people who come on their property and hunt without
permission or whether it’s people who move to the country and they just aren’t
used to hunting. They buy real estate and they don’t want people hunting on
their property. There’s a real lack of access.
I wrote legislation in ’98 or ’99 that became the most progressive
incentive-based land conservation program in the country. That wasn’t
specifically geared toward hunting or fishing but the whole notion is that we
all have an interest in ensuring that we maintain some semblance of our rural
heritage — some open space. As a result of that legislation, we’ve saved 435,000
acres of open space in the last 10 years.
I wrote legislation a number of years ago to require the game commission,
when they transfer real estate, to have no net loss of hunting ground. I’d like
to have that kind of legislation in effect for every agency of government so we
can make sure we have as much land available as possible for all sorts of
outdoor activities.
I think the experience of being out in the woods is invaluable. The
experience not only teaches you about the outdoors, but it teaches you a lot
about yourself and about other people.
I worry not only about the lack of hunters and fishers, but about the lack
of new hunters and fishers. That’s why I supported the new apprentice hunting
license a couple years back. I worry about the decline of available space to
hunt and fish and recreate on.
Q: What more could Virginia do to capitalize on its natural resources,
while also protecting those resources?
A: You’ve got find a balance. You can believe whatever you want to believe
or believe nothing at all. I’m pretty sure about the things I believe. A verse
in the Bible that’s a foundation to my faith, I think it’s the 15th verse of the
second chapter of the book of Genesis, in the creation story, at the end of the
creation story, before the woman comes on the scene, the Lord God puts the man
in the garden to work it and to care for it.
So, from the beginning, you’ve had that stewardship principle. But it’s balanced with your work principle. You’ve got to find ways to not only create opportunities, in your national forest, to create opportunities for work, and all of your natural resources, but you also have to protect your natural resources. We’ve got an obligation to try to leave this earth in as good a shape as we found it.
So, from the beginning, you’ve had that stewardship principle. But it’s balanced with your work principle. You’ve got to find ways to not only create opportunities, in your national forest, to create opportunities for work, and all of your natural resources, but you also have to protect your natural resources. We’ve got an obligation to try to leave this earth in as good a shape as we found it.
In Virginia we are blessed with an abundance of natural resources. We’ve
got to find ways to create opportunities for work with those resources. The
communities that I represent and where I lived my whole life, so many people
have found that balance because forest products are a huge part of the economy
where I live. But another part of the economy is tourism. We’ve got to continue
to find ways to draw people into Virginia to find that tourism dollar.
We are honored to have one of the greatest park systems in the country in
Virginia. We don’t have the resort type park system that West Virginia and
Kentucky have. But we’ve got great, wonderful parks that have proven that we can
find the balance between camping and use of the system and protection of natural
resources. Anybody who has ever hiked to Tuscarora at Douthat knows what I’m
talking about. We have great resources and we’ve got the ability to care for
it.
We’ve also got to be able to take advantage of it to get more people.
There’s a book I read years ago, I can’t think of the author, but one of the
things he said was one of the problems with wilderness is once you see it, once
you put your hands on it, it’s not wild any more. You’ve got to find the
balance, the right balance, so people can enjoy the outdoors but you can protect
so you still have some places that are wild. You still have some places that are
going to be for the benefit, use and enjoyment of future generations.
Q: What makes you more deserving of the sportsman’s vote than your
opponent?
A: Look at the record. I carried the amendment to put in the constitution
to protect the right to hunt and fish. The other guy voted against it, stood on
the floor and made fun of me for introducing it. Made speeches against it.
Campaigned against it.
I’ve hunted and fished my whole life. I grew up in the country. Not only do
I talk the talk, but I’ve carried legislation through the years to protect
hunting and fishing and to protect the outdoors.
The other guy has never really been involved in discussion about outdoors-related issues, excepted when he scolded me for caring enough about hunting and fishing to carry the constitutional amendment.
I’ve been there over the long haul for people who care about the outdoors and I’d suggest that the other guy is not and it’s not even a close issue.
The other guy has never really been involved in discussion about outdoors-related issues, excepted when he scolded me for caring enough about hunting and fishing to carry the constitutional amendment.
I’ve been there over the long haul for people who care about the outdoors and I’d suggest that the other guy is not and it’s not even a close issue.
I’ll be there in the future. It’s who I am. I grew up in Bath County. My
wife and I have raised our children in Bath County. We live out in the country.
It’s who we are.
There’s no question that I’m going to be the governor who’s going to look
out for state parks, who’s going to look out for sportsmen, that’s going to look
out for this important way of life. Who’s not only going to give it lip service,
but who’s actually going to care about it because it’s part of my
life.
Republican Bob McDonnell
Q: Talk about your personal connection the
outdoors.
A: I’ve long enjoyed being outdoors as a form of
recreation for me. We love going up to the Wintergreen area and hiking when we
get a little time now.
Gosh, in my early days in Boy Scouts, growing up as a kid, I remember having great memories of the early camp outs a lot of my friends and I took during high school. When I grew up in Northern Virginia we’d go to Skyline Drive and camp and fish and hike. And I’ve always had terrific appreciation for some of the great things about Virginia. And especially now as a policy maker I know how important it is to preserve the outdoors for economic development and tourism reasons.
Gosh, in my early days in Boy Scouts, growing up as a kid, I remember having great memories of the early camp outs a lot of my friends and I took during high school. When I grew up in Northern Virginia we’d go to Skyline Drive and camp and fish and hike. And I’ve always had terrific appreciation for some of the great things about Virginia. And especially now as a policy maker I know how important it is to preserve the outdoors for economic development and tourism reasons.
I think it’s vitally important that Virginia
continue to keep a clean and healthy environment so that we can promote tourism,
attract business. That’s one of the reasons I’ve made one of the platform items,
Mark, preserving 400,000 additional acres of open space, which I think will have
a very good economic development impact on our state. I understand the
connection between good solid recreation opportunities in your state and your
ability to attract business and jobs to Virginia. That’s why I set the goal of
the additional 400,000 acres of open space that we’d like to be able to preserve
over the next four years.
Q: You are on record as supporting a piecemeal lifting of the ban on Sunday hunting. What do you see as the advantages of such an approach over a statewide policy.
A: At least at this point I think private property rights should be
respected. If people want to have the ability to hunt on Sundays on their
private land, then we certainly ought to respect that.
I’m open to some further discussion. This prohibition has been around for, I believe, for hundreds of years. I’d like to hear more from all of the stakeholders and interest groups before we do anything more. But certainly with regard to private property I think it’s appropriate.
I’m open to some further discussion. This prohibition has been around for, I believe, for hundreds of years. I’d like to hear more from all of the stakeholders and interest groups before we do anything more. But certainly with regard to private property I think it’s appropriate.
Q: What is your opinion on the so-called right-to-retrieve law that allows unarmed hunters to go onto private land to get their dogs even if that land is posted? Do you feel the current law is sufficient?
A: Tell me a little bit more. I’m sorry. The right-to-retrieve law, I don’t
think I’ve heard it called exactly that. (Interviewer provides background on
law.) It sounds like it’s an enforcement issue as opposed to a real policy
issue. The law seems to have been put in place for good reason. It’s hard to
control where a dog is going to go and it’s hard to control exactly where game
is going to be or where it is going to fall, particularly if it’s a bird. It
just sounds like we need to continue to look for ways to improve enforcement
issues so that we respect the rights of private property owners.
Q: Virginia’s management of menhaden has been criticized by some as
encouraging exploitation of the important coastal forage species. How familiar
are you with the menhaden issue and what is your position on the current
management system?
A: I’ve studied this a little bit over the last four or five years. I’ve
visited some of the menhaden fisheries, the areas and have looked at a little
bit of the Atlantic coast fisheries management system.
I think the caps that have been put in place by the state seem to be
working well to respect the ability of fishermen to earn a fair living and
contribute to nutritional products like all the Omega 3 fatty acids that are
used in everything from meal to vitamins that are vitally important to the
menhaden fishery staying strong.
But menhaden, being critically important to the food chain and contributing
to the health and cleanliness of the [Chesapeake] Bay, it’s important that we
prevent overfishing. I think the cap that was put in place three or four years
ago seems to be working well but I want to continue to look at any of studies
that the Virginia Institute of Marine Science and others do that would give us
any new data on the health of the menhaden fishery.
Q: What do you see as the most critical threat to outdoors recreation, not only hunting and fishing, but so-called non-consumptive activities such as hiking, biking, paddling, etc.?
A: I think number one is failing to preserve those lands for the benefit of
the public for future generations. Meaning we need to keep a strong state parks
system and look for ways to expand open space.
And number two is just the overall health of the environment. I think we
need to continue to teach good environmental stewardship as part of what it
means to be a good citizen. What we would hope we would see is not just more
rules and regulations and taxes to promote environmental protection, but more of
an understanding by all of the citizens that we’ve got a duty to be able to be
able preserve the environment for ourselves and others. I remember the old maxim
of the Boy Scouts and that is to leave the campground a little cleaner than you
found it. Which I thought was a great idea. You just didn’t pick up your own
trash, but if there was some things left by other people, help pick that up,
too. I think that’s a good rule for citizens generally is to have that view
about protecting the environment for future generations.
Q: What more could Virginia do to capitalize on its natural resources, while also protecting those resources?
A: I’d like to look for additional ways to promote water quality. The
Chesapeake Bay is one of the absolute greatest natural assets and economic
engines of Virginia. But yet oyster production has gone down over the last
decades and consequently the bay water quality has diminished some. I want to
find new ways to try to reduce nitrogen and phosphorous [unintelligible] into
the Chesapeake Bay so we can see that fisheries improve in their health.
I’m going to look for ways, both through good stewardship activities and
conservation programs that we can make that happen and try to continue the
amount of money that goes to sewage treatment plants so we can reduce point
source pollution.
Q: What makes you more deserving of the sportsman’s vote than your
opponent?
A: One, I got the NRA endorsement and the VCDL endorsement so I think a lot
of sportsmen have already decided that I’m the right choice.
And secondly, is our open space preservation plan. We were out with that early in the campaign as a significant way to preserve great portions of the outdoors for the public, and I that’s a goal that I think can be met. I think those two alone would commend me to sportsmen around the state.
And secondly, is our open space preservation plan. We were out with that early in the campaign as a significant way to preserve great portions of the outdoors for the public, and I that’s a goal that I think can be met. I think those two alone would commend me to sportsmen around the state.
.....Advertisement.....
