My fellow readers:
I’ve attended every Town Meeting I could since turning 10, probably nearly 40 of them in total. I enjoy the process and the idea of participating in my local government. Back in the day, in the “old gym” at TA, I think attendance was in the 600-700 range. Regardless of the size of the crowd, it is usually a handful of people that actually get up to speak. It is one of the only places where most of us ever speak in front of that many people and participation should be encouraged. I firmly believe that a diversity of opinion makes for a better product in the end. But that doesn’t mean that we must agree, bend, or adjust our opinion to serve a common good. Too often, anybody that doesn’t agree, bend, adjust to the crowd is set aside or at the worst, ridiculed, called names, shunned, and otherwise ostracized for voicing their opinion. I have personally received messages from Thetford residents that told me to “shut up” and “move out of town.” I am routinely linked in with whatever national Republican figure is now being demonized and just within the last month I have been called a “threat to democracy.” Is it any wonder no one wants to get up and publicly voice an opinion?
There is a real threat to democracy these days but it doesn’t stem from someone with a different opinion than yours. The threat is from trying to silence that opinion. I have actually seen a Thetford Town moderator take a vote whether or not to allow a citizen to speak. He had been to the mike before and wanted to speak again. There was no one ahead of him that had not had a chance to speak yet. I was appalled that the group went along with the vote and decided that he was no longer welcome to voice his opinion.
Our constitution is written to protect the rights of an individual. Building togetherness and mutual commitment is about respect for every individual, “thin skinned” or not. You have a right to your opinion and constitutional protection to voice it and so don’t I. If we disagree with decisions that are made, our republic of representative government allows us all to alter the course of future decisions by voting. Our system of a “secret ballot” allows us to vote without undue influence or pressure from an outside source. It is a cornerstone of our democracy and yet I have been pressured as a Thetford board chair to avoid its use.
Despite the above, I look forward to another Town meeting and hope others will join me by voicing your opinion, as I speak mine.
-Bill Huff, Thetford
I don’t get it:
How Donald Trump could possibly get insurance deals by inflating the value of his properties? It has always been my experience that the more something was worth, the more it cost to insure it. Do the wealthy get insurance deals???
Why a member of the South Carolina National Guard (Nikki Haley’s husband) should be deployed to Africa. What are we cooking up in Africa now? Another Libya? Or has he perhaps been sent to the horn of Africa in support of the genocide unfolding in Gaza?
How it benefitted Putin to murder Navalny the day before a huge victory in Ukraine; the day before the opening of the Munich Security Conference, where Navalny’s wife showed up to weep on cue; at the same time that most of Europe is panicking that the US may not hurl any more money into the black hole that is Ukraine; and shortly after the interview with Tucker Carlson that millions of people have at least clicked on. And likely watched.
Why, if Alexander Smirnov is facing criminal charges for allegedly fabricating something about Biden, Hillary Clinton did not face criminal charges for the Russia-gate fabrication. (People may not know that both the DNC and the Clinton campaign were fined for “misreporting the money that funded the [infamous Steele] dossier,” according to CNN.)
Why we should never have enjoyed the benefits of oil for at least the last century, as many in Montpelier are currently insisting. According to The Orientalist (by Tom Reiss): “since ancient times Azerbaijian’s abundance of oil and natural gas, which led whole hillsides to naturally explode into flame, made it the center of Zoroastrianism, Persia’s ancient pre-Muslim religion.” Should we have all just made pilgrimages to some place like Baku, by sailing vessel and on foot, to stare and bow and worship the eruptions of oil and the flaming hillsides for centuries, instead?
Finally, why everyone currently running for President apparently supports the genocide of the Palestinian people. Not only am I finding it hard this year to engage in the charade of filing a tax return (to a government that just incessantly prints money anyway), but it’s going to be damned hard to vote for anyone who is currently running, this November.
-Jacqueline Brook, Putney
These days it’s a constant game of whack-a-mole with trapping and hounding lobbyists spreading misinformation left and right. While we appreciate the importance of debating issues, it can go off the rails when one side obfuscates issues and confuses the public by not sharing the full story. What’s even worse is when folks can’t debate the facts and instead resort to defamation in an effort to pull attention away from the issues at hand, as evidenced with lobbyist Mike Covey, who represents trappers and hounders. Covey has now been served with two cease and desist letters by POW’s attorneys for lying about our organization. We urge the public to do their own research to sort out fact from fiction.
Some homegrown hoopla has been spawned by a few paid lobbyists about the Court’s recent ruling on Protect Our Wildlife’s motion for a preliminary injunction (PI) that sought to maintain the moratorium on coyote hounding until the Court rules on the merits of the lawsuit. This PI would have protected the public and our property from packs of uncontrolled hounds running at large in pursuit of coyotes in the interim.
It seems like Mr. Bradley is celebrating a perceived major victory a little too soon. The Court’s ruling was specific to the PI only. This is far from a final ruling – it’s an opinion by a lower court judge based on an incomplete administrative record on the narrow issue of whether coyote hounding should be stayed until the Department of Fish & Wildlife complies with the intent of the legislature to enact meaningful rules that will actually result in hounders having control over their dogs.. We look forward to presenting all our evidence to the Court and, if necessary, to the Appellate Court, and we are confident that we will prevail.What was left out of Mr. Bradley’s commentary is that the judge doesn’t have the full record, as evidenced by some of the judge’s statements that were based on an incomplete understanding of issues (e.g. belief that hounds outfitted with GPS and shock collars are a change to the status quo, which is not the case).
What’s clearer than ever to us is there is a need for S.258 more now than ever because it’s obvious that Fish and Wildlife cannot and will not respond to the concerns of the legislature and the public they serve.
-Brenna Galdenzi, President, Protect Our Wildlife POW
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Categories: Opinion
Projection from the POW Prez: “These days it’s a constant of whack-a-mole with trapping and hounding lobbyists spreading misinformation left and right.”
Yup, and the POW is a paragon of truth, justice, and the American way ! Look, up in the sky ! It’s a bird, lt’s a plane, Na never mind, it’s just another fruity flatlander trying to undermine our traditions…..
it’s
Indeed POW is….armed with irrefutable statistics, data, Vt resident testimonials, POLICE reports, and photographic & videographic evidence to support the realities.
Such as what specifically? You neglect to mention the supposed “misinformation” – a term bandied about by democrats and now is being utilized as well by trappers because it serves a useful propagandized purpose.
I was present in Montpelier on the day dozens turned up to address the legislature with:
1.) Statistical Data
2.) Videotapes
3.) Photographic evidence
4.) letters to VT elected officers & documents from F & W
What specifically was the “misinformation” of what was specifically presented? And did you attend or testify?
Protect Our Wildlife Vermont February 9 at 7:33 AM · “Unfortunately, the writer mischaracterized the bill as the work of the “radical closet animal rights group called Protect Our Wildlife” (POW). First, POW is not a “closet” group plotting on the dark web. It operates openly with a mission to “make Vermont a more humane place for wildlife” and is “supported by over 3,000 Vermonters”, including hunters. POW recently held a gathering in Middlebury to discuss its work, which was attended by both hunters and wildlife conservation supporters from around Addison County.”
The paragraph above was copied and pasted directly from a Feb. 9th POW’s website post. So according to this post, POW has over 3,000 “Vermonters” who support them, and none of these 3,000 “supporters” are non-residents ? Another question. Just what does it mean to be a “supporter” of the POW? Do they support them with monetary donations, or clicks, and likes ?
Hot off of the Vt. Fish & Wildlife press “For license sales in 2023, the total numbers including permanent reprints, youth licenses, etc, are :
Resident fishing licenses: 92,752
Non-resident fishing licenses: 42,897
Resident hunting licenses: 69,996
Non-resident hunting licenses: 9,419
Trapping licenses: 880 in 2023 (counting permanent license reprints with trapping privilege, 1849)
Now there are approximately 650,000 residents in the State of Vermont. There were 69,996 resident hunting license holders. 69996=10.768 % of 650,00. There are 3,000 POW “supporters”. (whatever that means?) 3,000=.461% of 650,000 residents. .461 thousandths of one percent is not just a minority, it’s not even a blip on a screen, so why in a country founded on belief of majority rule, does a special interest group that is something akin to a micro anomaly garner enough clout to put legislators into a position like this? To me it’s obvious. The legislators don’t care about the majority of their constituents, they care about the lubricant that the squeaky wheel distributes.
Yet again, in the year of our Lord 2019, your F & W department conducted a survey (here we go once again for the 67th time) to discover what proportion of the VT population supported trapping – results as per F & W:
Approximately 68% of Vermonters are opposed to trapping
The remaining 32% (by far the MINORITY) of those polled either support the sport of trapping, killing, and often skinning animals OR they responded as “Unsure”.
Wildlife Revenues decline DRASTICALLY in just three short decades according to F & W. From the year 1990 to the years 2021:
1.) license revenues for F & W licenses in ’90 were 67% – in ’21 they were 26%
2.) Trapping specific licenses were 1,483 in 1985 and were only 688 in ’21
Such diminishment in the sports of hunting by adults & youth hunting declined by similar figures nationwide (NOT just in Vermont, therefore the bemoaning of VT’s peculiar or special heritage as described is NOT justified) while even the popular sport of fishing has demonstrated loss of interest. However, it is trapping specifically that shows the far greatest loss of revenue & of interest – and this is further supported by, again, national F & W numbers collected.
F & W licensing revenues declined while other licensing revenues for the State of VT increased from 9% in ’90 to 41% in ’21 – including licenses for outdoor activities using VT forests & parks & camping facilities, but NO hunting or trapping.
Coyotes in VT remain the ONLY apex predator now that hunters and trappers totally annihilated the others which included the Gray Wolf and the Eastern Cougar – oddly ALSO considered & termed “dangers” to livestock and to people over the course of the last 125 years or so ago and were wiped out by these know-it-alls who believe that they alone should be able to alter and/or to vanquish entire species who once roamed the Green Mountains because their “presence” herein & their livelihoods might be disturbed by the wild animals who God alone created share this earth as well. So the answer? WIPE out yet another species to FURTHER destroy the natural environmental balance of Mother Nature.
If your livestock is being molested by Coyotes, once again, purchase a MOUNTAIN DOG guardian or two – canine breeds specifically bred to guard & protect livestock & which are utilized across the USA with dramatic success rates in drastically reducing & typically eliminating Coyote – Wildlife encounters.
Kathleen,
Do you know how many individuals were surveyed? Your 68% opposed is the majority of the number of people surveyed. Not necessarily 68% of VT residents.
Jacqueline Brook, furthermore, the Palestinian population in Israel continues to grow and thrive in the only country in the region which guarantees equal rights for all religions and for women. About what genocide are you ranting? The continuous massacres of Jews and Christians in the region were far more genocidal.
E.g.: Look up the decimation of the Christian population in Lebanon.
Kathleen M. Gaffney, thank you. The continuing massacre of coyotes in VT is appalling. I used to hear them through my bedroom window in warmer weather. It is heartbreaking.
Indeed, it IS. And it’s the SAME faulty mentality that people used to wipe out entire species in VT in decades’ past: The Gray Wolf, the Rattlesnake, the Eastern Cougar and others because…..they have no “right” to be alive & were too “dangerous” to Vermonters. Now it’s the bears and the Coyotes they turn their ire toward.
You should watch one of the photos presented by POW on their website where a gang of dogs had chased a poor lone Coyote for miles until it tried to take refuge next to a house & “hunters” piled in and shot it to death mercilessly in cold blood.
Quite a “sport” right?
There’re also videos/pics/testimonies of one of the domestic pet dogs killed by a trapper, and another woman’s pet dog (a Leonberger) who was chased by one of these “hunter’s” packs for miles in the woods on a bike path, alongside her terrified owner on her own bicycle, until they FINALLY reached a town for safety. The Leonberger was close to death from exhaustion & stress.
Again, nearly 68% of Vermonters do NOT want trapping continued and yet these trappers demand that their “public” boards remain full of biased, secretly appointed, pro-trappers as opposed to a board that represents ALL citizens and their voices. I guess these “conservative” trappers don’t ACTUALLY like the democratic process as much as they claim.
The upper court ruling will decide these cases in court, not this preliminary injunction as the above author described & the legislature has been taking testimony, watching videos, seeing photographic evidence, etc. on what has been transpiring re: a very small minority of rabid trappers VS. the majority of residents of VT.
God’s creatures. Killed for the “fun” of it.
“I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the REPUBLIC for which it stands, one nation, under GOD, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”.
Please stop regurgitating the false narrative of our REPUBLIC as a democracy. It is high time for Americans to stop being led down the road to ruin by declaring altered allegience to the corporation and not to our country, our land, and our rights. Take it all back means elminating false doctrines, false narratives, and mockingbird lies and deception. Repeating lies is the same as telling them.
The USA is a republic and always has been, but of course. But the USA also utilizes democratic processes as a part of how we govern. The USA is a Constitutional Republic and uses representative/electoral democracy via the POTUS, V.P., and our houses of congress on the federal level in order to “self-govern” or be a nation ruled of, by, and for the people. Of course, we are not a “direct democracy” going to the polls every other minute in order to establish the rule of law, however if I stated that the USA does not utilize democratic processes in order to accomplish certain purposes on behalf of the republic, I would be completely incorrect.
@Huff – Correct.
@Brook – Agree with much, however you have apparently been misled about the situation: Palestinians march in the street and chant “Death To Israel, Death To America”. They support terrorists. Nobody want’s their extermination (as they want ours), however enough is enough.
@Galdenzi – First sentence sounds ok, but the rest is garbage. If you succeed in your quest to end hunting and trapping, your type will soon be begging for someone to come and take care of the problem of wild animals threatening you and your loved ones. Assuming you remain living in a rural setting, if you even do now. The majority of the people trapping have a better respect and understanding of the habitat and balance going on in mother nature than you. By far.
First of all, AGAIN: No one is “coming after” hunting.
It is but only trapping which, AGAIN, kills THOUSANDS of non-targeted species, domestic dogs & cats and endangered/protected species annually. & using CATCH dogs to track down coyotes who are then mercilessly shot or even CLUBBED TO DEATH for sport.
Brutal & inhumane, trapping is thy name.
I have, yet again, lived in rural areas of VT for 24 years and Galdenzi for 14 years. I’ve spent hundreds of hours in the woods hiking & lived in a home that abuts the national forest….NO wildlife EVER “threatened” me or my loved ones. Further, many MILLIONS of Americans have lived/live in states MUCH wilder than Vermont could ever pretend to be, and the VAST MAJORITY of those people have never been bothered, molested, injured, harassed, or “threatened” by wildlife – so nix the nonsense. It merely continues to be but laughable & ineffective and reduces your ability to negotiate whatever positions you believe you have with the courts and the legislature.
Human Beings are NOT prey for coyotes or for bear. Please, spare us from the fantasy & folly.
Again – Please provide copies of police logs to justify your claim of the multitudes who are mutilated and/or killed in wildlife encounters annually.
Every single Vermont resident who utilizes the out-of-doors for recreation/enjoyment/health benefits has as much right to participate in the out-of-doors decision-making as do trappers who comprise but a tiny minority (and decreasing as we write) of those who use the wilderness of VT. And since you claim Galdenzi holds no “background” to render such decisions:
1.) Do you even know what her background is pertaining to wildlife knowledge?
2.) What exactly has been your educational background/work experience/scholarly pursuit in terms of the environment? What precisely are those of most of your fellow trappers? What “expertise” do you possess re: wildlife management or environmental law/use?
THANK YOU, Ms. Galdenzi for your continued commitment to creating fair & balanced oversight boards in this state and for fighting for the protection & safety for all living creatures as well as all people who have the intrinsic right to use the wilderness in VT every day.