A tired and worn old saying discourages fixing something that òòò½ÊÓƵ˜ainòòò½ÊÓƵ™t broke.òòò½ÊÓƵ™
Sometimes change is necessary. In others, the only complaint seems that someone doesnòòò½ÊÓƵ™t like the way a person or government agency does business.
State Representative Pat Curry, from Waco, introduced a bill to abolish the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD). The bill would scatter TPWDòòò½ÊÓƵ™s employees like a startled covey of quail among three other state agenciesòòò½ÊÓƵ”ones that already have legislatively ordained duties. Many TPWD employees are college-educated scientists who also trained for years to professionally manage fish and wildlife.
The bill doesnòòò½ÊÓƵ™t claim inefficiency by TPWD or dereliction of duties. Nothing is broken. The State Legislature scrutinizes its agencies. Thatòòò½ÊÓƵ™s what the Sunset Commission does. And its work is quite thorough. TPWD was last examined in 2021 and approved for twelve more years.
Rep. Curry is on record for saying he introduced the bill to òòò½ÊÓƵœget the Parks and Wildlife Departmentsòòò½ÊÓƵ™ attention.òòò½ÊÓƵ In subsequent interviews, he has said he wants to call attention to TPWDòòò½ÊÓƵ™s regulations regarding Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) among white-tailed deer.
Most Texans know by now that CWD is fatal in whitetails. Itòòò½ÊÓƵ™s incurable and can be carried in an animal for several years before exhibiting symptoms. Itòòò½ÊÓƵ™s silently spread from one deer to others, including mule deer and elk. When mule deer were discovered with CWD along the Texas-New Mexico line, the TPWD Commission called an emergency meeting in San Antonio to consider ways to keep the disease from affecting the four million white-tailed deer in Texas at the time. Now, there are over five million whitetails, here.
Texas deer breeders attended that meeting and testified against proposed regulations to prevent importing deer into Texas from other states, some of which had already discovered CWD among their deer.
As I listened to TPWDòòò½ÊÓƵ™s testimony on the proposal in San Antonio that day, ceasing importation seemed like the logical first step in keeping CWD out of native deer. Texas had plenty of deer, and out-of-state hunters coming to Texas to hunt deer was a good indication that the genes of Texas deer were sufficient. The only need for importing northern deer was in the minds of breeders seeking bigger antlered deer to sell. That struck me as a flimsy excuse for continuing to bring possibly sick deer to Texas and endangering one of our most beloved natural resources.
Since then, I have seen and heard breeders speaking at TPWD commission meetings and other assemblies opposing practically every proposed regulation. This legislation was merely more of the sameòòò½ÊÓƵ”albeit a drastic one potholed with punji pits of expenses and rife with chaos, low employee morale, and probable loss of services to the public. The bill was absurdly unworkable.
Within hours following the billòòò½ÊÓƵ™s introduction, a mandate of opposition arose from all corners. Rep. Curry withdrew the bill.
A similar bill would abolish the Texas Animal Health Commission, which has supported TPWDòòò½ÊÓƵ™s CWD regulations. Hopefully, it too will be dropped.
