ORIGINAL: Hokieman

A raid on fishing funds
Bill Cochran's Field Reports


A move by Gov. Tim Kaine to divert $400,000 in saltwater fishing license funds to the General Fund to help offset a state budget shortfall is not boding well with anglers who say they will bring the matter up in the General Assembly.
While some of the diverted funds would be earmarked for things that benefit fishermen, such as marine patrols, the fact is accountability to recreational anglers would be lost. License money currently is assigned to programs and projects through a special board.

Anglers who are critical say the diversion likely would continue into future budgets, and there is little chance sportsmen ever would recoup the money.

When Douglas Wilder was governor, $1.2 million was taken from Department of Game and Inland Fisheries funds. It took four years before the money was retrieved for its intended purposes, and only then through the diligent work of the late A. Victor Thomas, the veteran legislator from Roanoke.

As the General Assembly begins, sportsmen certainly could use another Vic Thomas.

BILL