ORIGINAL: bluebird2
I did a search on the PGC website for WMI and found that they were joined at the hip with the PGC and have an obvious conflict of interest. Not only did the PGC give WMI a grant ,but WMI was involved in the process that produced our current deer management plan..
In 1998, with the assistance of the Wildlife Management Institute, the Commission chartered a two-year Pennsylvania Deer Management Working Group to increase communications between the Commission and deer management stakeholders, including sportsmen, farmers and foresters.
The Game Commission was NOT the one that contracted with WMI to do the audit.
The Legislative Budget and Finance Committee researched the qualified independent firms capable of doing such an audit and they then selected the WMI because of their qualifications. The WMI has done contract work for various Legislative Committees in the past and obviously they were satisfied with both their integrity and the final report. Besides having done quality research and reports in this state the WMI has done quality research and reports in many other statesas well as the Federal Government.
Anyone that wants to claim a bias is stepping out on very thin iceand slandering a highly reputable firm.
It appears to me that the most likely reason some people are so desperate to make it appear there is a conflict of interest would focus on the fact that they know darn well the Game Commission deer management program is scientifically sound and that any credible audit will come to that conclusion. Therefore, they are desperately grasping for straws to either discredit the audit and report even before it gets started or have someone do the audit that they can either influence or later discreditwhen theydon't get the report outcome theyare wishing for.
R.S. Bodenhorn