I am being 100% truthful and your guess as to what area I refer is not correct. I hunt and own property in 2G. Have lived in 3A. I am quite familiar with the NC region. As far as your comment concerning a distinct browseline I find that absurd and quite typical of someone who accepts cherry picked pictures from Alts tenure. I find it odd that most people are so willing to jump on the bandwagon of the PGC/DCNR without doing a little legwork and thinking on their own. A look back at the aging structure of our forest and mining technics tell the story. If you choose to "blame the deer" thats your choice, but selling that ideal to the general public as truth isnt something ill stand for.
My comments about a distinct browseline come from boots on the ground experience in 2C, 2G and 2F. My observations have nothing to do with some cherry picked photos and the browselines were and occasionally still are a real issue. I have no particular liking for Gary Alt and place a lot more stock in the fact that the vast majority of wildlife managers and deer biologists have had nothing but positive things to say about pennsylvania's taking the point position in managing our deer herds better. It's not about blaming the deer, they are doing what deer do. How we as hunters participate in managing those deer will have a great deal of impact on how the non hunting majority in this country views us as a group. As long as hunters are viewed as useful and necessary or even as the most practical tool in managing wildlife, we'll continue to enjoy our sport.
You would be correct. My feelings stem from WMI themselves. "WMI works closely with each agency in developing appropriate objectives and parameters for the work. " The audit will only tell you whether PGC guidelines are correct. What do you think the outcome will be? Science is an ever changing thing. And the PGC has stated that there will be mistakes made and has been. Given a higher financial threshold better plans could be made. Until a license increase those plans lay to rest(rearrange WMU). WMI's report will not tell the hole story.
So who if not the entity recognized nationwide by most game agncies would do a more complete job?
You seems to support the idea of a license fee increase so that the mistakes can be corrected and I agree with that 100% I'm guessing that you'd also agree that hunters are better off if outside funding never needs to be sought after?
As for the polls you speak of, I have done some searches and found some small ones that seem to support some of what you say. I'm not going to dispute the results but I have to say that they are very small. I have some experience with statistics and agre that small samples can be very accurate if they are random. Groups on internet bulletin boards tend to be anything but random but the results cant be completely discounted either.
As for the Oberlander poll, any poll by a politician asking for input on any fee increase tends to get similar results. It also looks like that question was not restricted to license buying hunters so it's likely that less than 10% of the respondents have a vested interest in the issue. How do you think the poll would have turned out if the general population was asked " should hunting license be increased to fund the PGc or should funds from the general public be tapped to continue the work of wildlife management?" bet you'd see a totally different result!