All,

NYS has a program called "Return a Gift to Wildlife" that is a separate line
on the state income tax form. You can donate any amount you wish. However,
in NY the fund gets hijacked on occasion by the state general fund.
Nonetheless, it would be great if you would receive some sort of sticker
that you could display to show you have made a contribution.

I have nothing against hunters and I hunted for years in my youth, so please
don't take my previous comments as an anti-hunting stance. But the
individuals that were there certainly wouldn't be considered hunters in the
culture that I was raised. For one thing, they weren't hunting anything - it
was just a party with live ammunition. But apparently this is a tradition
that these people have been practicing for years, and it certainly isn't
limited to VT. Many people in PA where I grew up would go to hunting camp
the night before deer season opens, drink until blind, stumble off to bed,
awake and have a bit of the hair of the dog, fill a pint flask and the 30-06
and set off in search of the elusive whitetail. Out West, they even combine
drinking & driving with firearms, often crashing around in pickups in search
of the wily jackrabbit and making it dance to the beat of a .22 semi-auto.
This type of activity has nothing to do with hunting and, if anything, shows
an obvious lack of sportsmanship.

Dana Rohleder
Port Kent, NY


----- Original Message -----
From: "- Maeve Kim" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, September 07, 2003 4:34 PM
Subject: hunters at Dead Creek


> Dana's story about the yahoos at Dead Creek was both scary and
> thought-provoking. We birders do spend a lot of money and do contribute to
conservation
> groups - but I have thought for many years that we need a visible sign of
> financial contributions to wildlife management places specifically, the
equivalent of
> a duck stamp that we can display on our car, a signal that says "I am a
paying
> visitor; it's right that this place is managed for my interests as well as
> yours". The wildlife management areas could use the extra money and we
birders
> would have a voice in how the places are managed.
>
> PS - Two   American golden plovers joined the group at Brilyea early
Saturday
> afternoon.
>
> Maeve Kim
> Jericho Center
>