The New Hampshire Fish and Game Commission, all political appointees, thinks it knows science better than its department’s own scientists. At its January 2018 meeting, the commission reportedly rejected the recommendation of the department’s senior scientist to allow the pubic to weigh in on whether to shorten the coyote hunting season.
The members of the commission proved they lack the statutory qualifications for membership in this important body. They refused to be “well informed on the subject of fish and wildlife conservation and restoration” by not listening to their own scientists and by not allowing our citizens the opportunity to provide such information.
Our commissioners apparently do not want to learn that by killing mentoring adult coyotes during pup-raising season, the pups become adults who have not learned how to avoid human contact and, consequently, can become a nuisance to residences and businesses.
In addition, commissioners will not hear the research on coyotes as “responsive breeders,” and how hunting actually increases their numbers.
Because they refuse to listen to their scientists and to the public, our commissioners may fail to acknowledge that coyotes are not hunted for food or clothing, but only for amusement.
By not following science and by not giving citizens the opportunity to address the length of the coyote hunting season, the commissioners showed they are not, as their mission states, “dedicated to the conservation and protection of the state’s fish and wildlife resources and of an environment conducive to the welfare of the same.”
JACK HURLEY
Claremont