Take Back The MDC

A Blog For True Sportsmen

Leaving a Legacy

Sunday June 22nd, 2008

Before we begin with today's blog, we want to share an email we received from a current MDC employee who wishes to remain anonymous.

"Just when you think morale couldn't be lower here at MDC, it is. For starters, we can no longer use MDC funds to purchase firearms but are expected to teach youth hunts. Bows are now considered "weapons" and cannot be purchased on state purchasing cards. Our new branding strategy is "Discover Nature". This is to be used for all programs. For women's programs it is..."Discover Nature-Women". Catchy huh? What exactly is a nature women? I certainly don't want to discover one. How about celebrating the year of the frog? Did you know half of the worlds frogs are facing extinction? We are running that campaign on our phone lines. Oh yes, we have been funneled information through Jeff City from a special interest preservation group."


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"It's impossible to truly be concerned about conservation and at the same time be a republican."
-John Hoskins
Overheard by a former MDC employee.

John Hoskins was appointed as the 7th Director of the Missouri Department of Conservation since the first was appointed in 1937. Needless to say that we have been critical of his leadership especially over the last number of years when a number of warning signs have presented themselves. Many people outside of the department continue to ask why some seem so critical of a man and his leadership team who are in charge of arguably the finest Conservation Department in the nation.

So it's important that we take a look at why so many people are becoming more and more unhappy with the leadership team at the MDC. Today’s blog will explore what we believe will be the Legacy of the 7th Director of the Missouri Department of Conservation.

The Legacy of Conservation Director John Hoskins:

  1. Passing a lead ban on 21 Conservation Areas for all small game with the intent to pass similar measures for all conservation areas statewide.
  2. An alarming number of Conservation employees no longer taking part in hunting or fishing activities. Currently at or below 40%.
  3. Canceling the filming ro production of any new TV shows for Missouri Outdoors program.
  4. Continued hiring of employees who do not take part in hunting and fishing activities.
  5. Closing down the very popular Mobile Fish Aquarium.
  6. Canceling and refusing to allow a hand fishing season when being shown time and again that science data shows no adverse effects on fish populations as well as being supported by the Missouri public and the Missouri legislature.
  7. Canceling involvement and financial support in all future Hunter Education Conferences. No future conferences planned.
  8. No mention at all of Hunter Education or Youth hunting clinics or related activities in the "Next Generation of Conservation" publication that outlines the future of the department.
  9. Invitation of liberal democrat fundraising leader Martin Hamburger who has raised millions of dollars for anti-gun politicians such as Carl Levin to speak at an MDC employee event.
  10. A continued decline on the amount of hunting related articles in the Missouri Conservationist magazine compared to years past.
  11. Lack of promotion of hunting related activities to the Missouri public.
  12. Failure to promote and market youth hunting clinics to the point that they have to be cancelled. Meanwhile, other youth hunting and shooting clinics provided by private groups continue to sell out.
  13. A perceived decline in Missourians taking to the field each year to participate in hunting activities.
  14. Failure to promote hunting related events like the NRA General Meeting in St. Louis 07 while at the same time, senior employees openly donate to candidates like Barack Obama who are freely critical of the NRA and its programs.
  15. Openly testifying in the Missouri legislature of NRA backed legislation that would encourage more hunters to show up at the polls and vote for pro-hunting and fishing candidates.
  16. A public that is growing ever tired of the department moving towards political correctness and moving away from hunting and shooting activities.
  17. Legislation that is starting to appear that would bring more of the decision making into the public eye by appointing additional commissioners. This shows the growing discontentment of the public and the trust it has in the MDC.
  18. Talk amongst the public about repealing the 1/8% tax as a way to reign in the department from its move towards a more politically correct state agency.
  19. A growing number of community leaders and former employees publicly speaking out on the wrong direction the department is going.



It's long past time we demanded our legislators fix the problem inside the MDC. The quickest way to do that is NOT to take away the 1/8 tax. It is NOT to appoint an advisory council. And it is NOT to appoint additional commissioners.

The quickest change that will have a positive result is for the current commission to immediately remove John Hoskins and Lorna Domke as well as some of their immediate staff. The commission needs to publicly commit to hunting activities to show the public that they believe hunting, fishing and trapping activities are an important part of Missouri and its conservation heritage.

If the commissioners fail to act, then the legislators must act with whatever legislation they see as necessary to bring hunting, fishing and consumptive conservation back to the forefront of the MDC agenda.

This movement is not going away, but instead will continue to grow louder and demand the attention of those who have the power to bring about change.

What We've Become

Monday June 2nd, 2008

The following was written by a 30 year employee of the Missouri Department of Conservation who recently retired.

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The year was 1965 and the place was the Missouri Department of Conservation's Trimble Wildlife Area. I was a 16 year old temporary summer employee that was living a dream, a dream to work for the MDC. I had collected Missouri Conservationist magazines like some kids collected baseball cards. I remember the goose roundups and getting to meet a lot of employees that were an important part of MDC history. Some of them, like Ted Shanks who was in charge of waterfowl areas, now have Conservation Areas named after them.

I remember one evening when Ted Shanks, along with Mike Milonski, the Chief of the Wildlife Division, was talking with several other employees. They were drinking adult beverages and eating fried fish and discussing the MDC, conservation and other related topics. Mr. Shanks made the comment that many things were changing, some for the best and some for the worst. One thing he said stuck with me all these years. He said that the typical MDC employee was changing. Many of the employees in 1965 did not have college degrees, many had military experience, and most had direct ties to the land through an agricultural background. Mr. Shanks said that someday the MDC would begin to change as more and more non-hunters and non-fisherman were hired. Mike Milonski and others said that would not happen. Mr. Shanks just smiled and said it was already happening. He said the real changes would come when people like that were there long enough to be elevated into leadership positions where policy and direction decisions were made. Several argued that the Conservation Commission and Director would never allow that to happen. The Conservation Commissioners loved hunting and fishing as much as the rank and file employees did. Mr. Shanks pointed out that this would no longer be the case when Commissioners are appointed that don’t share our passion for hunting and fishing. Several said that will never happen.

Mr. Shanks may or may not have realized how true his predictions would become. I was fortunate to get a permanent job with the MDC in 1978, just after the 1/8th of 1% sales tax was passed. This was a tax that Mr. Shanks probably didn’t foresee, but one that probably helped make his prediction come true even sooner. I had the privilege of working for almost 30 years for the MDC.

I got to see a lot of great things happen and some not so good things. I got to see a hunter education program grow and utilize some outstanding volunteers, as well as lead the charge to reduce hunting accidents in Missouri from well over a hundred per year to around 30. I got to see F.E. “Bud” Eyman lead the charge to expand hunter education into a broad based outdoor skills program and also promote the shooting sports and the development of more public shooting ranges. Bud was later elected to the National Rifle Association’s Board of Directors, and the MDC and NRA worked together on several joint projects that benefitted hunters and shooters in Missouri. Missouri was the first recipient of the NRA national award on shooting range development.

Move forward to today and there have been a lot of changes. The NRA national meeting held in St. Louis last year had little MDC involvement or participation. This was the same year that Missouri certified its 1,000,000th hunter education student, as well as celebrated the 50th anniversary of hunter education in Missouri. A great opportunity was missed for a national recognition of the work the Missouri hunter education volunteers had been able to accomplish. I heard that some of the MDC leaders said they didn’t realize the NRA meeting was going to be in Missouri. However, a year earlier, prior to my retirement, I made mention of this in an "expanded staff" meeting at the Jefferson City headquarters. In addition to this, any NRA member would have received notice of the meeting. However, many of the people in MDC leadership do not belong to the NRA. In fact, following Mr. Shanks predictions, how many of them hunt and fish?

About a year prior to my retirement, Bryan Bethel and I attended a committee put together to discuss hunter recruitment. I remember that for the entire first hour of our first meeting we discussed whether we really needed more hunters or even hunters at all in the future. When we got back to my office, Bryan and I discussed how unbelievable it was that the meeting started that way.

I remember another meeting with the Outreach and Education Division leadership and the leadership of Fisheries Division. We met to discuss ways to expand the number of fisherman. Lorna Domke, Outreach and Education Division Chief, said and I quote, "It offends me that the MDC would spend my tax dollars to recruit new hunting and fishing permit buyers." She also said, "Why do we need more hunters? With less hunters we can spend more money on activities like bird watching." One of the Fisheries Division leaders argued with her about this. He said if we let our base erode, that base being hunters, fisherman, and trappers, what will the MDC do if they ever lose the 1/8th of 1% sales tax? Then the main source of income will be from the sale of permits. Lorna just rolled her eyes and said that we are never going to lose the sales tax.

I remember Lorna saying in several staff meetings that our field staff were spending way too much of their time on hunter education, shooting sports, youth hunts, and shooting ranges. She wanted them to spend more time on non-consumptive activities like bird watching, backpacking, canoeing, etc. In other meetings, Lorna stated she didn’t like the word "recruitment" used with hunters and fisherman. Words were some how important to Lorna for some reason. I remember the first meeting that I had with Lorna, along with the other two Assistant Outreach & Education Division Chiefs. I made the comment that because of our reorganization we need to make our field staff aware of our chain-of-command. Lorna immediately said that she hated that word. I said, "What word?" David and Don, the other two Assistant Chiefs looked as puzzled as I did. She said, "Chain-of-command. I hate that word. It is so military." I said, "Well I guess we differ, because I like the military." Then I suggested the term "line-of-supervision" and she said that was fine, so we proceeded.

I began to hear Mr. Shanks talking again in my memory.

I remember just prior to my retirement Lorna put together a committee to plan a Division Conference. She named a young lady to be chair of that committee. At one of their meetings the chairperson suggested a main speaker, and one of the other committee members pointed out that this person had strong anti-hunting ties. The chairperson said, "So what is your point?" A main speaker at that conference ended up being a speaker with an anti-gun and anti-hunting history.

When the MDC decided to create the "Next Generation" plan, each Division was asked to participate. Rick Flint and Bryan Bethel were directly under my supervision at the time. I asked them each to submit to me ideas to include in parts of the Next Generation Plan. I also wrote several thoughts I had on the future of the MDC and how we could best serve the resource and the people. Naturally, a lot of Rick’s, Bryan’s, and my comments were tied to hunting and hunter education, fishing and aquatic education, trapping, shooting sports and shooting ranges, along with ideas on other outdoor activities. I submitted these to Lorna, who was my supervisor. When the Next Generation plan came out, I noticed none of Rick’s, Bryan’s, or my comments were included. I asked Lorna about this and she said she had forgotten to include our comments. Who would have ever thought that would happen?

Later Lorna said she wanted us to create a new education program called "LOS," Learning Outdoor Schools. The first part of this program was an aquatic education program. She had some of her hand-picked folks write this and then asked me to critique it. I read it and asked her how she could have an aquatic education program that did not include fishing. She sent it back and fishing was added as a voluntary alternate.

Another time, I was required to attend a leadership training course which our current Director was also attending. When we got to the course, only about half of the class that was signed up to attend was there. For whatever reason, the others had decided not to attend. At lunch, the Director asked several of us for suggestions to stop this from happening so often. He was concerned about the instructors’ time as well as costs of materials. I suggested that the supervisors of those employees could provide a written memo to explain why their employee or employees didn’t attend or call to cancel. One of the section leaders at the class looked at me and said that idea was archaic. I began to hear Mr. Shanks speaking again and began to count the days until my retirement.

Near the end of the same leadership training class, the instructor asked us to name a great leader that we had as a role model. The first name that came to my mind was President Ronald Reagan, not because of his political affiliation, but because of his leadership qualities. The Director raised his hand and the rest of us, who were being good subordinates, waited to hear from him. He stated that President Jimmy Carter was his leadership role model and I about fell out of my chair. The President that allowed American hostages to be held by Iranian terrorists for 444 days. The same hostages that were released while President Ronald Regan was taking the oath of office as President. I realized that based on the "archaic" comment and this one, that I was now a dinosaur (so to speak) and retirement couldn’t come too soon.

Mr. Shank’s prophecy had come true. I realized that we now have people in leadership and direction setting positions with a different kind of agenda. They lack the emotional attachment to hunting, fishing, and trapping, as well as any ties to the land. They do not understand why the 2nd amendment is so important to not just our enjoyment and way of life, but ultimately to our freedom.

Some have accused me of being a disgruntled, retired employee and that is fine. If having strong feelings for the history of the MDC and the many great people who have and are working there is being disgruntled, then I am disgruntled. If loving the sights and sounds of the woods coming alive while I seek game, or watching the swirl of large fish moving towards my lure is being disgruntled, then I am disgruntled. If watching a young boy or girl shoot their first quail, or seeing them feel that familiar tug on the end of their line is being disgruntled, then I am disgruntled. If loving the familiar smell of gun powder and Hoppe’s gun oil, or getting goose bumps and a lump in my throat when I hear the Star Spangled Banner, labels me as archaic and disgruntled, then so be it. I’ll bet there are a lot of us that fit that definition and we just want to see future generations have the opportunity for those same memories.

Mr. Shanks, if you can hear me, then God Bless you and your words of wisdom that a 16 year old boy could never forget.


-Bob Staton

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MDC Working Against Shooters

Tuesday May 27th, 2008

When I first learned to shoot it was at boy scout camp. I remember the thrill and excitement leading up to the day we were going to be able to fire those guns. Such Power. Such Excitement. My eyes must have been gleaming with wonder as the scout master handed both me and my father a square wooden block drilled with 5 holes in it that each held a .22 caliber round. Each of the boys took our turns laying in the prone while my father and the scout master carefully looked on and provided instructions.

Since those days I have had many more visits to gun ranges all over the state and country and some of those have included visits to the MDC manned ranges. I don't know when I started to take notice, but maybe it was during my teenage years where I was still learning how to become an accomplished shooter. It was always usually a passing comment but not much more than that. Surely nothing to get angry about. I'm talking about the desire of some shooters to use targets other than what I now know is the politically correct target of choice issued by the MDC at their manned ranges.

Even today as I talk with shooters, it sometimes comes up in conversation that they wish they could use the B-27 or similar human silhouette paper targets allowed at almost any other range you or I may visit.

There are many paper target varieties on the market these days and many law enforcement professionals as well as those who train under IDPA or IPSC standards use these sorts of targets.

So what is wrong with using these kinds of targets? Well for starters, the MDC leadership clearly believes that using these sort of human silhouette targets are not the kind of image they want the public to see. They in recent testimony have called them "dangerous". Can you see the horror of someone shooting at the image of another human being when training or learning to use their firearm for self defense?

Well, this past yeat a bill in the Missouri General Assembly would have allowed shooters at MDC manned ranges to use these silhouette style targets and the MDC fought the bill sponsors and the NRA tooth and nail. The MDC clearly does not want these types of targets being used at its ranges and is throwing every punch it can to keep them out. This also includes animal silhouette type paper targets.

The MDC approached the bill's sponsor and testified in committee that it would have to spend over $100,000 to alter the current target stands to be able to use the silhouette targets. The NRA researched the issue and found that it would only costs $6000 to alter the target stands. Clearly the MDC is doing and saying whatever it can to keep these politically correct paper silhouette targets out of hands of shooters that visit their facilities.

This is just another glaring example of where the MDC leadership stands when it comes to serving the wants and needs of the shooting community. We feel it would be a great step in the right direction to be able to allow shooters the use of silhouette targets on MDC manned ranges. However as usual the MDC is only worried what a few liberal fringe anti-gun groups would think if they made the step in that direction.

MDC Kills Hunter Voter Bill

Not only did the MDC testify in Senate Committee against human and animal paper silhouette style targets, they worked very hard to put down and kill a bill that would have signed up hunters and anglers as new voters! HB 2321 would have allowed permit retailers and vendors in Missouri to hand out a voter registration card. The permit buyer would be able to fill it out and send it in and be registered to vote. Why would the MDC not want more hunters and anglers to be able to vote? They claimed that this would put an un-needed burden on retailers and vendors and testified against this bill in committee. The bill actually passed out of the house but MDC efforts in the Senate killed the bill and made sure it never came up for a vote.

LORNA DOMKE DONATES TO ANTI-GUN CANDIDATES

More pro-hunting and fishing voters means more pro-hunting and fishing candidates and that is absolutley the opposite direction the current MDC Director and MDC Outreach & Education Director, Lorna Domke want to go in. After all, Domke has a history in donating money to anti-gun candidates endorsed members of the Brady Campaign such as Wesley Clark and Barack Hussien Obama. LINK

It's obvious to those who are paying attention that the MDC leadership is turning their backs on hunters and shooters. You're voice can make a difference!

If you feel the MDC leadership is making the wrong choices, don't call them and tell them about it because time and time again, evidence shows they don't listen anyway. Call your local state legislator or senator and ask that they pressure the MDC commission to make a complete change in leadership at the MDC. Only the MDC commission can approve changes internally to MDC upper management, and legislators can control the commission through law changes and pulling of the purse strings.

Please visit the below website to find your local legislator and urge them to support change in leadership. http://www.moga.mo.gov

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NRA Lead-Ban Victory

Thursday April 24th, 2008

The state of Minnesota attempted to pass a lead-ban on small game hunters for public land similar to what was passed here in Missouri last year. The only difference, elected representatives of the people withdrew the bill whereas in Missouri, the non-elected MDC leadership and its regulations committee has the final say what is legal and what is not.

Federal Cartridge Corp. and the National Rifle Association joined together to use their influence to convince the legislature that this was a bad law backed up by junk science. Not to mention the fact that this law would be bad for the Minnisota economy and ammunition workers in the state. Thank goodness the NRA and Federal took a stand to defeat this proposed law. If only we could get someone in the state of Missouri to stand up to the MDC and get them to reverse the lead regualtion passed last year.

We find it very alarming that unelected MDC leadership has so much say in the ammunition that hunters can use when taking to the field. Especially since past polling by the MDC clearly states that small game hunters want NO FURTHER regulation on lead shot. Perhaps the NRA will soon turn their attention to Missouri to work with the MDC on what many see as a baby step in an alarming politically correct trend in forcefully eliminating lead bullets and shotshells.

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Sen. Dan Clemens Remarks

State Senator Dan Clemens makes remarks on the Missouri Senate Floor expressing his concerns with the current leadership at the MDC. Please read his remarks and forward them on to others who may wish to read them. Click Here

Report to Elected Officials

Please download and pass on the Take Back The MDC report to elected officials concerning the current state of the Missouri Department of Conservation. Please call your state elected representatives and senators and tell them that you are concerned with the Leadership at the MDC. Tell them you want change!

Download HERE

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