Former Ca Fish and Game Comission President Gives Interview
Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2014 12:58 pm
Dan Richards gives an interview with Western Outdoor News regarding the Lion Situation in California
BY PAT McDONELL AND BILL KARR/Editors, Western Outdoor NewsPublished: Oct 02, 2014
After a recent attack on a young boy, who survived when his father intervened, and the media response by the DFW who continues to cling to population figures in the 1970s, WON asked former California State Fish and Game Commissioner and President Dan Richards some questions about the Department’s policies concerning the Mountain Lion. He was appointed to the 5-member state commission, which sets California fish and game laws by then Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2008.
A photo of Richards with a mountain lion he shot in Idaho that appeared in WON went viral. While hunting lions in California is illegal, it is not in Idaho, and Richards not only told the media and critics – particularly then state Senator Ben Hueso, D-San Diego, that the Idaho hunt and lion kill was perfectly legal, but that it was “none of your (Hueso’s) business” what he did outside California. Hueso drafted a bill that at first requested Richard’s immediate ouster, but was later amended to “ensure we have competent, ethical, principled commissioners serving our community.” However, the Hueso measure, signed by Gov. Jerry Brown, was amended to not include Richard’s ouster, but set forth a code of conduct for all appointed commissioners. Richards continued on as commission president until he was voted out of his presidency Aug. 8 in a commission board meeting in Ventura.
DAN RICHARDS
Assemblyman Hueso had his own issues with ethics, before and after his public criticism of Richards. Most recently, Hueso was arrested on DUI charges with 0.15 blood-alcohol content after driving the wrong way on a one way Sacramento street at 2:39 a.m. on Friday, Aug, 22 while in a state-owned vehicle. His ethical behavior was suspect years before. He was investigated for campaign contribution irregularities in 2010 as a member of the San Diego City Council, and was fined $17,000 by the state’s Ethics Commission for continuing to raise money in 2006 for an election that never took place, reported the San Diego Union-Tribune in Nov. 26, 2010. He had won the June primary but his name was not on the ballot in the general election.
The commission eventually agreed in a unanimous vote that it would, best for the commission to have a new leader in negotiations with various groups on both sides of the fishing and hunting issues. The commissioners named sportsman and then vice-chair Jim Kellogg to the top post, and voted Michael Sutton to co-chair to fill that post vacated by Kellogg. Sutton now serves at president of the commission. Richards, a resident of Chino, served out his position on the commission when his 6-year term ended Jan. 1, 2013. As an appointee, Richards, like all commissioners, was paid $100 per meeting in those six years.
Since then, Richards, an Upland resident and businessman, has been an outspoken critic of DFW and commission policies that with Sutton as president, are deferential to animal rights groups, specifically the Humane Society.
— — —
WON: Why does the DFW continue to report only “4,000 to 5,000” mountain lions reside in California when the last actual DFW survey was done in the 1970s?
RICHARDS: It’s inconvenient for them to acknowledge the truth. Remember, the public voted by proposition to ban the management of the Mountain Lion. Instead of the Department publishing accurate data that shows what a travesty this is, they simply ignore it and hope it’s not one of their children or grandchildren who’s the victim of the next attack. While they should be doing regular, sophisticated surveys of the population and the species interaction with the public and publishing the same, what they’re directed to study are the over reaching listings of “endangered” species.
Since I’ve been off the Commission they have listed for study more species than they did in any 2 year period prior. The Commission is obsessed with listing turtles, frogs, great white sharks or wolves, who aren’t even in the State, as endangered so their granola friends can raise more money preaching about themselves “saving” various species while deer and elk herds continue to decline in the western U.S. in large measure because of the increase in Mountain Lions in California and Wolf populations in Wyoming, Idaho, Utah and Colorado. It’s truly crazy and symptomatic of the inverse priority system they administer for the benefit of their constituency which is NOT the general public but rather these enviro terrorists groups.
Mind you, on occasions, these groups are actually helpful and serving a valid purpose but overall, they are fund raising outfits that benefit the employees of those groups and cause huge amounts of unneeded work from DFW personnel who get side tracked to carry out mandates for their enviro-terrorist friends and keep DFW staff from their core job. Of course, some will argue their core job is to be on these side-tracks but we’ll never get to an agreement on that!
WON: Why does the DFW continue to say that mountain lion encounters are “extremely uncommon” when they appear in news reports statewide on almost a weekly basis?
RICHARDS: They have created a system that minimizes the accurate dissemination of data to cover up the real number of encounters. By limiting the flow of honest, accurate and timely data they can make the problem appear to be much smaller than it is. Many people within the department, especially the older wardens and scientists, believe that some of the “missing persons” in lion country have been victims of cats BUT they cannot prove that and it’s contrary to Department Policy so they stay quiet.
WON: How can the DFW continue to say that mountain lions are “secretive” and “elusive” when there are so many documented cases of mountain lions sightings and encounters with humans?
RICHARDS: Well they are secretive and elusive for starters but that doesn’t mean they’re non-existent which is something altogether different. Mountain lions are awesome creatures. I’ll guarantee you that for every one sighting of a cat, there were thousands of cats who “sighted” the humans and were never seen. They’re really, really stealthy animals. I’ve seen trail camera pictures of mountain lions stalking deer, who have super high senses of smell and hearing, who had no idea they were about to become dinner. Again, it’s just an inconvenient truth for them so they stick to the same script every time something happens.
WON: Why are there so many cases of the DFW saying that “this encounter is extremely uncommon,” when they are more and more common throughout the state?
RICHARDS: Listen, I’m offended by this every time I see it. Here’s the reality and it’s ugly. We will see human beings killed by mountain lions in ever increasing numbers. It sickens me and I’m angered it’s going to happen. It’s reality. There are more cats than they want to acknowledge and the cats are recognizing that humans are not to be feared. The tragedies that will follow will be horrific in their detail and will “shock” some people but as sure as we’re sitting here, it’s going to happen. Sadly, no one will take any “responsibility” for it and you can guarantee the Department will hide behind the proposition card on their liability. But the good news is they’ll have good data on the non-existent wolf population in California!!
WON: Wouldn’t mountain lions lose their fear of man over generations of lions being bred, and living within, close proximity of humans? At what point would a carnivore and predator that is wiping out its natural prey (deer) begin to consider other options of meal?
RICHARDS: There is a book called “The Beast in the Garden” that I read many years ago. Our daughter went to school in Boulder and this true story revolves around that very issue the residents faced in Boulder and the tragic consequences. Reality is something very different from the propaganda BS promoted by all these Save the Lion groups. Mountain Lions are Apex predators who stalk and kill their prey. Humans, either on their turf or not, are simply food for them. When there are too many cats we’ll continue to see these types of incidents, plain and simple.
WON: Why do you think the new DFW Director, Chuck Bonham, changed all of the depredation rules for handling mountain lions, loosening up on the handling of them, to prefer scaring them away or tranquilizing and moving them, when that process has long been known to only "move the problem to another area"?
RICHARDS: Bonham is a puppet of the enviro-terrorists and does a great job for them. He’s actually one of them. His agenda is their agenda. I found him to be a decent man but wholly committed to their causes. Expecting anything else from him is foolhardy.
WON: Do you believe his close affiliation with the anti-hunting, animal-rights group Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is part of the reason?
RICHARDS: Of course it is. HSUS has gotten their just due lately and it’s about time. I’ve always felt they are a real sham outfit and deceived so many for so long. It’s been nice to see them get exposed. Having said that, there are a boat load of folks who are oblivious to that reality and continue to think they’re saving dogs and cats at shelters.
WON: Do you believe that the new policy might have resulted in this attack on the 6-year-old boy, and others to follow?
RICHARDS: Regrettably, I’m positive we’ll see others to follow. The recent attack was by a very young cat. Had that been a 150-pound adult male, the incident would have been much, much different. It’s only a matter of time until this becomes more commonplace or maybe I should say ‘is reported’ more accurately. I’m deeply troubled that the next story will not have the same ending but when it happens, and it surely will, you’ll not hear one word from the Mountain Lion groups, you’ll hear limiting info from DFW and not one soul in the Department will acknowledge any liability but rather put it back on the public who voted in the Proposition! Classic government gone haywire. Lastly, I honestly don’t see any leadership to change the current program. If one or two people are eaten alive every year by Mountain Lions it will simply be reported as “sad and tragic” BUT they’ll say the victims were in the cat’s turf or some such blather. Excuses will be rampant but accountability will be zero.
BY PAT McDONELL AND BILL KARR/Editors, Western Outdoor NewsPublished: Oct 02, 2014
After a recent attack on a young boy, who survived when his father intervened, and the media response by the DFW who continues to cling to population figures in the 1970s, WON asked former California State Fish and Game Commissioner and President Dan Richards some questions about the Department’s policies concerning the Mountain Lion. He was appointed to the 5-member state commission, which sets California fish and game laws by then Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2008.
A photo of Richards with a mountain lion he shot in Idaho that appeared in WON went viral. While hunting lions in California is illegal, it is not in Idaho, and Richards not only told the media and critics – particularly then state Senator Ben Hueso, D-San Diego, that the Idaho hunt and lion kill was perfectly legal, but that it was “none of your (Hueso’s) business” what he did outside California. Hueso drafted a bill that at first requested Richard’s immediate ouster, but was later amended to “ensure we have competent, ethical, principled commissioners serving our community.” However, the Hueso measure, signed by Gov. Jerry Brown, was amended to not include Richard’s ouster, but set forth a code of conduct for all appointed commissioners. Richards continued on as commission president until he was voted out of his presidency Aug. 8 in a commission board meeting in Ventura.
DAN RICHARDS
Assemblyman Hueso had his own issues with ethics, before and after his public criticism of Richards. Most recently, Hueso was arrested on DUI charges with 0.15 blood-alcohol content after driving the wrong way on a one way Sacramento street at 2:39 a.m. on Friday, Aug, 22 while in a state-owned vehicle. His ethical behavior was suspect years before. He was investigated for campaign contribution irregularities in 2010 as a member of the San Diego City Council, and was fined $17,000 by the state’s Ethics Commission for continuing to raise money in 2006 for an election that never took place, reported the San Diego Union-Tribune in Nov. 26, 2010. He had won the June primary but his name was not on the ballot in the general election.
The commission eventually agreed in a unanimous vote that it would, best for the commission to have a new leader in negotiations with various groups on both sides of the fishing and hunting issues. The commissioners named sportsman and then vice-chair Jim Kellogg to the top post, and voted Michael Sutton to co-chair to fill that post vacated by Kellogg. Sutton now serves at president of the commission. Richards, a resident of Chino, served out his position on the commission when his 6-year term ended Jan. 1, 2013. As an appointee, Richards, like all commissioners, was paid $100 per meeting in those six years.
Since then, Richards, an Upland resident and businessman, has been an outspoken critic of DFW and commission policies that with Sutton as president, are deferential to animal rights groups, specifically the Humane Society.
— — —
WON: Why does the DFW continue to report only “4,000 to 5,000” mountain lions reside in California when the last actual DFW survey was done in the 1970s?
RICHARDS: It’s inconvenient for them to acknowledge the truth. Remember, the public voted by proposition to ban the management of the Mountain Lion. Instead of the Department publishing accurate data that shows what a travesty this is, they simply ignore it and hope it’s not one of their children or grandchildren who’s the victim of the next attack. While they should be doing regular, sophisticated surveys of the population and the species interaction with the public and publishing the same, what they’re directed to study are the over reaching listings of “endangered” species.
Since I’ve been off the Commission they have listed for study more species than they did in any 2 year period prior. The Commission is obsessed with listing turtles, frogs, great white sharks or wolves, who aren’t even in the State, as endangered so their granola friends can raise more money preaching about themselves “saving” various species while deer and elk herds continue to decline in the western U.S. in large measure because of the increase in Mountain Lions in California and Wolf populations in Wyoming, Idaho, Utah and Colorado. It’s truly crazy and symptomatic of the inverse priority system they administer for the benefit of their constituency which is NOT the general public but rather these enviro terrorists groups.
Mind you, on occasions, these groups are actually helpful and serving a valid purpose but overall, they are fund raising outfits that benefit the employees of those groups and cause huge amounts of unneeded work from DFW personnel who get side tracked to carry out mandates for their enviro-terrorist friends and keep DFW staff from their core job. Of course, some will argue their core job is to be on these side-tracks but we’ll never get to an agreement on that!
WON: Why does the DFW continue to say that mountain lion encounters are “extremely uncommon” when they appear in news reports statewide on almost a weekly basis?
RICHARDS: They have created a system that minimizes the accurate dissemination of data to cover up the real number of encounters. By limiting the flow of honest, accurate and timely data they can make the problem appear to be much smaller than it is. Many people within the department, especially the older wardens and scientists, believe that some of the “missing persons” in lion country have been victims of cats BUT they cannot prove that and it’s contrary to Department Policy so they stay quiet.
WON: How can the DFW continue to say that mountain lions are “secretive” and “elusive” when there are so many documented cases of mountain lions sightings and encounters with humans?
RICHARDS: Well they are secretive and elusive for starters but that doesn’t mean they’re non-existent which is something altogether different. Mountain lions are awesome creatures. I’ll guarantee you that for every one sighting of a cat, there were thousands of cats who “sighted” the humans and were never seen. They’re really, really stealthy animals. I’ve seen trail camera pictures of mountain lions stalking deer, who have super high senses of smell and hearing, who had no idea they were about to become dinner. Again, it’s just an inconvenient truth for them so they stick to the same script every time something happens.
WON: Why are there so many cases of the DFW saying that “this encounter is extremely uncommon,” when they are more and more common throughout the state?
RICHARDS: Listen, I’m offended by this every time I see it. Here’s the reality and it’s ugly. We will see human beings killed by mountain lions in ever increasing numbers. It sickens me and I’m angered it’s going to happen. It’s reality. There are more cats than they want to acknowledge and the cats are recognizing that humans are not to be feared. The tragedies that will follow will be horrific in their detail and will “shock” some people but as sure as we’re sitting here, it’s going to happen. Sadly, no one will take any “responsibility” for it and you can guarantee the Department will hide behind the proposition card on their liability. But the good news is they’ll have good data on the non-existent wolf population in California!!
WON: Wouldn’t mountain lions lose their fear of man over generations of lions being bred, and living within, close proximity of humans? At what point would a carnivore and predator that is wiping out its natural prey (deer) begin to consider other options of meal?
RICHARDS: There is a book called “The Beast in the Garden” that I read many years ago. Our daughter went to school in Boulder and this true story revolves around that very issue the residents faced in Boulder and the tragic consequences. Reality is something very different from the propaganda BS promoted by all these Save the Lion groups. Mountain Lions are Apex predators who stalk and kill their prey. Humans, either on their turf or not, are simply food for them. When there are too many cats we’ll continue to see these types of incidents, plain and simple.
WON: Why do you think the new DFW Director, Chuck Bonham, changed all of the depredation rules for handling mountain lions, loosening up on the handling of them, to prefer scaring them away or tranquilizing and moving them, when that process has long been known to only "move the problem to another area"?
RICHARDS: Bonham is a puppet of the enviro-terrorists and does a great job for them. He’s actually one of them. His agenda is their agenda. I found him to be a decent man but wholly committed to their causes. Expecting anything else from him is foolhardy.
WON: Do you believe his close affiliation with the anti-hunting, animal-rights group Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is part of the reason?
RICHARDS: Of course it is. HSUS has gotten their just due lately and it’s about time. I’ve always felt they are a real sham outfit and deceived so many for so long. It’s been nice to see them get exposed. Having said that, there are a boat load of folks who are oblivious to that reality and continue to think they’re saving dogs and cats at shelters.
WON: Do you believe that the new policy might have resulted in this attack on the 6-year-old boy, and others to follow?
RICHARDS: Regrettably, I’m positive we’ll see others to follow. The recent attack was by a very young cat. Had that been a 150-pound adult male, the incident would have been much, much different. It’s only a matter of time until this becomes more commonplace or maybe I should say ‘is reported’ more accurately. I’m deeply troubled that the next story will not have the same ending but when it happens, and it surely will, you’ll not hear one word from the Mountain Lion groups, you’ll hear limiting info from DFW and not one soul in the Department will acknowledge any liability but rather put it back on the public who voted in the Proposition! Classic government gone haywire. Lastly, I honestly don’t see any leadership to change the current program. If one or two people are eaten alive every year by Mountain Lions it will simply be reported as “sad and tragic” BUT they’ll say the victims were in the cat’s turf or some such blather. Excuses will be rampant but accountability will be zero.