Dear Editor, The media coverage this winter on returning the mountain lion to the state generated a good discussion. Wildlife advocates pushed, and the leadership team at the Fish and Wildlife Department pushed back, urging caution. This one issue exemplifies the many contentious wildlife iss ues where the department has taken a firm position against what wildlife advocates seek. The battlegrounds have included recreational trapping, bear hounding and treating coyotes as vermin. These conflicts aren’t simply hunters versus nonhunters. The real explanation lies in a major values survey that shines a bright light on why these controversial wildlife practices are so protected by Fish and Wildlife. An America’s Wildlife Values study, supported by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and led by Colorado State University, surveyed Vermonters, with a separate survey of Fish and Wildlife staff. Those results are remarkable, if not stunning. Among Vermonters, the largest group (34%) are mutualists, who score low on domination and believe wildlife and humans are meant to coexist. However, in the Fish and Wildlife staff survey, mutualists barely showed a pulse, with only 5.1% of staff identifying as such. Conversely, nearly 68% of Fish and Wildlife staff identify as traditionalists, who score high on the domination scale. That figure is more than 2.5 times the rate among Vermonters. The chasm between staff and the public extends to hunting and fishing: While 21% of Vermonters fish and 15% hunt, 82% of Fish and Wildlife staff fish and 86% hunt. On the subject of mountain lions, the vast majority of staff (88.7%) believed management favors herbivores over carnivores, hence the resistance to lions and the policy of treating the state’s apex predator as vermin. While the results of any survey may be questioned, it is worth noting that one of the co-authors is a trusted and long-standing Fish and Wildlife consultant. The Fish and Wildlife Board is even more lopsided, with nearly all members identifying as traditionalists. What’s striking is that a branch of government that purports to serve all Vermonters has been staffed not with mission as paramount but rather agenda. The executive branch has actively ensured Vermonters’ values are unrepresented in a division that some see as a glorified fish and game club rather than an agency serving all Vermonters fairly. READ MORE Many Vermonters feel the wildlife governance system is broken. The Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, Fish and Wildlife’s dues-paying trade group, the Wildlife Society, and even the majority of Fish and Wildlife staff believe agencies must focus more on adapting to change. AFWA has issued a report calling for agency transformation: “Every citizen has a stake in and benefits from healthy fish and wildlife, but most have little contact with or understanding of the state agency responsible for their stewardship. To remain relevant, state fish and wildlife agencies will need to transform their structures, operations and cultures to meet the changing expectations of their customers. If state fish and wildlife agencies fail to adapt, their ability to manage fish and wildlife will be hindered and the public and political support compromised.” Tragically, Vermont is the poster child of an agency that no longer reflects Vermonters and desperately needs transformation. Fish and Wildlife is in the crosshairs of fiscal, identity and wildlife crises. Reinvention is possible, but not under the current model. It’s time for our laws, the department’s stated mission and Vermont’s constitution to be honored.  Walter Medwid  Derby, Vt. Read the story on VTDigger here: Vermont’s wildlife agency doesn’t represent Vermont. ...read more read less