05/30/2026
What we witnessed yesterday at the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commissioners' Meeting was an absolute travesty of the democratic process that should have every Texan who cares about wildlife and wild things enraged.
The State gives us very limited means and limited access to the Commissioners to begin with: no phone numbers, no email addresses and no access to their staff to be heard. Only the singular opinion portal and that only for limited subjects and for a very limited time.
And still, Texans spoke out loud and clear even within those confines!!
The State's survey regarding their newly proposed regulations garnered a 95% DISSAPROVAL RATE!!
About 1400 TEXANS took time out of their day to let the department know that they were off track, out of touch and off base in their handling of wildlife rehabilitors.
87% disagreed with every word of the new proposal.
And yet it passed.
There are only 200 wildlife rehabilitators in Texas trying to serve all 254 counties
FOR. FREE!!!
There are about 550 Game Wardens.
The State's PAID staff are underpaid, overworked, and the Department is constantly understaffed and recruiting new employees.
Do you see the problem yet??
The department's mismanaging of our indigenous whitetail deer populations, prioritizing profits from high-fenced genetically freakish big antlered trophies over Texas' native deer populations and long-standing sustainable, sustenance hunting heritage has allowed Chronic Wasting Disease to threaten our state.
They did that.
Their policies.
Their overcrowded deer FARMS.
Not wild life.
And certainly not rehabbers.
At nearly 60, I'm the YOUNGEST rehabber in my county. The State is so unwelcoming to new rehabbers, the process so cumbersome, that few new, young people are willing to jump thru the hoops to come on board.
The State says you need to document 600 HOURS of VOLUNTEER WORK to become a new rehabber.
I say you need 15 minutes of training to learn how to pass a feeding tube into the stomach of an orphaned possum to be of great help to me out here in the real world.
Even though we heard Commissioners say things like, "I don't think we've ever voted on changes with this poor of an approval rating", they still moved forward.
They knew.
But still they voted.
And approved them.
And it's not that I'm mad about this effect on me, my life, my veterinarian, my finances and my support network (though certainly I am).
I'm mad for the wildlife. Enraged you might even say.
..every migrating bird that falls off course because there's so much light pollution.
..every songbird taken out of a domestic cat's mouth
. .every deer hit by a car or entangled in a fence that carelessly crosses his territory
...Every tiny, starved baby raccoon whose mom was trapped and hauled off or shot for no crime other than trying to survive right where her ancestors had.
We try to repay just the tiniest fraction back to the wildlife of all the harm humans cause in bulldozing pristine habitat into "masterplanned communities", by our criss-crossing roadways and incessant light and noise pollution.
We give our hearts and souls and every dollar we can earn, beg or borrow...
.. while the bureaucrats in Austin with their clean hands and fancy clothes and desk jobs sit pompously and act outside the loud and clear will of their constituency and tie our hands. And with absolutely -0- idea about what goes on in the real world out here.
You should be ashamed.
Every one of you.
Their blood is on your hands.
***I don't think any of our elected officials are listening, but feel free to share***
