BLAGO - His most vile tax is a toll on belief ...

EXITING THE SYSTEM: GOV. BLAGOJEVICH'S ATTACK ON ILLINOIS OUTDOORS

Cuts in money, manpower, moxie have sapped faith, trust of hunters
April 27, 2008
BY DALE BOWMAN Staff Reporter

''The operator is not available. Exiting the system. Goodbye.''
--Frequent automatic message at Starved Rock State Park
Kevin Baker was buying his Illinois fishing license online last month when he saw a line that asked if he wanted to donate $3 ''to some type of conservation fund.''
''I'm sorry I didn't take note of what the fund was, but I clicked 'no' so fast that I didn't even give myself a chance to see what fund I was being asked to donate to,'' he e-mailed. ''Here's the equation: State Web Site + State-Sponsored Fund Supported by Outdoorsmen = More Money That Can Be Diverted From Its Original Intent.''
Loss of trust and faith might be the ultimate cost of Gov. Blagojevich's tenure-long assault on Illinois outdoors.
The last couple of weeks, I've been gathering documentation of the consequences of Blagojevich's cutting of the Department of Natural Resources (we'll get to long-term impact at specific sites in coming Sundays), but what comes through more sharply than the actual cuts in money, manpower and moxie is the toll on belief.
Ultimately and quickly, that translates into a loss of dollars and a loss of outdoor opportunity in a state where expenditures on hunting, fishing and wildlife viewing top $2 billion annually.
Faith and trust are not things easily regained, and sometimes they never are.
The fund Baker is referring to is the Illinois Conservation Foundation, a public-private foundation that has done good the last decade. I paid the $3 donation to the ICF but fully understand Baker's thinking.
You can't trust anything associated with the Blagojevich administration. Period.
Illinois has a $5 habitat stamp. Since it was enacted in 1992, most hunters gladly have paid the fee for the stamp. It was hunters who asked for it. The money is stockpiled to purchase habitat for wildlife.
Gerry Rodeen, a pioneer in Illinois habitat restoration and a national board member of Pheasants Forever, said he thought hunters would go for a $10 habitat stamp, but not while Blagojevich is in office.
Very simply, we don't trust that the money would end up going for habitat.
That's a pathetic pronouncement on the Blagojevich years.
Trust is completely gone. And that shows in many ways. In the last five years, I've had to track down some seemingly absurd rumors about the IDNR, only to find out some were true.
The latest rumor -- the state is not mailing out deer-permit applications -- is not true. The applications were mailed, just absurdly late.
''I've been receiving some calls about rumors that IDNR does not have the money to mail out deer applications this year,'' IDNR spokesman Chris McCloud was compelled to write. ''This is not true. Just to let you all know, the IDNR mailed out over 170,000 deer applications over the last few weeks. Those folks that haven't received them by now should start seeing them any day.''
But it would have been believable, as reader Bud Barzano theorized when asking me about the rumor: ''Maybe this was his thinking: If nobody has deer permits, we can close the parks, fire the DNR and send the money to the Windy City for some good Democrat causes. Anyway, I was just amazed that this is happening, and I had to hear it from a total stranger.''
It has come to that. We believe the rantings of a stranger about Blagojevich.
Last week, a veteran site superintendent was documenting the dilapidation mounting at state sites under Blagojevich when he added: ''Morale in the department seems to be [at an] all-time low. The professional association has a saying that the beatings will continue until morale improves.''
We're the ones taking the beating.