What do Jesus Christ, Edward Abbey, St. James, Ted Bundy and John Wayne Gacy have in common?
The names of all five gentlemen were invoked during last week's debate on my blog over the morality, legality and spirituality of Maryland's black bear hunt.
Bet you didn't see that one coming.
But that's not all. Supporters and opponents each found Scripture to lob across the Internet at each other (but no Koran passages). Postings were a Scrabble game of written shrieks that included: moron, pathetic, twisted, useless, crazies, tree-hugger and killer. Those were just the ones the moderator approved.
We even got vile, life-threatening comments from anti-hunters in Paris — according to the IP address — and a horse enthusiast from Austin, Texas, who rents out her steed, Unicorn, for Hindu weddings.
I'm not making this up.
The horror reached rock bottom when a woman tried to post an opinion that mocked the three hunters who fell to their deaths from tree stands this fall. One hunter was found by his 14-year-old son and another was an elderly man who recently lost his wife to cancer.
Have you no sense of decency, lady? Guess not.
We caught that post before anyone — especially the grieving families — could see it.
Some folks have attempted to whitewash the insanity with a thin veneer of passion, as in, "_____ is very passionate about the topic."
Nope, not excusing this stuff.
After more than a decade in this job, I swear to you these kinds of things NEVER happen on the fishing side of the outdoors, where critters do indeed die. Only PETA jumps in to denounce the demise of "sea kittens," its rebranding of fish.
Luckily, Maryland's bear season is at an end (67 bears have been checked in) and the debate — such as it is — moves north to New Jersey, where the state is preparing for its first black bear hunt in five years to reduce the population by about 250 bears.
Of course, my week was nothing compared with the week of Josh Briggs, the sports editor of the Covington News, who used his column to trash deer hunting. He's in Georgia. Which has 302,200 deer hunters. Who harvested 398,917 deer in 2008-2009. A state that "boasts a rich hunting tradition," according to its website.
It takes a certain amount of bravery or foolishness to do what he did. I can't imagine writing: "What's with this steamed crab thing? All that work for a little pile of meat that has to be smothered in a glop of spices?"
Wait, I just did. But I didn't mean it. Really.
Anyway, Briggs heard from lots of folks, who questioned his spelling and grammar, his manhood and his military service. As happened here, civil discourse took another direct hit.
In a put-out-the-fires-at-all-costs rebuttal, News general manager T. Pat Cavanaugh admitted, "The shock of what he wrote caused me to spill my coffee on myself and almost choke on my muffin."
The tsunami of caffeine and wad of baked dough didn't change much. Briggs still has his job and Georgia hunters are still hunting.
As Cavanaugh concluded: "We look at your thoughts, either ones we like, or we don't like, as proof that the First Amendment, in spite of the attacks on its existence, is still alive and well and protecting all of us from tyranny."
So let's continue to discuss and debate among ourselves. But let's keep it civil.
Buoying the budget
Everything rolls downhill. Even on the water.
So when the economy slowed boat sales, the state Waterway Improvement Fund — filled with boat excise taxes — took a big hit. Revenue plummeted from $30 million in 2006 to $15 million this year.
"Little boats under $10,000 are selling fine," says Bob Gaudette, director of DNR's Boating Services Unit. "The ones in the $250,000 range, they're just not selling. That's where a good chunk of our money came from. People are looking but not buying."
Looking for budget cuts, Gaudette and his staff reviewed the inventory of 3,000 buoys, which mark hazards and obstructions, wake and speed zones, swimming areas and fishing reefs in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. On average, buoys cost $700 apiece annually to maintain, making them one of the unit's biggest expenses.
After discussing the list with the Fisheries Service and Natural Resources Police, Gaudette selected 800 for permanent removal.
The Fisheries Service already has paid to have several buoys restored, such as the Memorial Stadium reef site in the upper bay. Residents who want to plead their case can do so using a request form on DNR's website under the "Boating" tab.
"The complaints, so far, have been minimal. If there are regulated areas that need beefing up or there's an enforcement issue, we'll reconsider," Gaudette says. "But if someone is asking for a buoy to make the boats go away, that's not going to happen."