BOB DUNCAN, exec-
Duncan said the brunt of his effort would be spent on reaching out to the agencies' many external constituent groups while working to rebuild employee confidence and morale internally.
During an interview last week, he said--and reports from agency watchers and insiders concur--that the last few months have seen
Duncan, former chief of the agency's wildlife division, began work with the General Assembly in mid-session. Duncan seized the opportunity to get to know key committee members in the House of Delegates and Senate and work to build a relationship with members of the assembly's sportsmen's caucus.
In working through certain pieces of legislation problematic for DGIF, as well as those the agency saw desirable, Duncan said he benefited from one-on-one conversations, constructive criticisms and positive feedback.
"I think we established a foundation for an improved relationship," he said.
He said he heeded the "sense of the General Assembly that more interpersonal contact with constituents was needed." One result is a change to the way the department develops and approves regulatory changes.
"We'll have town meetings to get input and a board meeting to further scope public sentiment, and then some serious staff work to present final recommendations to the board," he explained.
ROAD WARRIOR
Duncan said he has traveled some 7,000 road miles, meeting with sportsmen's clubs and associations, and sharing his views of how DGIF is eager to get back to the basics in terms of supporting core constituencies.
"I've spoken to more hunt clubs than I could begin to tell you about and many more are already lined up. This is a concerted effort to work with all of our conservation partners and I think it is paying dividends," Duncan said.
Among the efforts, a recent meeting in Keysville formed the Virginia Quail Council, designed to promote quail habitat and restoration of a once great game bird.
During a meeting with a Virginia taxidermists group, Duncan said he encouraged them to develop a list of questions or issues related
At the 19th annual Isaac Walton League Ethics Banquet in Loudoun County, Duncan said the department's ongoing study of deer hunting with hounds arose. "Some people still don't understand the study's objectives. We want to do this right, protect hound hunting and balance it, also, with the interests of landowners," he said.
But, Duncan said he also told banquet attendees, "If everyone followed the conservation ethics of Teddy Roosevelt and others who pioneered the conservation efforts in this country, we wouldn't even be having something like a hound study."
Internally, Duncan said he has met with every regional DGIF office and that he is receiving feedback, "wonderful, candid discussion," as he describes it. He said he is hearing that employees are feeling more empowered and more confident in doing their jobs.
He calls the employee suggestion box, started by previous Acting Director Mike Bise his "trap line."
"I ran my trap line this morning," he recalls telling the DGIF board one day, noting he is looking for any good ideas agency staff can generate.
Dollars are Tight
Funding is on everybody's mind.
The department has a $51.3 million budget this year, a number that, when projected into future years, will not sustain the agency's existing workforce, Duncan said, adding that the budget is traditionally split between 60 percent allocated for personnel costs and 40 percent for operational costs.
"We're acutely aware of the challenges of $4-a-gallon gasoline, not only in terms of our own transportation, but also for boating, recreational fishing, and people traveling to hunt," he said.
Still to be determined is how fuel costs might affect license purchases, which are the backbone of the agency's funding.
Duncan said he assessed DGIF's vehicle fleet, looking at vehicle types and utilization rates, and ensuring people used vehicles appropriate to the mission. This effort alone saved some $500,000, he said.
He curtailed all out-of-state travel during the last quarter of the fiscal year and cut the travel budget 36 percent for this year.
Advertising now pays printing costs for the game-laws digest and other products. Job vacancies are not automatically filled. Instead, senior management assesses whether positions can be held vacant or restructured.
"One big job ahead is to look at new revenue sources, while being mindful of the need to stretch the sportsman's dollar wherever we can," Duncan said.
"There's nothing to really tee up yet, but we're looking at a lot of things," he said.
One point often on the mind of people buying hunting or fishing licenses, or registering boats, is that they pay for a lot of habitat work and programs that benefit many who don't contribute
Duncan recognizes this and also notes that DGIF conservation police officers are often called to assist other public safety efforts, such as search and rescue missions or accidents. He broached the notion that, perhaps, some portion of these officers' pay should come from the general fund and not from license revenues.
Beyond habitat and other field work, DGIF also has aging infrastructure, with deteriorating fish hatcheries and some crumbling dams.
"We've been mining our infrastructure, not putting enough resources into it for
Duncan said he knows people are also interested in having more public access to places to hunt and fish and he said DGIF is hoping for some state bond money to allow some land acquisition.
No doubt these are interesting times to be managing a state fish and wildlife organization. Duncan has shown great energy out of the chute. It's bound to be
Ken Perrotte can be reached at The Free Lance-Star, 616 Amelia Street, Fredericksburg, Va. 22401, by fax at 373-8455 or e-mail
Email: outdoors@freelancestar.com.