DON'T EXPAND BOBCAT HUNTING

For as long as I can remember, the Southern Tier has been like a second home for me. I’ve spent many a weekend camping, hiking and hunting the forests of Allegany County.

Despite all of that time spent outdoors, in what is prime bobcat habitat, I’ve been lucky enough to see the wild felines only twice in my life. One of the sightings was a fleeting moment, just catching a glimpse of the cat as he ran off. The other was an awe-inspiring 10 minute show -- I will always remember the sight of that magnificent creature sauntering through a rocky hillside in search of its prey.

Most people I know who frequent the Allegheny foothills – residents and hunters alike – haven’t been so fortunate. I can count on one hand the number of them who have seen the cats. In comparison, most of them have seen black bears.

Granted, bobcats are shy creatures, but if they were common, wouldn’t I have been privy to more sightings? Wouldn’t my fellow outdoorsmen have seen evidence of their existence, from tracks to scat?

That is why I find it odd that the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has proposed rules that will open up more bobcat hunting and trapping. Once confined to the Adirondacks and the Catskills, the DEC would like to expand the harvest to the Southern Tier, in all counties along the Pennsylvania border.

This proposal was based on an alleged explosion in New York’s bobcat population. The total population within the Empire State is now estimated to be 5,000 cats. 5,000. That’s an awfully small number, one that certainly doesn’t warrant greater hunting privileges.

When compared to other game animals, bobcats are undeniably rare. The population of our most popular target, the white-tailed deer, exceeds 1 million in New York. Wild turkeys number 250,000. Black bears are modestly more abundant than bobcats at 8,000 statewide.

To put it into perspective against a non-game animal, across New York there are 2,000 breeding ospreys. If they support 2 chicks per pair, were looking at a statewide population of 4,000 birds. At such numbers, the DEC labels the birds as a species of “special concern”.

Maybe it’s that rareness that gives the bobcat the mystique it has. It’s that rareness, too, that should continue to prevent its killing in Western New York. Even some hardened hunters like me are against the expanded hunt – and I’m someone who makes over 20 hunting outing into WNY woods each year while consuming venison 7 times a week.

If, like me, you harbor reservations about the new rules, there is still some time to make your voice heard about the expanded harvest opportunity. The second round of public comment comes to a close next Monday, April 8th (the first round was used to help craft the proposals last year). If you would like to see the hunt stay as is (limited to the eastern half of the state) or more limited in scope as it heads westward, contact the DEC. You can send a letter to Bryan L. Swift, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12233; or you email the DEC at wildliferegs@gw.dec.state.ny.us.

If you’ve never seen a bobcat, you are missing something special; they are far more attractive and interesting than any domesticated cat ever could be, and they may be the most handsome of New York’s wild mammals. Let’s just hope that your first chance to view them isn’t as a trophy or a fur hanging on someone’s wall.



Gasport resident Bob Confer also writes for the New American magazine at TheNewAmerican.com. Follow him on Twitter @bobconfer  

This column originally appeared in the 01 April 2013 Greater Niagara Newspapers 

STOP THE SATELLITE TV TAX

Last month, our satellite television provider announced a significant price increase that approached 10 percent. The wife and I weighed our options and dropped our subscription package down a notch to the least expensive one available. Versus the plan we were in, the new one will save us $30 a month. That’s $30 that we can spend on our toddling daughter’s ever-growing appetite and wardrobe.

Or, so we thought.

Our $30 might be shrinking.

Within 2 weeks of our decision, we got word that Albany, courtesy of Senator Kevin Parker (D-Brooklyn), was pondering the addition of an excise tax on direct broadcast satellite services. This would not be limited to television; it would also include internet and games -- in essence, all products provided to customers from the likes of Dish Network and Direct TV.

This new tax isn’t trivial. At 5 percent, it adds up in a hurry. The average monthly pay-TV bill is $86, a number that the NPD Group (a market research firm) figures will reach $200 per household by 2020. So, if the tax were to go into effect today, you’d be paying an extra $52 per year to state coffers. 7 years down the road, you’d be paying Albany $120 annually just to watch TV.

The reason behind this proposed fee can cause one to believe that Senator Parker must have some friends in the cable industry. He states this surcharge is needed to level the playing field by forcing satellite companies (in reality, their customers) to pay a government-specific fee commensurate with that levied against cable companies. Since the dawn of pay-TV, cable bills have been saddled with a tax approaching 5 percent. In the case of cable, this actually makes sense. The tax in question is a franchise fee through which the cable companies compensate the host communities for use of public land, rights-of-way and public infrastructure.

Satellite companies shouldn’t see a similar fee because they don’t require any of those things – the homeowner is the only one entered in a contract with the company and it’s solely the homeowner’s property (not public property) being used. It should also be noted that satellite providers already pay a franchise fee of sorts (albeit to Washington) because they transmit over a radio spectrum that is managed by -- and allegedly owned by -- the federal government. That’s something that cable companies don’t pay.  

Parker’s bill is just another battle in a frustrating, long war.

In the case of my family, we made a concerted effort to save ourselves a pretty penny by choosing to do without some of our favorite channels, only to see a nice chunk of our savings potentially skimmed away by the government. This is nothing new to any of us: Think back to the darkest days of the recession, a time when households across the state made numerous cuts in their budgets in an effort to keep up with job losses or diminished hours at work -- those savings were totally negated by school/property taxes that went up like clockwork and the addition of $1.3 billion in new taxes and fees instituted by the state to cover their own budget problems.

And people wonder why it seems like we New Yorkers can never get ahead…it always one step forward and one step, if not many more, back.

That’s why we shouldn’t let this tax become a reality. Contact your state senator and let him or her know that S.3827 (the Multichannel Video Programming Distributor Competition Act) needs to be canned. Remember, there’s strength in numbers -- there’s already been a significant outpouring of feedback thanks to satellite service providers having initiated a kill-the-bill campaign with their subscribers. Even Senator George Maziarz (R-Newfane) has stated that the bill is “dead on arrival” if it reaches the Telecommunications Committee he chairs. Let’s hope so.       



Gasport resident Bob Confer also writes for the New American magazine at TheNewAmerican.com. Follow him on Twitter @bobconfer  

This column originally appeared in the 25 March 2013 Greater Niagara Newspapers  

Government lured by plastic worms

Soft plastic fishing lures like plastic worms and tube jigs have a proven track record of being the best artificial baits on the market, especially for the likes of bass and panfish. On the strength of these lures, professional anglers have won numerous tournaments and secured good incomes while the average weekend fisherman has landed many a trophy and filled countless frying pans.

Those days of outstanding angling success might be numbered. Believe it or not, some environmentalists have set their sights on these lures. They say that soft plastics pollute the waters and can be consumed by aquatic wildlife like loons, ducks, and otters. They also say that plastic worms sit in the bellies of fish that were lucky enough to get away from fishermen and slowly kill them over time.

Never one to ignore the concerns or demands of environmentalists – no matter how extreme or unfounded some of their views may be – government has picked up on the alleged ills of plastic baits. In Maine, state representative Paul Davis introduced a bill (HP 37) on January 17^th that would ban the use of “rubber worms” (the catch-all term for soft plastics baits) within the state.

The bill was met with ire from fisherman not only in Maine but from across the United States as well. A February 5^th public hearing on the bill was standing room only while a leading angling organization, BASS (the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society), submitted testimony. Because of that – and for the fact that Representative Davis didn’t even seek co-sponsors because he knew it was a controversial topic - it’s likely that the bill will come to a quick demise. 

Even so, anglers everywhere shouldn’t discount the fact that this has started a conversation that will haunt them in the coming years. This is the first bill of its kind to appear in any state government – and it won’t be the last. Fringe environmentalists are extremely opportunistic; they will pick up on this – as will state legislators or agencies across the land, which could ultimately cause a worm ban to work its way to the federal level and the likes of the Environmental Protection Agency or the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

State governments are Petri dishes for environmental causes, lessons are learned there and policies are developed that can become standards for our nation. Consider the California Air Resources Board, which has been responsible for anything from expensive fuel tanks on lawn mowers, all-terrain vehicles and boats to the destruction of the incandescent light bulb industry. Davis’s proposal could gain similar traction.  

So, while a plastic bait ban may only be in its infancy and destined for failure in Maine, it certainly poses a long-term threat to anglers everywhere that should be taken seriously. There may be a day 10 or 20 years from now when our favorite lure isn’t allowed on the water. With his access to the most effective of lures stifled, the working man who fishes for food or pleasure will see his catch rates drop. It’s not as if he can compensate with live bait, either, as recent years have seen the introduction of laws that severely inhibit or restrict the use of baitfish.

The only way to prevent a worm ban from becoming a reality is to take an active role in policy at the state level, and beat the environmental activists at their own game. Looking at the big picture, this is about more than rubber worms – it’s about freedom.  


Gasport resident Bob Confer also writes for the New American magazine at TheNewAmerican.com. Follow him on Twitter @bobconfer  

This column originally appeared in the 18 March 2013 Greater Niagara Newspapers    

When the sky rains starlings

In incidents that seem to have become rites of winter throughout the northeast, rural residents living within a couple of miles of large dairy farms were recently subjected to an odd, even frightening, sight – starlings literally falling out of the sky and dying before them. When the carnage concluded, homeowners found dozens of the birds dead in their lawns. This columnist picked up an even ten dozen from his.

At first blush, some might think that a deadly contagious illness overtook the avian community. Others might believe it’s another sign from an angry god that followed once in a lifetime blizzards in the northeast and meteors exploding over Russia.  

Their deaths were caused by none of the above.

Instead, the birds expired due to an application of a chemical agent known as “Starlicide.”  This compound is produced by Purina (which some may find strangely hypocritical given the company’s basis in animal health) and it is the most effective tool  -- maybe the only effective tool -- in controlling this most onerous of birds. Upon consuming feed tainted with Starlicide, starlings slowly expire over a 24 to 36 period as their organs congest.

As unsettling of a sight as hundreds of dying and dead birds may be to the average person, it’s a welcome sight to farmers, aviators and nature lovers. They are all affected by this invasive species, brought to our shores in the 1890s when fans of William Shakespeare made the ill-advised decision to release every bird mentioned in his plays to the Americas (the very same reason we are inundated with English/house sparrows). The starlings multiplied and took over the skies, being just as much at home in the Big City as they are in farm country. It is estimated that there are over 200 million of them in the US. You can’t find an American who is unfamiliar with these black birds that have green and purple iridescent tips on their feathers.  

Farmers are certainly familiar with them. The birds congregate in feedlots by the thousands, stealing feed and defecating in animal food which spreads disease, including transmissible gastroenteritis virus which can be deadly to young swine. It is estimated that starlings are responsible for $800 million in agricultural losses every single year – almost 3 times as much as the much-reviled boll weevil is in modern times. So, with no other options left to contain the birds and prevent the damages, the farmers and USDA regularly poison the birds every winter when they gather in the greatest concentrations (thus making a mass kill easier).

Similar campaigns occur around airports. There, the colonizing birds can prove to be deadly when traveling in large flocks and into the paths of aircraft, getting stuck in their jets or gumming up their propellers. Starlings were the known culprits in the infamous 1960 Boston crash of Flight 375 that killed over 60 people and remains to this day as the single worst bird strike in history. Many more starling events have followed over the years, including a late-1990s crash that killed 34 people in the Netherlands.  

Even bird lovers savor the demise of this feathered fiend. Starlings are a scourge upon native species, especially fellow cavity-dwellers. Take our beloved state bird, the bluebird, for example. That beautiful creature was nearly wiped out in New York because of starlings. If not for the efforts of birders and volunteers throughout the Empire State, they would have been; they countered the overpopulation of the aggressive starlings by erecting bluebird-specific birdhouses throughout the state. Because of that, the bluebird has become common once again over the course of my life. Eradicate the starlings and we might see similar success stories with other birds like the rarely-seen redheaded woodpecker.   

Taking all of that into consideration, and knowing that the poisoned birds are no threat to you, your pets, or predators, you should accept the mass deaths of starlings with open arms; that is, after you’ve taken the time to pick up their corpses. We would be better served by more mass poisonings of them each winter for this simple reason: the only good starling is a dead starling. 

 
Gasport resident Bob Confer also writes for the New American magazine at TheNewAmerican.com. Follow him on Twitter @bobconfer  

This column originally appeared in the 11 March 2013 Greater Niagara Newspapers     

CONFER PLASTICS OPEN HOUSE

For the 8 years that I’ve written this column, Confer Plastics has had a recurring role in it.

The company has often been used as example when talking about the obstacles US manufacturers face when competing against the Chinas of the world. Similarly, I’ve used our experiences to express some of the concerns shared by New York-based small businesses when they compete against companies located in the more business-friendly political/economic climates of the Carolinas or Ohio. 

Some subscribers to this newspaper have read so much about our family business that they want to experience it for themselves, just to see what it’s all about.

Now is your chance.

Confer Plastics just turned 40 years old and to celebrate that occasion, we are having on open house on Thursday, April 4^th at our plant at 97 Witmer Road in North Tonawanda (at the corner of Witmer and River Roads).

Tours will start at the top and bottom of every hour from 11:00 AM till 7:30 PM. Each tour will take approximately 45 minutes to complete. We will share the history of the company with you and then walk you through the plant floor, allowing you to see how we transform little plastic pellets into our name-branded swimming pool ladders or a variety of custom products like kayaks and docks.   

If the closest that you’ve ever come to a factory is one of those “how it’s made” shows on cable TV, then you’re in for an eye opening experience. Every year we take local organizations on tours of the plant and all of them walk away in total awe. As our society has changed over the years, most people have become unfamiliar with what goes on within a factory’s walls and many assume that US-based manufacturing is dead. We’ll be showing you that it’s very much alive and how exciting modern production can be. You’ll be seeing some of the largest blow molding machines in North America spitting out some impressive products. You’ll also see my equally-impressive army of coworkers transforming those items into quality finished goods. After witnessing so many moving parts and so many moving people, you’ll have a different appreciation for all of the various manufactured goods that you own.   

This event is free and open to the public. It’s a learning experience for kids as much as adults, so we welcome children, too. We only ask that no one under the age of 5 be in the plant and that all minors be accompanied by a parent or guardian. We also require that you make a reservation so we can plan accordingly. So, before March 23^rd, please call our office at 716.693.2056 or email us at plastics@conferplastics.com to make your reservation. Safety glasses and hearing protection will be provided, as will refreshments and some trinkets.

My coworkers, my family and I all look forward to showing off the company to you. We’re pretty proud of what we do and what we’ve done. You’ll get to experience the manifestation of my father’s and my late grandfather’s American Dream and how we help achieve the same for the people who work in our plant and the customers for whom we’ve brought their ideas to life.

Who knows – maybe seeing how we do things at our family-owned and operated small business will inspire you, too, to chase your American Dream. We do know this much, though: It will be a memorable Open House for you and for us.  


Gasport resident Bob Confer also writes for the New American magazine at TheNewAmerican.com. Follow him on Twitter @bobconfer  

This column originally appeared in the 04 March 2013 Greater Niagara Newspapers