Did you know there are lobbyists in Sacramento that only represent nonprofits? I honestly did not, but there a ton of slippery surfaces to navigate in getting a bill affecting wildlife/water or wilderness through the finish line. Sometimes you need someone on the front lines to shepherd, hound, coax and shame a bill into law.
Meet Jennifer Fearing.
Recently named the Sacramento Advocate for the association of NonProfits, Jennifer has represented the Humane Society for years and is a truly fearless advocate for animal rights. Her current client list includes such heavy hitters as the the Ocean Society, the San Francisco SPCA, the San Diego Humane Society, California Association for Museums, NPS, The Mountain Lion Foundation and ohh look she also represents the CDFW wardens managers and supervisors association. Fancy that.
Recently when the The California Ecosystems Protection Act (A.B. 1788) was passed to outlaw the dangerous anticoagulents rat poisons that kill birds and wildlife, Jennifer’s services were paid for by ALDF to make sure the deal closed this time. Our good friend Lisa Owens Viani of RATS has been hammering at this for ages, but she freely admits it made a difference to have someone hired to finish the job.
Maybe beavers need a lobbyist?
Here she is recently on Capitol Weekly podcast. When I was asking wise friends who might really help change California Policy, heavy hitter water guru Felica Marus described her as “Awesome: Stategic, Grounded and Effective“. I think if you listen to this interview you might see why.
The video is footage of her efforts getting Nonprofit Day successfully passed through the California legislature. It sure would be nice to see beaver legislation passed that requires CDFW to oh I don’t know, actually count the number of beaver around before they allow them to be trapped, or monitor whether its a salmon stream BEFORE they issue the permit, or even evaluate whether there have been drought conditions or fire in the last five years in the are to see if we can really do without the water-savers in question.
I tend to dream big. And this is getting to be a whopper.
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