As if life wasn’t exciting enough, now there’s been a wacky new update to the edit format on the website that I guess I’m stuck with. Fingers crossed we can make it work for a while. There’s big news, namely that CDFW met in southern California and drew up some new goals and language for their 2019 mission statement. They haven’t updated for 20 years, and this is a hair’s breadth more beaver-friendly so we’re all kinds of hopeful. Let me tell you what I mean.
With the assistance of its stakeholders, staff, other state, federal and tribal governments, and its primary partner, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Commission is developing a new strategic plan to coincide with its sesquicentennial anniversary in April 2020.
“Over the last 20 years,the Commission’s authorities have expanded and require a more ecosystem-based approach to addressing fish and wildlife issues in a rapidly changing environment,”explained Commission President Eric Sklar. “The time was right to reassess themission and vision statements, to ensure that they accurately reflect the fullbreadth of the Commission’s responsibility to protect and conserve our exceptional fish and wildlife heritage for all Californians,” he added.
Are you with me so far? A more ECOSYSTEM approach to wildlife. Which to my way of thinking means Beavers Beavers Beavers. Fingers crossed.
The vision statement is intended to describe how the future will look if the Commission achieves itsmission, while the mission statement identifies the purpose and reason for the Commission’soverall work in a succinct and focused manner. Along with the revised statements,the commission adopted its first-ever set of six core values that create a frameworkfor establishing policies, goals, objectives, and strategies.
“Core values are astatement of priorities for how the Commission and its staff carry out theirresponsibilities,” said Commission Acting Executive Director MelissaMiller-Henson. “Our core values remain fixed, even as practices change in response to the changing world.”
The Commission will now move into the second of three phases, where additional input will be solicitedfor developing overarching goals and objectives for its new strategic plan.Later next year, as the Commission moves into the third and final phase ofstrategic planning, the mission, vision and core values will be re-evaluatedbefore a final strategic plan is adopted in early 2020.
Revised VisionStatement
The vision of the California Fish and Game Commission is a healthy, biodiverse and natural California in which native fish and wildlife thrive within dynamic ecosystems and inspire human interaction and enjoyment.
Revised Mission Statement
The mission of the California Fish and Game Commission, in partnership with the California Departmentof Fish and Wildlife, is to provide leadership for transparent and opendialogue where information, ideas and facts are easily available, understoodand discussed to ensure that California will have abundant, healthy, anddiverse fish and wildlife that thrive within dynamic ecosystems, managed with public confidence and participation, through actions that are thoughtful, bold,and visionary in an ever-changing environment.
We embrace our responsibility to hold California’s fish and wildlife and their habitats in the public trust, as well as their cultural and intrinsic value, and therefore workcollaboratively with other federal, tribal, state and local governmentagencies, non-governmental organizations and the people of California toestablish scientifically-sound policies and regulations that protect, enhanceand restore California’s native fish and wildlife in their natural habitats,and to secure a rich and sustainable outdoor heritage for all generations to experienceand enjoy through both consumptive and non-consumptive activities.
Read that sentence again. CDFW believes their job is to secure rich outdoor heritage for ALL generations to enjoy and experience through both consumptive AND NON-CONSUMPTIVE activities. So seeing fish as well as catching fish. Watching beavers AND trapping beavers.
What a great place to start.
