New Year's Resolutions

 New Year’s Resolutions I’d like to see from a few of my close personal friends:
Gov. Mark Dayton:  I promise to select a new DNR commissioner who has the right credentials, who was a hunter and angler and who had a professional background in natural resources (and that means no political crony) and I will deliver on that promise.
New DNR Commissioner:  I intend to hold regular press conferences to discuss current events, announce new initiatives and I will no longer simply rely on a ‘’news release’’ as my only mass communication to Minnesotans.  And that’s not all.  I will ask our fish and wildlife managers to think outside of the box, which means being bolder in how we manage public hunting areas and fishing lakes.  When the fishing sucks, why do residents need to beg for change in how we stock, manage, whatever?
U.S.Sen. Amy Klobuchar:  I resolve to sponsor a public forum about Minnesota’s ethanol program, its economic and environmental benefits or lack, thereof, and to settle questions about the reality of using corn-based ethanol in the future.
U.S. Sen. Al Franken:  Although I’m a staunch supporter of ethanol subsidies for corn growers, I will conduct an investigation into why there are so many hillsides being plowed in Minnesota and what happened to soil conservation practices?
Tony Sutton, chair, Minnesota Republican Party:  In the future, I resolve to understand why Minnesotans voted to raise their sales tax to preserve the state’s outdoor and natural resources and why the Legacy Amendment is so unlike those nasty tax hikes loved by DFLers.
Brian Melandez, chair, Minnesota DFL Party:  I resolve to use my DFL connections to kick some ass regarding how the money for arts in the Legacy Amendment has been doled out and to make the artsy folks accountable in the future.
Dale Garner, Iowa wildlife chief:  Somebody needs to tell it like it is to Iowans.  As long as Iowa is ground zero for fence line to fence line farming, drainage ditches, field tiling, brush clearing, weed control and---from the Mississipipi to the Missouri---an endless sea of corn and soybean fields, Iowa is losing its pheasants, quail and, more importantly, an autumn tradition.  Correction, it may be gone already.
Laura Ragan, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service:  Those of us who work with the nation’s endangered species program will resolve to stand tall in support of our own profession, scientific wildlife management, and enlist wolf experts (Dave Mech, where are you?) to speak out about delisting the gray wolf in Minnesota and counter the biological nonsense from animal rights wolf managers.  And if I get fired for standing up for the principles of wildlife management regarding the wolf I expect other professionals will come to my defense (Dave Mech, where are you?).
Gary Roach, walleye fishing expert:  At the 2011 WaveWacker Walleye Tournament, if my partner Ron Schara gets the first, biggest and most walleyes in our boat, I will tell the world but if I outfish him I will say nothing.