From the TWRA's website: "The sale of Tennessee hunting and fishing licenses paid the costs of providing a safe habitat during the growth of the sandhill crane eastern population. While the wildlife watching community and money spent by birders for their hobby has continued to increase, the hunting community and funding sources generated to manage both game and non-game species has continued to decrease nationwide." Recently, I visited several of Missouri's numerous state parks. The parks were uniformly excellent and well-maintained, with beautiful visitors' centers and museums. Why? Because, in 1984, the citizens of Missouri passed a 1/10th of 1% (0.1%) sales tax to support state parks and conservation efforts. The tax was renewed by voters in 1988 and 1996 with a 2/3 majority, and 99% of visitors recently surveyed were satisfied with their visits to the Missouri state park system. Why can't Tennessee do something similar, using a miniscule sales tax to fund parks, soil and water conservation, and wildlife conservation? Patrick March Nashville, TN Davidson County pmarch@xxxxxxxxxxx =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== The TN-Bird Net requires you to SIGN YOUR MESSAGE with first and last name, CITY (TOWN) and state abbreviation. You are also required to list the COUNTY in which the birds you report were seen. The actual DATE OF OBSERVATION should appear in the first paragraph. _____________________________________________________________ To post to this mailing list, simply send email to: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx _____________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, send email to: tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. ______________________________________________________________ TN-Bird Net is owned by the Tennessee Ornithological Society Neither the society(TOS) nor its moderator(s) endorse the views or opinions expressed by the members of this discussion group. Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ------------------------------ Assistant Moderator Andy Jones Cleveland, OH ------------------------------- Assistant Moderator Dave Worley Rosedale, VA __________________________________________________________ Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ARCHIVES TN-Bird Net Archives at //www.freelists.org/archives/tn-bird/ MAP RESOURCES Tenn.Counties Map at http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/states/tennessee3.gif Aerial photos to complement google maps http://local.live.com _____________________________________________________________