FYI Alert

[Wackyquacker]

This was forwarded to me from a friend who is a "higher up " in NM G&F.


 TO STATE FISH AND WILDLIFE DIRECTORS
>
> *** Fur Trade Advisory ***
>
> A furbearer Management/Trapping survey has recently been circulated widely
> throughout the fur trade, by Jonathan Wright, a free-lance writer from
> Alberta, Canada, who claims to be a former trapper, and is researching to
> prepare an article/book on furbearer management, or mismanagement. Please
> be advised that Mr. Wright's research and subsequent publication could be
> very damaging to the trade. We have received information that proves he
> does not believe in trapping as an aspect of wildlife management, and is
> trying to find justification from the trade to perpetuate
> misunderstandings of management principles and practices, as they relate
> to trapping. Some of his previous publications have condemned trappers and
> those in the fur trade as living in the "dark ages".
>
> I have been in contact with Mr. Wright, indicating the Institute's
> disapproval of his survey, and our concerns for any "simple" responses
> that he may receive from well intentioned individuals, to very complex
> questions. He has subsequently indicated to some people and organizations
> that the Fur Institute of Canada is in support of his work. While we
> support responsible, professional research and communication of the modern
> fur trade, we do not condone or support Mr. Wright's research.
>
> Please do not complete this survey. Also, please send this advisory
> throughout your organizations to ensure that no one is fooled into
> providing justification to this person's work.
>
>  
>
> If you have any questions or comments, please contact me directly.
>
>
>
> Thank you for your cooperation.
>
>  
>
> Regards,
>
> Robert B. Cahill
> Executive Director
> Fur Institute of Canada
> 130 Slater St., Suite 605
> Ottawa, Ontario
> K1P 6E2
> p: (613) 231-7099
>
> info@fur.ca
>
> www.fur.ca <http://www.fur.ca/>
>

[jim-NE]

nice catch, Wacky.
It always pays to double check with valid agencies as to the validity of research vs. taking the researcher's word on their references and statements of being backed by individuals from valid agencies. If an entire agency won't put their "stamp of approval" on a research project, or if the agency is not the initiator of that project, then a flag should go up and some verification is necessary.
Social engineering is a common tool as a means of deception or getting a population to "buy into" the scheme or project. Its no different than the used merchandise salesman (not all, but some do this) who use your "need" and manipulate the sales approach to help you believe you are buying something that will satisfy that need. Computer virus developers commonly use this angle also knowing that certain words or phrases will give individual users a sense of confidence and/or play into their curiosity to fire off the executable's dangerous payload. Here we have a stated former trapper, researching something near and dear to all of our hearts. Without some control over the immediate response back to this researcher, who knows how the messages will be construed, and despite the best intentions unfortunately in the English language the same verbiage can be interpreted too many different ways and be more damaging than we may intend.
Jim-NE