Change is a loaded word in Virginia and I’m not talking about getting some coins back from the cashier at 7-11. Face it, we are the most conservative of the conservative states. I’ve said many times Virginians are so conservative they don’t even like to change their socks. Many years ago when I was attempting to sell fishing tackle on the wholesale level, from Florida, for a major fishing tackle manufacturer, I had a dream of opening many new accounts in Virginia, my home state. But as odd as it may seem, my sales manager wasn’t too encouraging. He stated rather bluntly that business people in Virginia are very reluctant to switch vendors and suppliers just because of the fact that the ones they have are the ones they’ve always done business with. This resistance to change permeates all aspects of Virginia society and culture. Look at our tendency to stick with a brand name car. Many Virginia drivers buy a certain brand of car just because their father and their grandfather drove that brand. Hunters use a certain brand or model of gun because that’s the one their father used and taught them to shoot with. NASCAR fans stick by their favorite driver regardless of whether he’s winning races. The same die-hard loyalty is seen among Redskins fans.

But let’s not stray from the subject matter of this column, namely hunting, fishing and the outdoors. Since I began writing this column more than five years ago it has become quite obvious to me that there are many Virginians out there that would like to see changes in the rules that govern outdoor sporting activities. Unfortunately, myself, as a columnist can do little to affect change other than to write about my readers’ suggestions. Residents that want change have to take the initiative and let government know what changes they’d like to see. Thankfully, The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries has designed such an opportunity into its regulatory process.

The first step in creating this opportunity was to classify the regulatory subject matter that VDGIF governs. The responsibilities of VDGIF have been separated into four categories: Hunting and Trapping, Fishing, Boating and Wildlife Diversity regulations. Then these four categories have been lumped into two larger groups. Hunting and Trapping is one group. All the other subjects, Fishing, Boating and Wildlife Diversity, fall into the second group. Each year VDGIF reaches out to residents and gives us the chance to make suggestions pertaining to one of these two groups with a comment gathering period they refer to as the scoping stage of the regulatory process. It begins in September of each year and runs through Nov. 30. This year VDGIF is gearing the regulatory process toward Fishing, Boating and Wildlife Diversity. Residents have the opportunity to submit their views and suggestions on these subjects through the end of November via the Internet on the VDGIF webpage: http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/regulations/scoping/. On this page you can actually read through the current regulations and state laws concerning Fishing, Boating and Wildlife Diversity. If you want to read through the Hunting and Trapping Regulations as well, click on the words “Regulatory Processes” in the light green stripe below the VDGIF logo. If you decide to do this, remember, VDGIF is not accepting suggestions for Hunting and Trapping Regulations at this time. There is no comment field associated with Hunting and Trapping Regulations and if you enter a Hunting and Trapping Regulation suggestion in the comment field of the Fishing, Boating and Wildlife Diversity page your suggestion will most likely be disregarded. If I’m leading you to believe reading through the regulations is a waste of time this is definitely not my intention. By reading through the regulations a person can gain valuable insight as to why changes in the regulations take so long.