By Greg Baker – December 2024
We are all fortunate to live and or recreate at beautiful Lake Anna. Sometimes what was meant to be a wonderful day at the lake takes a turn for the worst and we want and need our Conservation Police Officers (CPOs) there to help. CPOs or what other states call Game Wardens are no different than any other police officer in the state and are fully certified through the Department of Criminal Justice Services. This gives them the right to enforce all Commonwealth laws. You might be annoyed (I hope not!) when they check your fishing license or check to see if you have the right number of life jackets on board, but I can assure you in an emergency, an arriving CPO is a huge relief.
One of the things we found in LACA’s biennial survey is that our members want more of a presence from our CPOs on Lake Anna. Certainly, on busy holiday weekends we see the police out in force throughout the lake. On a normal weekend, the police are far more scarce and during the week or in other times of the year, we might rarely see an officer. The reason? It all comes down to funding. As a side note, CPOs are not the only folks that patrol Lake Anna, we are fortunate to have officers from both Spotsylvania and Louisa County’s Sheriff’s Department also patrolling the lake.
The Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR) is authorized for approximately 182 CPOs for the entire state. That works out to about two CPOs per county. Currently, there are only 160-170 of those positions filled. You can imagine how hard it is for the department to manage their resources and provide coverage to Lake Anna, with such a small force. To make matters worse, CPOs often make less than their counterparts in other policing organizations.
Graduates of the 13th Academy Class of CPOs, August 29, 2024
The DWR CPOs are the only statewide policing organization that does not receive any funding directly from the Commonwealth. DWR funding comes from fishing and hunting license sales, watercraft registrations, federal dollars derived from outdoor expenditures, sales and use tax on watercraft sales and finally a portion of sales tax related to wildlife equipment sales. That would be awesome if DWR received all these funds, but they don’t.
The General Assembly passed House Bill 38 back in 1998 which authorized DWR to receive sales tax on sales of wildlife equipment, things like fishing poles and guns. HB38 capped the annual amount to $13 million dollars. Unfortunately, that cap has not changed in almost 25 years. Because of inflation, a dollar in 1998 would need to be $1.83 today to have the same value. The General Assembly should increase this cap to $23 million just to keep up with inflation.
To make matters worse, the state has only appropriated the full $13 million only once in the last 15 years. The average appropriation for the past seven years has been just over $11.3 million per year. The same goes for sales tax on watercraft. Every year, the state has appropriated less than the amount collected in watercraft tax. Over the past 7 years, Virginia has collected approximately $7.9 million per year in watercraft sales tax and passed on roughly $5.6 million to DWR.
If the state just appropriated 100% of the amounts promised, that would work out to approximately $4 million per year in additional funding. Even if the state does not raise the cap on Wildlife Equipment Tax, that makes a huge difference. That may not sound like a lot in days of multibillion-dollar state budgets, but it would make a significant impact to DWR ability to provide increased CPO coverage at Lake Anna. Don’t get me wrong, we think the state should do both: Adjust the cap for inflation and appropriate 100% of what was promised.
What can we do? Join LACA! One of Lake Anna Civic Association’s mandate is to promote safety on Lake Anna. We are working hard to speak with our local legislators to provide funding for Lake Anna. When we speak to a legislator it makes a difference if we can explain that LACA represents over 1000 property owners at Lake Anna. If you are not yet a member, please join us at www.lakeannavirginia.org Secondly, write your state delegate or your state senator and ask them to support DWR CPOs by fully funding the Authorized Watercraft and Wildlife Equipment Tax. You can find your state delegate at https://whosmy.virginiageneralassembly.gov Finally, please show your support for our CPOs and other officers on Lake Anna by giving them a friendly wave when you see them out on the water. Remember, they would rather be out on a boat with their friends and family on a holiday weekend than pulling a double shift making us safe.
President LACA
greg.baker@lakeannavirginia.org
