I disagree with a group, any group, getting tags to raffle/auction. Regardless of the organization, the species they represent or how "good" of work they do. That money would be better going straight to the state's G&F department IMO and 100% of it.
I wish that every time I bought or sold a property it was a private transaction on both ends in cash so that I got 100% of the profit.
States often don't even run their own draws and so they aren't even getting 100% of the money from the general elk tags they sell. One company Aspira runs license sales/draws for 25% of the departments in the country. I'm not sure if they charge a flat fee for a percentage of each transaction. Either way the state is likely paying a decent amount for their services.
Personally I'm ok with fish and game departments using Aspira instead of running huge teams of inhouse developers. The system runs better and I bet they actually come out ahead in terms of money.
Similarly, State Fish and Game departments aren't necessarily the best at getting running raffles and auctions. Rich people love a good soirée, I imagine that is part of how some groups get the insane prices on those tags.
It would be interesting to look at the revenue generated by a super tag and then compare it to a raffle tag at one of the various orgs and look at what the agency actually nets. For me personally the net is what's important in this context. If they are getting $50,000 for a super tag while [conservation group] is selling a tag for $500,000 and returning the agency only $375,000 I'm still in favor of that group getting to raffle a tag.
If the super tag is generating more money, then I would agree, that org should not get to raffle the tag.
Before I advocate anything regarding raffles, I would want to fully understand the numbers and dynamics for each situation.
My bottom-line is if your auctioning a tag you should try to maximize the return and that money should go to conservation. Yes, some auction tags probably aren't cutting the mustard, but you need to look at each individual.
Each state has different mechanics. Here is CO.
"Statute C.R.S 33-4-116 and CPW Regulation #229 allow organizations to retain up to 25% of the gross proceeds of the auctions and raffles to cover costs and to fund projects of their choosing that benefit wildlife in Colorado. At least 75% of gross proceeds must be paid to CPW. Funds generated from the sale of these licenses are used for big game habitat enhancement, research, management, and education in Colorado."
It would be great if an organization did a exhaustive analysis and presented a public report on each tag, and auctions versus raffles.
