Five Dollar Ferret Friday

The Ivory Tower

One thing that has amazed me about this comic series, The Neverending Story, is how closely it has mirrored our real journey.

This week, Joe Ferret has finally reached the Ivory Tower. After months of traveling, paperwork, meetings, and obstacles, he arrives expecting someone to make a decision.

Instead, the receptionist cheerfully announces:

As absurd as that sounds, it isn't far from reality.

More than a year ago, the California Fish and Game Commission voted unanimously to give our petition “further consideration.” Since then, we've seen delays, conflicting explanations, public records requests, and now litigation.

This week there wasn't much courtroom drama. We remain in a waiting game until our October 2 hearing.

Oddly enough, that's good news.

The Department has already committed to its legal arguments. We've filed our opposition. The record grows more complete every week, and I continue to believe our position is a strong one.

So, like Joe Ferret, we're standing at the gate.

We're still waiting for someone inside the tower to decide whether they're finally ready to decide.