Having a professional lobbyist on the TWRC in itself gives the appearance of impropriety but the recent actions by Mr. Hensley in the closing of Lock 5 at the request of a fellow lobbyist and land owner, Mr. McMahan, has a strong appearance of impropriety. The original decision to close Lock 5 and the way the it was done sets a dangerous precedent, and the way the issue was handled by the TWRC raises greater concerns that the commissioners are not representing the interests of the more than 200,000 Tennessee hunters.

Governor, you have promised to clean up Tennessee government and restore the faith of the voters of Tennessee in their elected officials and their state government. We have signed this petition to voice our opinion that the TWRC has lost the confidence of the hunters in Tennessee and request that you make a public statement committing to restore hunter confidence in the TWRC beginning by asking Mr. Tom Hensley to resign and if he will not, using all powers at your disposal to remove him from the commission. In addition we request that Mr. Hensley's seat on the commission and all subsequent appointments be filled by appointing hunters that will represent the interests of Tennessee hunters.