Right to hunt bill is right on

I’ve spent a career in wildlife conservation in Wyoming. For a fair amount of the last 30-plus years, I’ve worked with our elected representatives on wildlife issues. There have been some high points -- the birth of the Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resources Trust, for example. We’re going to be reaping benefits from this investment for decades to come. There have been some low points -- the ongoing battle about wolves, for example. We may be arguing about this one for decades to come.

But seldom does there arise an issue so clear cut as the one now being considered by our elected representatives under the golden dome in Cheyenne – the right to hunt, fish and trap in Wyoming. Three brand new legislators -- Sen. Ogden Driskill from Devil’s Tower, Sen. Larry Hicks from Baggs and Rep. Kendell Kroeker from Evansville – have sponsored a bill that may be the most important legislation to come before our elected representatives for a long time: the right to hunt, fish and trap in Wyoming.

No one would argue that Wyoming is a hunting and fishing state. From Native Americans and the early fur trappers to today’s sportsmen and women, Wyoming people have been hunters, anglers, and trappers since the beginning. We consistently rank in the top tier of hunting and fishing participation in the U.S. Almost a third of us hunt and/or fish every year. It’s part of our culture, part of our heritage. It’s no small part of our economy, with almost $700 million in retail sales attributable to it annually. It’s more than why we live here -- it’s who we are. But will that always be so? I wonder.

Nationwide, over three-quarters of Americans approve of hunting. That support varies from state to state (Wyoming ranks very near the top, with 92 percent approval) but in general, the more urban a state’s population, the lower the approval. So why should we worry? Why in the world would we need to amend our constitution just to protect a right that’s in no immediate danger? Let me answer that.

First, because it’s not a right. Nowhere in the Wyoming State Constitution is our opportunity to hunt, fish and trap guaranteed. What’s more, nowhere in state statute is that opportunity guaranteed. In fact, our heritage of hunting, fishing and trapping currently has no protection under Wyoming law. We behave, as sportsmen have always behaved, like our opportunity to hunt, fish and trap is safe. The truth is, it’s not.

Second, because it is in danger. There are a host of groups opposed to hunting, fishing and trapping. These groups are well-organized and well-funded, and they’re perfectly willing to work right here in Wyoming. They were successful in defeating a similar measure in Arizona. With deep pockets and lots of advertising in the urban centers of Tucson and Phoenix, the animal rights groups defeated the measure by a 56-44 margin at the polls. As a spokesperson for PETA put it, "If people have a right to hunt, why not a right to shop or golf?"

For those of us who love wild things and wild places, there is an answer to that obviously rhetorical question: Because shopping and golfing are not part of us. They are trivialities, enjoyable trivialities perhaps, but trivialities none the less. They do not involve the very serious business of taking an animal’s life to feed our families. They do not reinforce the connection between us and the land. They do not occupy the same place in our hearts or our minds, and we would appreciate it very much if those who philosophically oppose hunting and fishing would not seek to trivialize it. But trivialize it they will, and oppose it they will -- even here in Wyoming.

So if you value this heritage, if you believe it is important to pass on the legacy of hunting and fishing here in Wyoming, if you think Wyoming citizens should have a right to hunting and fishing opportunity, let your elected representatives know. The time is now. Senate Joint Resolution 1-- Right to hunt, fish and trap -- is supported by the Wyoming Wildlife Federation, Bowhunters of Wyoming, AFL-CIO, the Wyoming Outfitters and Guides Association and the Wyoming Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife.

Walt Gasson is executive director of the Wyoming Wildlife Federation in Cheyenne.

To see the story, CLICK HERE or go to http://trib.com/news/opinion/forums/article_07de5e3f-c67e-5973-9344-b3f99b67112e.html?mode=story.

Right to Hunt

WYOMING (wpr) - Next week the Wyoming legislature will be asked to take up a proposed constitutional amendment on the right to hunt. Such an amendment has been adopted by three other states and Wyoming sportsmen and sportswomen organizations are behind the effort. Walt Gasson is the Director of the Wyoming Wildlife federation. He says the constitutional amendment would be beneficial in this state. © Copyright 2011, wpr

To listen, CLICK HERE or visit http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wpr/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1752669.

Sportsmen Applaud Forest Service Press Release

The Bridger-Teton National Forest (BTNF) supervisor, Jacque Buchanan, made a triumphant decision this week to keep 44,720 acres of pristine forest habitat as it is today. Oil and gas development was inappropriately proposed for these acres, but due to the hard work from sportsmen and women across Wyoming we were able to show the importance of this area for its current uses. Traditional Wyoming businesses can keep their jobs and the economic benefit coming into this state from tourism, recreational businesses, hunting and angling outfitters and guides, and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department will be benefited from this decision.

The BTNF is a magnificent wealth of wildlife habitat for both terrestrial and aquatic species, recreation opportunities, and traditional jobs. We applaud Ms. Buchanan’s decision and support maintaining quality habitat for our wildlife.

Jan. 25, 2011

Contact:
Steven Brutger, Trout Unlimited (307) 332-6700 x11
Joy Bannon, Wyoming Wildlife Federation (307) 335-8633



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Sportsmen applaud Forest Service for its decision to keep Wyoming Range habitat intact
Federal agency says 44,720 on the eastern front of the Wyoming Range will not be leased for oil and gas drilling

JACKSON—Sportsmen for the Wyoming Range (SFWR) today congratulated the U.S. Forest Service for officially pulling 44,720 acres of potential oil and gas leases in the Wyoming Range off the table.

“This is a significant development, and it shows that hunters and anglers have an important voice when it comes to how public lands are managed,” said Steven Brutger, Wyoming Energy Coordinator for Trout Unlimited, a member of the broad coalition that includes dozens of hunting and fishing organizations, as well as rod and gun clubs all across Wyoming. SFWR has opposed drilling on these proposed leases for years, noting that the area in question is too important to the Wyoming Range’s big-game herds and its native trout fishery.

The 44,720 acres removed from drilling lies on the eastern front of the Wyoming Range. However, this withdrawal should not be confused with valid leases owned by Plains Exploration and Production Co. The Plains leases, which encompass 77,000 acres of the Wyoming Range, were purchased in the early 1990s. True to their word SFWR and its partners support those valid rights, which are protected under the Wyoming Range Legacy Act. At the same time they are working with federal agencies and industry to ensure that irreplaceable fish and game habitat is protected should any development occur in that area.

“For those of us who hunt and fish in Wyoming with our families and our friends, today’s news is welcomed, indeed,” said Joy Bannon, Field Director of the Wyoming Wildlife Federation, another of the SFWR partners. “This land is just too important, too valuable, to drill, and we’re thrilled the Forest Service agrees with hunters and anglers all across Wyoming.”

Over a year ago, the USFS announced its preferred alternative to withdraw the acreage from potential leasing, but the withdrawal only became official today with the Forest Service’s Record of Decision on the matter.

Oil, Gas Firms Find It Harder To Drill On U.S. Land

In the winter of 2010 I received a phone call from a National Public Radio (NPR) reporter, Jeff Brady. Mr. Brady was writing a story on the Western Energy Alliance’s (WEA) lawsuit against the Department of Interior Bureau of Land Management (BLM). WEA is made up of energy companies from all across the country. Energy companies buy oil and gas lease parcels on public land for the right to develop. The Mineral Leasing Act says the BLM is to issue a lease within 60 days after that lease has been purchased. Basically, when the BLM sells a lease an energy company buys it at auction, gives the BLM their money, then the BLM is to issue that lease for development within 60 days. However, it has taken, in some cases, up to two years for the BLM to let the companies know whether or not the lease they bought will be issued. From a business perspective, Wyoming Wildlife Federation (WWF) understands the economic dilemma, but you might be wondering why we were asked to comment and where a non-profit organization fits into all of this?

Well, before a lease is auctioned, the BLM provides the public with the lease parcels set to go on the auction block and where those leases are located within the state. That is where WWF comes in. Proactively, we review where the leases are being offered in Wyoming, we see if those leases are within wildlife habitat and/or recreational hot spots, and determine whether or not we think development would be appropriate. If we do not, we will protest those specific leases to the BLM and provide our arguments. Within Wyoming we need to balance our world class wildlife and world class energy sources. To do this certain public land parcels are needed for multiple-use versus industrial use. WWF is a proactive watchdog for maintaining our viable wildlife habitat and recreation here in Wyoming. The following story was aired on NPR’s Morning Edition, which reaches 12.5 million listeners.

January 5, 2011
By Jeff Brady

Since the Deepwater Horizon accident in the Gulf of Mexico, the oil industry has complained loudly that the government is dragging its feet in approving new offshore drilling projects. Now the industry says it's experiencing similar problems in the Rocky Mountains.

There, companies bid for the right to drill for natural gas on federal land. In recent years, environmental groups have found they can slow down the boom-town pace of drilling by challenging those leases, as a way of protecting special places.

It's a tactic that has upset companies that drill for natural gas.

"We're tired of spending our money, having the government cash our check and taking our money, and not issuing leases," says Nerd Gas Co. senior vice president Cary Brus.

"We believe it's a breach of contract. ... They took our money; we want our leases," says Brus, whose company has joined a lawsuit that claims the Bureau of Land Management is breaking the law.

(Jeff Brady/NPR)

The Mineral Leasing Act says the BLM has 60 days to award a lease. But a government report released last summer found that the agency was able to meet that deadline less than 10 percent of the time in the Rocky Mountain region.

Part of the reason is that these leases are also subject to other regulations designed to protect the environment. Environmental groups have challenged leases after they are sold, based on concerns for animals like pronghorn antelope, mule deer and sage grouse that could be pushed out of their native habitat by drilling operations.

"One of the great things about this state is, we have world-class wildlife," says Joy Bannon, field director for the Wyoming Wildlife Federation. "We also have world-class energy resources, and we need to find a balance of that."

(Jeff Brady/NPR)

Environmental groups have worried that special places were being handed over to the oil and gas industry without much scrutiny.

"Under the last half of the Bush administration, there was an avalanche of oil and gas leasing activity," says Erik Molvar, executive director of the Biodiversity Conservation Alliance.

Molvar says groups like his started challenging leases as a way of slowing that avalanche. In his view, public land in Wyoming should be available for all kinds of uses, including recreation.

"For so many years, the oil and gas industry has had the entire pie of all the public lands all to themselves," Molvar says.

But that changed when Barack Obama became president nearly two years ago. While George W. Bush's administration was focused on oil and gas development on public land, Obama favors renewable energy. Those changing priorities made it difficult for BLM workers to keep up with awarding leases.

"Prior to February 2009, we were about two months behind," says Julie Weaver, chief of fluid minerals adjudication at the BLM office in Cheyenne, Wyo.

"After the change in the administration, we had to step back and do some re-evaluation, and because of that we have a backlog," she says.

The agency hopes to be caught up by Feb. 1, Weaver says. The BLM is also changing its leasing process, so that concerns from environmental groups are addressed before a lease goes to auction. That will likely lead to fewer leases sold, and less money for the federal treasury.

Meanwhile, the industry has started losing interest in drilling on public land.

"I think you have seen some pullback in activity," says Kathleen Sgamma, director of government and public policy at Western Energy Alliance. "We've gotten very clear signals from this administration that it's going to be difficult to get leases, it's going to be difficult to get permits and project approvals."

Sgamma says that's a shame, because her industry could be providing thousands of jobs at a time when the country needs them.

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The New Guy

We hired a new hand at our place last week, and so far he seems like a pretty good one. Real sharp guy - family guy, hunter. We were so darn tickled to get him that we took pretty much the whole day off just to celebrate, then we turned around and had a big shindig last night to celebrate some more. Then we all went home a slept for a little while and went back to work today. On January3, 2011 Matthew H. Mead became the 32nd governor of the great state of Wyoming.

It started out with the swearing-in last Monday morning. The new governor gave a great inaugural address, starting out with a story about going goose hunting with Governor Freudenthal. I liked that. He talked about the importance of balancing Wyoming’s need for a vibrant economy with our need for clean air, clean water and wildlife. I liked that a lot. And he talked about his family. I liked that even more. He talked about not being the Republican governor, but about being the governor. I really liked that.

After the swearing-in came the Fire Marshall’s worst nightmare, a reception in the capitol rotunda. It was so crowded that you had to go outside to change your mind. But one of the great things about Wyoming is that there are so few of us that it doesn’t take much to know a lot of people. I saw old friends that I hadn’t seen in years – dozens of them. Then last night, the big party. It was a black tie gig – but a very Wyoming black tie gig. You just don’t see cowboy hats and tuxedos in the same place at the same time in a lot of other places. Again, lots of friends from all over this great state. I loved every minute of it.

But the party’s over now, and the work begins. It’s a darn tough job, and this guy has his work cut out for him. But I’m optimistic. He’s got deep roots in Wyoming, and he knows what’s really important. He’s a pragmatist, not an ideologue. We have talked together enough for each of us to know the other pretty well. He listens. He gets it, and what’s more, he’s not afraid to say when he doesn’t get it and to ask for help. That says volumes to me. I don’t expect we’ll agree on every issue that comes down the line, but I’m confident that he’ll listen to us.

We’re going to be facing some very important decisions here in Wyoming in the coming years – decisions that are going to affect our grandchildren’s quality of life. We need to do this right, or we could make mistakes that will take generations to fix. We’ll be working with the new guy and his outfit to help them make good decisions. We look forward to that. Good luck, Governor!

Walt Gasson, Executive Director
Wyoming Wildlife Federation

WWF and the Wyoming State Legislature

Back when I was a young wildlife biologist, I would occasionally rant and rail about the need to get the politics out of wildlife management. I don't do that anymore. Here's why: The notion of taking the politics out of wildlife conservation is tantamount to taking the role of the people out of wildlife conservation. We cannot and should not do that, because the wildlife resource belongs to them. Let me suggest that no matter how well we do the science, we cannot be any more effective at wildlife conservation that we are at keeping people involved in it.

That's why we are a player at the Wyoming State Legislature. I'm a registered lobbyist and so is Joy Bannon. Both of us have some experience at this game, and speaking for myself, I enjoy doing it. More importantly, we are pretty effective at it.

During the legislative session, one of us is at the capitol nearly every day. Sometimes, we're attending committee meetings, other times we're having conversations with legislators and other lobbyists about our priorities for the session. In any case, we are representing you - the hunters, anglers, and wildlife enthusiasts who treasure our wildlife heritage.

As each session progresses, we'll be sending out periodic updates on the progress of legislation that we care about. Stay in touch, and you'll be able to follow the action!

Walt Gasson, Executive Director
Wyoming Wildlife Federation

2011 Session

The session kicked off today with a bang. If my count is correct, there are some 23 new faces in the ranks of Wyoming legislators, so there will be lots of new contacts to make. As always, I want to invite your active participation in the legislative process. The legislature's website is the most important key to your participation, and I urge you to visit often. The link below will provide you several options for participation: http://legisweb.state.wy.us/LEGINFO/HowtoParticipate.pdf.

Now let's look at some bills we will be tracking in this session. For each one, I'll provide a link for anyone who would like to read the introduced version of the bill:

HB0076 - Game and fish -turkey pioneer license - This bill amends the statue dealing with pioneer licenses to include a reduced price turkey license. The numbers of these licenses are very low, and any loss incurred by the Game and Fish Department can be addressed in a recoupment bill. We should support this bill. http://legisweb.state.wy.us/2011/Introduced/HB0076.pdf

HB0100 - Game and fish-land acquisition - This bill would prohibit the Commission from acquiring land through adverse possession or proscriptive easement. It probably would not change the way they acquire land now, and there may be some constitutional questions here. For now, I'd suggest not taking a position on this bill. http://legisweb.state.wy.us/2011/Introduced/HB0100.pdf

HB0101 - Vicious animals-interference with game wardens - This bill provides criminal penalties (low misdemeanor) for anyone who fails to control a vicious animal that hinders a game warden in the performance of his or her duties. We should support this bill. http://legisweb.state.wy.us/2011/Introduced/HB0101.pdf

SF0039 - Aquatic invasive species-reciprocity - This bill empowers the Game and Fish Commission to establish reciprocal agreements with neighboring state on AIS inspection fees on shared waters. This is similar to the existing reciprocal licensing agreement between UT and WY on Flaming Gorge. We should support this bill. http://legisweb.state.wy.us/2011/Introduced/SF0039.pdf

SF0048 - Wildlife and natural resources trust account board - This bill amends the statute that establishes terms for WNRT board members to establish staggered board terms, similar to those of Game and Fish commissioners. We should support it. http://legisweb.state.wy.us/2011/Introduced/SF0048.pdf

SF0063 - Game and fish-donation of hunting licenses -This bill would amend the existing statute to allow a person to surrender a valid big game license for reissuance to a disabled veteran selected and sponsored by a charitable organization. We should support this bill. http://legisweb.state.wy.us/2011/Introduced/SF0063.pdf

SF0071 - Education-hunter safety courses - This bill would mandate Wyoming schools to offer hunter education in the 5th or 6th grade. With the existing demands on educators, this bill is unlikely to go anywhere. We should take no position on it. http://legisweb.state.wy.us/2011/Introduced/SF0071.pdf

SF0080 - Game and fish-complimentary licenses - This bill would limit the number of Commissioner's tags that could be issued in any given area to no more than 10% of the total license quota in that area. We should take no position on it. http://legisweb.state.wy.us/2011/Introduced/SF0080.pdf

SF0083 - Game and fish-resident preference points - This bill would establish a system for resident preference points in the issuance of elk, deer, and antelope licenses similar to that currently used for nonresidents. The most recent survey data by the Department suggests that resident hunters are most evenly split on this topic. As such, we should take no position on it. http://legisweb.state.wy.us/2011/Introduced/SF0083.pdf

SJ0001 - Right to hunt, fish, and trap - This is the bill that if passed, would put before the voters a proposal to amend the state constitution to forever preserve the right to hunt, fish and trap while not creating a right to trespass, diminish other private rights or diminish the duty of the state to manage wildlife. We are working very closely with the sponsors on this one, and I am satisfied that it is a good bill. It will be my first priority this session. I have attached a white paper that we produced to provide more information. http://legisweb.state.wy.us/2011/Introduced/SJ0001.pdf

Legislative Updates

Legislative Update #1 - 11 January 2011

Walt Gasson, Executive Director
Wyoming Wildlife Federation