Big6:
I am not sure anyone is trying to tell what Utah should do. At least I am not. I don't really care what UT does. If the citizens want to have SFW involved to the degree that it appears they are, I say go for it.
Wildlife is a states' rights issue to me. Whatever rules a state sets, I respect the rules and try to find ways to get tags within those rules.
Where the rub comes for those of us outside Utah is when your system is being used as the funding mechanism for SFW/BGF to come to our states and mess things up. When they use the UT funding sources to plant their own people in other states, to mingle in Federal policies that affect other states, to lay a smoke screen about what is going on and what their involvement has been.
The example that always draws me into these discussions is their activities in my home state of Montana. That being the wolf delisting topic.
I, and many others, were involved in many of the same meetings and conference calls that the SFW/BGF leaders were in, though they would have people believe they were the only ones in the loop. We met with many of the same politicians on the topic. We were invovled in meetings/calls with many of the other hunting/conservation groups that participated in the MT and ID wolf delisting.
Contrary to what BGF/SFW will tell you about their role in the MT and ID wolf issue, they are on an island. I have mountains of emails that refute what they say went on with the wolf issue in MT and ID. Some of us were lucky, or maybe unlucky to be just as involved as they were, and had been involved since way before they showed up.
In all instances, BGF/SFW were not involved for the benefit of wildlife and hunters. Most who they PO'd would opine that they were involved in the wolf issue more for their own benefit and the money the wolf issue was bringing in.
Maybe it was a simple difference of opinion and strategy on the topic, but it was them against the rest of the hunting world on the MT and ID wolf delisting. To hear them spin their fairy tales as they do, is not something easy to swallow for those who know the details by our involvement.
It was the other conservation/hunting groups are who got the deal done. When it became apparent that those groups had the power to get it done, SFWF/BGF sent their hatchet squad out after those groups.
And when all is said and done, we are hunting wolves in ID and MT, only to see BGF/SFW come forward to claim all the credit for something they fought to kill. That is a hard for many to sit idly by and let those false claims go unchallenged.
I provde that in hope that it connects the dots as to why folks in other states are starting take interest in what Utah is doing to fund the SFW operation.
The Alaska guys probably feel the same way. SFW uses its UT bank rolls to make a lot of political friends. In the process, they brag about getting their SFW plant put in as director. A plant who turns out to be less than ethical. In the process, many good AK biologists and agency folks are sent to remote locations to make rooom for the SFW plant. The SFW schill then does a 180 on many AK wildlife policies, much to the detriment of of AK hunters.
The favors get repaid by AK governors tags going to SFW. Four of the eleven AK governors tags were sold at the Expo auctions last week. Most AK guys don't like to see the 10% commission, plus administrative fees, go to a group that is already screwing them over.
The pattern is similar in attempts in AZ, with slightly different spins. Same in NM.
In my home state of MT, they and their state chapter came forward supporting a bill that would have resulted in a complete rewrite of the MT wolf plan. If the bill had passed, the USFWS would have pulled their approval of the existing MT wolf plan and we would not have been hunting wolves as we are now. Something they really wanted to see pass, after losing the Congressional battle on MT wolf delisting.
They promoted another bill for their friends in the wool industry that would have cost our FWP agency $24 million. This was all about repaying political favors to those they want to influence. And those repayments happen with hunter money, which equates to hunter opportunity.
So, speaking for myself, I don't really care what Utah decides to do. Let SFW be the 800 pound gorilla in your wildlife policy if that is what UT hunters think is best.
Utah can keep doing whatever they like. When the funding Utah provides SFW/BGF is used to impact hunting outside of your state folks need to understand that "The fertilizer is going to hit the ventilator."
And it will be SFW/BGF with the most fertilizer splattered on their faces when they step outside of Utah.
Happy Hunting to all of you.
"Hunt when you can - You're gonna' run out of health before you run out of money!"
