LAST EDITED ON Aug-06-04 AT 10:42PM (MST)[p]AZBob
I am afraid you are right, a memo I received also:
Another Big Issue is the Department made a mistake on the non resident Big Horn Sheep tag draw. Non residents received 16 tags and were only supposed to receive a maximum of 8. The Department will seek advice on how to handle this bad situation and will be instructed by the commission as how to handle this. There are possible legality issues involved if they try to take back 8 of the tags from the non- residents and give them to residents. Evidently the 10 % filter was not turned on to catch this oversight.
Also at the meeting in Phoenix:
Currently, USO- Montoya is suing Nevada to get rid of the non resident cap. If they win this, then all states will lose the right to put a limit on non residents Kansas & another state is tied up in land owner lawsuits with Taulman owning property in Kansas. He is involved in lawsuits all over the country!!! Minnesota and North Dakota are suing over hunt opportunity and quotas. All of these lawsuits when settled will let all the states know what they can and can not do to solve these issues. What a mess this country is in due to the greediness of business men who claim to be hunters..
The good news:
Here are some of the items that will be presented and if approved by the commission will be instated. These are short term fixes and the long term fix is still being discussed as this is far from over.
1. Do away with the Internet Draw OR make the hunters pay up front for all their Tags, Processing Fees & License. This would eliminate all but the dedicated hunters & hopefully weed out and return the applications to prior internet levels.
2. Everyone has to purchase a hunting license before they can apply for the draw.
3. Raise the non-resident tag fees to equal what other states charge for non-resident hunt opportunities.
4. Instate the Conservation permanent bonus point system for volunteers- resident & non- resident- Volunteer labor on approved projects by Game & Fish. Sign in sheets filled out and signed off by Game & Fish personel on site and the hosting group leader( AES, ADA, ADBSS, ETC.) Age limit 10 years with monitoring of work to make sure all volunteers are actually working. This is still being finalized and will require 40 to 48 hours of volunteer time before becoming qualified for this permanent bonus point. Hours can & will carry over into the next year if your schedule does not allow 40 to 48 hours in a years time. Only one permanent bonus point available per year. More information will be available shortly.
5. Mandatory Hunter Education course requirement for both Resident & Non- Resident.
Note* Non Residents that have their current states hunter Ed certification can take a special 10 hour course and be done. If they do not have the course, then they would have to take the complete Arizona Hunter Ed course.
All states are watching to see how Arizona deals with the lawsuit issue, as they will most likely instate the same or similar results in their states. Which could mean we would have to take another states hunter Ed course if we wanted to hunt in another state.
6. Increase the percentage of draw rates of the individuals whom have the maxed out bonus points from the current 10% to 20-25 or 30%. This to help those who have put their time in waiting for a tag- both resident and non resident. Increasing the cycle time of drawing will allow for more opportunity to hunt.
There are other options on the table also-
Cubing Bonus points- which we understand will probably not pass, Eliminating the sale of parts-hide/horns- non edible parts Awarding extra bonus points to residents, Limiting internet applications to residents only-out of staters would have to mail in, Awarding additional bonus points for continuous support (loyalty) applications(e.g., consistent applications for 5 years). Increasing bonus point pass percentage.
Game & Fish has a couple more options to be brought to the table in the near future. These will be presented to the commissioners at the Aug. 14th meeting in Flagstaff
WOW!
AZ Keep up hope!
Nofear4
