2lumpy
Long Time Member
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This is a copy of an e-mail from Representative Mciff, a Utah Legislator who lives in Richfield. Rep. Mciff is an avid sportsman, born and raise and live his entire life hunting and fishing the mountains of South Central Utah. This is his response to our inviting him to the SFW meeting in Richfield. I would have posted it yesterday but I was not comfortable doing that without his permission. This afternoon he told me I could send it to whom ever I wished. It's very insightful as far as I'm concerned.
His e-mail, in it's entirety, for better or worse.
"Thanks for the heads-up about tonight's meeting. As indicated, I am obliged to be in Salt Lake in the early a.m. for a task force chaired by the Lt. Governor. Otherwise, I would be at the meeting. I have watched with almost disbelief as our deer herds have been reduced to a tiny fraction of what they were 30 years ago. The negative impact on the economy of rural Utah has been major, and the compromise of our life style has been disheartening. The various deer hunts now span some five months and the areas of refuge have given way to our increased ability to penetrate virtually very acre of the range. Our mountains lack the depth, our population contains the breadth, our weaponry the sophistication, and our predators the expanse to virtually wipe out the remaining animals, or to disrupt their reproduction and migration patterns to an extent that it will be difficult to reestablish a reasonably reliable base population. I do not presume to have all the answers, but I have become convinced that we need to manage what remains in a manner to ensure survival even if it substantially alters revenue from license sales and reduces the number and length of hunts and the number of participants. I know we have put significant resources in predator control but we appear to be falling further behind. The only positive footnote to what has happened is that we are now less likely to hit a deer on the highway because the population has been thinned to a point as to substantially reduce the risk.
I will be interested in what surfaces in your meeting and will work with you and other concerned citizens and sportsmen, as well as big game officials, in trying to find solutions.
Best! Kay McIff"
DC
His e-mail, in it's entirety, for better or worse.
"Thanks for the heads-up about tonight's meeting. As indicated, I am obliged to be in Salt Lake in the early a.m. for a task force chaired by the Lt. Governor. Otherwise, I would be at the meeting. I have watched with almost disbelief as our deer herds have been reduced to a tiny fraction of what they were 30 years ago. The negative impact on the economy of rural Utah has been major, and the compromise of our life style has been disheartening. The various deer hunts now span some five months and the areas of refuge have given way to our increased ability to penetrate virtually very acre of the range. Our mountains lack the depth, our population contains the breadth, our weaponry the sophistication, and our predators the expanse to virtually wipe out the remaining animals, or to disrupt their reproduction and migration patterns to an extent that it will be difficult to reestablish a reasonably reliable base population. I do not presume to have all the answers, but I have become convinced that we need to manage what remains in a manner to ensure survival even if it substantially alters revenue from license sales and reduces the number and length of hunts and the number of participants. I know we have put significant resources in predator control but we appear to be falling further behind. The only positive footnote to what has happened is that we are now less likely to hit a deer on the highway because the population has been thinned to a point as to substantially reduce the risk.
I will be interested in what surfaces in your meeting and will work with you and other concerned citizens and sportsmen, as well as big game officials, in trying to find solutions.
Best! Kay McIff"
DC