Did you like fishing the Provo and Weber?

[dryflyelk]

Hope you have good memories. A good portion of both rivers will now be cut off to public use once HB 141 goes into effect next month. Almost all the weber, the middle provo, the upper part of the lower provo, all the upper provo river, and many other streams will be effected.

Here's a summary of the new law:

http://wildlife.utah.gov/dwr/?option=com_content&view=article&catid=40:fishing&id=238:hb-141#new

Who do we have to thank for this?

http://connect2utah.com/content/fulltext/?cid=82292

"This is a classic case of a handful of greedy fly fishermen getting too greedy," said Don Peay who is an advocate for sportsmen...

Don, since you are so quick to come on here and defend your wildlife positions, where the hell were you on this one? I thought you were our "advocate"? Even staying neutral, like you said you were going to do, would have been better than fighting against us.

In the meeting we had several weeks ago, we specifically asked the SFW reps there how they felt about HB 141. Ryan responded and said that it was SFW's stance not to get involved, and they were "neutral" on the subject. Oh really? That was a flat out lie. I've emailed Don asking for his side of the story and he did not reply.

Here's the bottom line. People with money own land. SFW knows who butters their bread, and will always side with them. The end.

I hope as sportsmen we can do what we can to get this bill overturned. It will change how we fish in this state forever.

 

[Deerlove]

I guess these landowners are the ones getting the 100 elk tags for depredation of crop etc? Man Don how many times can you talk out of BOTH sides of your mouth?

 

[Elkhunter96]

Hate the bill, will not vote for current Governer if he goes for re-election. Bad politics...

Looks like I will be doing even more fly fishing out of state and I am glad I am not a guide who makes a living fishing the Weber or Provo...

 

[hogliver]

This is extremely disturbing. I spent just about every day between the ages of 12 and 20 fishing the Provo, AF, Nebo, Thistle, Hobble Creek, etc., knowing that I could wade the whole thing. With this new law, access is going to be completely denied for huge sections of all of these waters. What are kids going to do now? Go get some sort of boat to float through some jackass rancher's manure strewn junkyard of old trucks, tractors and tires? Voters should remember this when it's time for Herbert's re-election.

 

[one_dryboot]

There is alot of truth to what Don said about a few greedy fishermen. they ruined it for everyone!
Having family that owns property I see all the problems that landowners have with those that dont respect the land. There are many times "fishermen" think they can drive on, park or even cut through the property to get to where they want to fish. Sometimes they have opened gates and dont close them allowing cattle to run free into places they shouldnt be. The trash some of these fishermen leave behind is disgusting and unacceptable.

The bottom line is if ALL FISHERMEN would have been grateful for what they had and didnt make it hard on the landowners, they would still enjoy fishing all the waters.

The old saying is very true in this case. Give someone(fishermen) an inch and they will take a mile.

 

[hogliver]

Yeah, exactly. How can you tell the difference between the trash left by a fisherman and the trash already present in the stinking trash heaps of scrap metal, old washing machines, dead livestock and rat infested, broken down outbuildings that dominate every single "ranch" or "farm" along most of these rivers? Clean up your own property before you start running your ridiculous mantra of "fishermen litter" that we have all had to endure for decades. It is BS.

By the way, this is the same BS that resulted in the decimation of the pheasant population ("hunters trespass and litter").

Thanks again, Utah "ranchers," now you can just throw your 76 Pontiac right in the river rather than go to the trouble of actually parking in the field next to the river. Or, instead of dumping your waste oil in the willows, just go ahead and dump it right in the water.

 

[Elkhunter96]

Good thing for you the State now says the landowners own the water and fish in it since the passage of this bill. It will hurt the small tourist industry we had for out of state fisherman.

I agree, property respect is what caused the issue. But, it is still the state and our taxes-license fees that pay for the fish in the streams...not the land owners. I also do not agree with people littering and dumping their garbage on private land or anywhere for that matter. Still, the bill is too one sided and gives too much authority to the property owner. Fisherman should be able to walk down a stream on private property as long as the accessed the stream from a legal access point and do not get out. I also agree that they should not be able to "Go through private gates or lands to access the stream." But, in reality, it doesn't matter what I think, it is only the few rich legislators that make the rules...

 

[rradams]

For the last year or so I've felt an obligation to put my support behind a wildlife organization. I'm a common man with limited resources who enjoys the outdoors and wants to pass them along to his sons. I've followed the SFW organization and HB 141 debate closely and come to an inescapable conclusion:

SFW DOES NOT REPRESENT MY INTERESTS - THE INTERESTS OF THE COMMON SPORTSMAN

I don't discredit all the good that SFW has done and will continue to do. However, it has become clear to me that its agenda is biased towards those with the deepest pockets, and those interests are not mine. It's hard to blame them really. Who would you listen to more? The guy who gives you $34.95 a year thru the mail, or the guy you can call and get a 4 or 5 figure donation at any given time.

Maybe a new organization will emerge someday that represents my interest better. Until then my few dollars will probably go to RMEF and TU.

 

[Hawkeye]

LAST EDITED ON Apr-19-10 AT 01:48PM (MST)[p]I am with dryflyelk on this issue. I was very irritated to learn that SFW/Don supported HB141-particularly given the fact that Ryan Foutz told everyone in attendance at the March 25th meeting that SFW had no position on the issue and was remaining neutral. I personally think that SFW chose the wrong side on this issue. Regardless, SFW should have the courage to step forward and take ownership for the various issues it is supporting. Don't tell us one thing and then turn around and do another. We already have enough dishonest, hypocritical politicians--we don't need our wildlife conservation groups to go down that same path.

Hawkeye

Browning A-Bolt 300 Win Mag
Winchester Apex .50 Cal
Mathews Drenalin LD

 

[one_dryboot]

hogliter sounds to me like you live in the Ghetto! sorry to say not all ranchers have heaps of trash and ##### everywhere. some people take pride in there land and what they own! ya its a tough loss for everyone but like i said if sportsman would respect and follow the laws laid out so they could fish all rivers and streams this wouldn't be an issue. but its human nature to say Piss on them i will do what i want. Piss on those Jackass ranchers as you put it so eloquently

 

[fishon]

And you guys are surprised? Shame on you for thinking you could trust what you heard when I told you not to.....

Tony

 

[Kevin D]

All one has to do is to think back 7 or 8 years or so to get a glimpse into the mindset of Don and the SFW. That was when the national debate was centered on opening up federal land in eastern Utah and western Wyoming to oil and gas exploration. The SFW made it their official position to support the developemnt of energy resources in this region. Whether you agree or disagree is not the issue, but rather why the SFW would support it?

The reason is clear to me, the SFW supported it based entirely on politics, not what was in the best long term interest of wildlife. Wildlife can only be harmed by the presence of new roads and increased human activity in these places. Yet the SFW was willing to sacrifice wildlife interests to curry favors from the political powers that be.

So it is no surprise to me the SFW would sellout the average sportsman and side with the monied and powered interests on HB141......it's all part of their MO.

As far as fishermen trashing private property, I can sympathize with them. I have a 4 lane highway that cuts across my property and you ought to see the damages I have to fix and messes I have to clean up. Nonetheless, I cannot keep the public from using their legal right-of-way because of a few bad apples.

 

[drawback]

There isn't a single river holding landowner in this state that doesn't trash, pollute or destroy the river corridors. I used to fish a stretch of the Provo in Heber that we called Archie Bunker's place, because there was an old console tv and a recliner embedded in the bank. You trying to tell me that a fisherman packed that in? How about the old mattresses, car tires, bike tires, rebar, concrete chunks, cars, cable spools, swingsets and other general household trash that I've come across in streambeds and banks on private property? And the more rural you get, the more trashed the waters are. And that's not counting the cowshit, agricultural runoff and bank erosion these lazy slobs are causing.
____________________________

I hunt. I fish. I VOTE.

Get the F out of SFW