Outrageous giveaway to public land ranchers in Utah proposed. By Dawn House. The Salt Lake Tribune
Outrageous giveaway to public land ranchers in Utah proposed
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Dr. Ralph Maughan is professor emeritus of political science at Idaho State University. He was a Western Watersheds Project Board Member off and on for many years, and was also its President for several years. For a long time he produced Ralph Maughan’s Wolf Report. He was a founder of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. He and Jackie Johnson Maughan wrote three editions of “Hiking Idaho.” He also wrote “Beyond the Tetons” and “Backpacking Wyoming’s Teton and Washakie Wilderness.” He created and is the administrator of The Wildlife News.
Comments
now that’s a lot of bull…. you can fill in the rest. Who is going to ensure that the ranchers would even use the money for its intended purpose of land improvement….NO ONE
The money and the wildlife belongs to the public not some ranchers wallet to spend how he deems fit.
Plus hunting should be an equal opportunity thing, not a I have 10 grand so I can hunt on this land scenario…even MORE SO on public land that. All classes of society should be welcomed. Auctioning the tags shuns the majority of hunters and makes it a snob hunt.
You know the issue as well as I do, ill stop preaching to the choir…UGH!
this is one of the funnier things i’ve read. does the absurdity of the suggestion not even occur to these folk ? do they honestly believe that this is anywhere near the realm of a reasonable idea ?
what a bad idea.
I would pay ten grand for a cow hunting permit…
Steve C,
if you were an anti-wolf zealot they’d have an answer for you – i think it goes something like:
S.S.S.
Lets think here, they are already getting a huge benefit by being on public lands to make a profit, now we are going to essentially pay them to not receive an already cushy benefit?
All wildlife in the US is publiclly owned, even on private land. The land owner tag system is one that works well because normally there are lots of habitat improvement conditions associated with giving land owners tags that can be used on their property. Giving away tags to lease holders for use on public land is probably illegal on its face and would not survive challenge. The real issue is that public lease rates are substantially below what equivalent private range would lease for. Public lease holders have had it good and do not need to be compensated further. That said, I feel sorry for all the knuckleheads who voted for this guy.
Brian,
It isnt fair! The hole I would have to dig for a cow is so much bigger.
I’m a hunter and this seems very very unfair. Basically it’s tags for the privileged.
Nathobbs,
I will disagree on the auction tags given to conservation groups to raise money for habitat. But this whole situation reeks. The only possible way I would be for this if it resulted in a massive reduction in numbers, or atleast cross fencing and proper rotation of cattle grazing on public lands. A better used would be to have state agencies raffle them off with the money specifically earmarked to fence out rapairian areas!
I don’t like the auctioning of hunting tags for any group for any purpose.
From what I’ve seen, political or economic favoritism always creeps in. The Divisions of Wildlife, Fish and Games or whatever each state calls it, are just too susceptible to influence.