I’m never surprised by it. It’s prevalent in many states. Just like I’m never surprised when Trustees of a private Trust play favorites among beneficiaries. They do it, but in the private world you get held accountable by the other Beneficiaries and possibly a judge.
Everyone of these handouts to a small class of Beneficiaries is counter to every state’s rules/laws on Trustee duties. These Trustees who engage in doling out Trust assets to a small class of Beneficiaries are either ignorant of their duties to all Beneficiaries or they are complicit and are betting that the other Beneficiaries won’t haul them to court.
Surprised, no. Fed up with uninformed/unqualified Trustees, yes.
I’m not a Beneficiary of the Iowa Public Trust that holds their wildlife assets. So, I have no standing with Trustees. Even with that, I’ll use my platforms to push against it.
One of the largest threats to hunting, maybe on par with habitat destruction caused by too many humans, is the efforts by some to use the power of appointment/elections to take Public Trust assets for their own personal benefit.