NR Quota on Federal Land

[Bullshot]

You went political on this. But have you been paying attention to bills submitted in WY that requests all Fed land get transferred to the state or similar laws in UT already passed? I think AOC is more worried about minimum wage than whether or not to allow hunting in national forest.

Guilty. Sorry, weakened whatever I was trying to say for sure.

 

[Bullshot]

Violation of the law...

Good luck getting around s.339

S. 339

To reaffirm the authority of States to regulate certain hunting and
fishing activities.


_______________________________________________________________________


IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

February 9, 2005

Mr. Reid (for himself, Mr. Baucus, Mr. Stevens, Mr. Nelson of Nebraska,
Mr. Ensign, Mr. Enzi, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Hatch, Mr. Conrad, Mr. Salazar,
Mr. Craig, Mr. Bingaman, Mr. Thomas, and Mr. Kyl) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
the Judiciary

April 21, 2005

Reported by Mr. Specter, without amendment

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL



To reaffirm the authority of States to regulate certain hunting and
fishing activities.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Reaffirmation of State Regulation of
Resident and Nonresident Hunting and Fishing Act of 2005''.

SEC. 2. DECLARATION OF POLICY AND CONSTRUCTION OF CONGRESSIONAL
SILENCE.

(a) In General.--It is the policy of Congress that it is in the
public interest for each State to continue to regulate the taking for
any purpose of fish and wildlife within its boundaries, including by
means of laws or regulations that differentiate between residents and
nonresidents of such State with respect to the availability of licenses
or permits for taking of particular species of fish or wildlife, the
kind and numbers of fish and wildlife that may be taken, or the fees
charged in connection with issuance of licenses or permits for hunting
or fishing.

OK... That moves it into the red zone for me. Kudos for the participation by the INFORMED. Anything else is is product of my own handwringing. Sorry again for the political aside. From here on out there is only one path... and it generally involves a flaming trash receptacle.

 

[goodhunt]

That is correct. The Feds could close all their lands to hunting, if they so desired. They have set dates where deer hunting is allowed on some Federal lands, which are periods different (shorter) than the statewide seasons on surrounding lands. They close areas due to national security concerns. They close lands on refuges to protect wildlife. Like any landowner, they hold that power to do so.

Not gonna lose any sleep over that one. If that becomes an effort because of some "tipping point," good luck to those feeling tipped.

This is something I've been wondering about recently. I'm not sure that "those feeling tipped" would be driving the change, but their apathy would certainly make it easier to enact. There are 8, maybe 12 states where the majority of residents depend on federal land for hunting opportunity. On top of that, they are the least populated states. I look at the tipping point as the level where public land hunting is restricted to a point where only the residents of those states have a realistic opportunity of a quality public land hunt within them. The apathy of the hunters outside those states will make it easy for anti hunters to restrict activities allowed on public lands. I personally feel you will start to get to that point when (notice I didn't say if) Colorado starts limiting NR opportunity. As a younger hunter from an eastern state that has a lot of "commoner" hunting friends, I feel comfortable saying Colorado's opportunity is the only thing keeping those guys remotely interested in what rights people have on public land. When your whole life's exposure to hunting only required a drive to a gas station for a tag and a treestand on private property, the western states draw systems and corresponding NR draw odds seem a little ridiculous. When people ask me how to do it for elk, I start by telling them to watch Randy's videos. Then I summarize by telling them the options are 1) spend 85 non refundable for a 20% chance at a lower end unit in NM, 2) spend 2-3 years buying preference points for a sure thing general tag in montana or wyoming, or 3) buy an OTC tag in Colorado. Which one do you think they find most appealing? I throw in that tags are approaching 1k in every state, harvest success for the available tags are less than 25% and, no matter how long you apply, you will statistally never have a realistic shot at any premier unit out west. I can't get guys to apply with me even if I offer to cover transportation, food and lodging. Most of them think I'm nuts and ask how I'm hiding so much money from my wife. Long story short, the total cost for NR (both opportunity and monetary) can't reach the point where only the most hard core hunters receive enough utility from participating in the process. I expect this happens when Randy starts posting videos on "How to hunt elk every OTHER year" instead of "How to hunt elk every year". At that point there won't be enough people who care whether the hunting rights in national forests are any different than national parks. To be fair, I'm 29 and I highly doubt this happens in my lifetime.

 

[Bambistew]

I'll one up ya. There are federal lands (BLM, USFWS, NPS) in Alaska that are off limits to hunting to Alaskans (and NR) unless you live in the bush. The Feds manage wildlife on federal lands here. I have a bad feeling we're just seeing the beginning of the end for non-qualified individuald.

 

[3855WIN]

OP, you asked about non-hunting restrictions. There are limits on the number of boats allowed to float on many rivers.

 

[338win]

As stated above the feds already manage game in a way that contradicts state rules in AK. I don't see how the Supreme Court ruling for for state management of game has any weight if enough special interest cry loud enough to get their way.