Thank you for your letter. I appreciate it when folks will contact me and share their concerns. I have had some other emails on this issue so I will share my response with the others as well.
The Division of Wildlife Resources appreciates the conservation efforts that all of our partners bring to Wildlife in Utah and throughout the nation. These efforts have recovered and restored nearly all wildlife species in America in the past 120 years. In Utah we have furthered this success by having dedicated sportsmen conduct any number of banquets and expo's to benefit wildlife.
The selection of the contractor for the expo permits was not a decision that was taken lightly by the state and it included many elements of consideration. It is well reported by now that SFW/MDF/FNAWS and RMEF were applicants in this process. Many individuals in this state are passionate about one or more of these groups and their success as they well should be. I have a great respect and working relationship with all of these groups and many others that contribute to wildlife in the state such as SCI, NTWF, UBA, UTA, DU, TU and others. All of these groups have tremendous management and I work with them all on various issues and committees, including David Allen and Bill Christensen of RMEF. All of the groups hold very good banquets and conventions annually and all raise significant funds to benefit wildlife efforts. For many years I have personally have had paid memberships in all of the organizations to support their conservation efforts. Those conservation efforts vary by group and I am always willing to meet and discuss how any and all of these groups benefit Utah wildlife and their habitats.
The Division wrote an RFP for the new contract that would look at a range of considerations for the selection of a contractor. Those considerations were based on the Expo rule and clearly stated in the RFP for offerors to respond to in detail. One consideration was the financial contribution to the wildlife of the state. While I was not a member of the evaluation panel, I have since been able to read what is publicly online related to the proposals. Both entities committed their proceeds to wildlife conservation and have a historic track record of doing so. While RMEF clearly was the winner of the scoring points in that category there were other categories such as data security that they did not score as highly within. It is unlikely that anything that I or others may say will change the attitudes of those who have made up their mind regarding who should have been awarded the contract. Had the decision gone the other way there would be just as many angry people crying foul. I will say that I have a clear knowledge that the panel that evaluated the proposals was independent and objective and involved folks from many state agencies that have a special knowledge and understanding of the different evaluation categories. With only one person from each agency on this evaluation process, there was no ability for a particular evaluator to carry an overabundance of weight in the scoring process. Because of State Purchasing rules, the role of the Wildlife Board was minimal at best and they were only allowed to vote on whether there should be expo permits or not, nothing else.
I know that many out there believe that all wildlife discussions revolve around issues such as the awarding of expo permits or the number of hunting permits issued on a certain unit in any given year. These are very important but please understand that additionally some of the biggest threats and challenges to our love of hunting and fishing come from an environmental community that is unrelenting in their quest to end sport hunting and fishing in America. I can assure you that is true by the many harsh emails sent to me from that community. My hope is that we can work through these issues of one conservation group against another and continue to moving forward together to ensure that our public-at-large understands the value of sportsmen in the protection of all wildlife and our rights in this country. That can only be accomplished by working together.
Thank you for your email to me.
Sincerely,
Greg Sheehan
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Gregory Sheehan
Director
Utah Division of Wildlife Resources
801-538-4702
801-556-7707 cell