White House expands hunting, fishing lands

[feclnogn]

White House expands hunting, fishing lands












By JOHN HEILPRIN, Associated Press


Last Updated: August 30, 2004, 04:35:00 PM PDT


WASHINGTON (AP) - The Bush administration said Monday it will give people who hunt and fish new access to hundreds of thousands of acres of lands and streams within 17 national wildlife refuges and wetlands.
The decision as the Republican National Convention was opening in New York was announced by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Asked if it might help President Bush's re-election efforts, the agency's director, Steve Williams said, "This is just another example of the president's commitment to sportsmen."

full story

 

[Ithaca 37]

Big deal. Look where they are, and at the size of them. I don't wanna hunt on a wildlife refuge anyway, especially with 5000 other hunters. I want the wide open spaces of BLM and National Forests to be good habitat and support for all wildlife. If any hunters fall for this latest BS from Dubya they're not too bright.

Look at what he's doing to our public lands!

 

[Muledeer4me]

"Hunting and fishing, along with observing and photographing wildlife, have long been allowed in the 95-million-acre refuge system. That includes 544 national wildlife refuges and thousands of small wetlands and other specially managed areas.

Currently, more than 300 wildlife refuges and about 3,000 small wetlands are open to hunting, and more than 260 wildlife refuges are open to fishing.

Monday's decision opens another 243,500 acres as of Sept. 1, wildlife officials said.

Federal officials opened to hunting and fishing four more national wildlife refuges: Mountain Long Leaf in Alabama, 3,300 acres; Cypress Creek in Illinois, 100 acres; Red River in Louisiana, 2,700 acres, and Waccamaw in South Carolina, 10,500 acres.

Also opened were six more wetlands management districts: Devils Lake in North Dakota, 56,000 acres; and in South Dakota: Huron, 11,000 acres; Lake Andrews, 20,000 acres; Madison, 38,500 acres; Sand Lake, 45,000 acres, and Waubay, 4,400 acres.

Seven refuges where officials added to the land and marshes available for hunting are Savannah in Georgia and South Carolina, 2,000 acres; Big Oaks in Indiana, 10,000 acres; Big Branch Marsh in Louisiana, 6,000 acres; Crescent Lake in Nebraska, 5,000 acres; Cross Creek and Tennessee in Tennessee, 24,000 acres, and Trinity in Texas, 5,000 acres."


Ithaca's Quote,
"Big deal. Look where they are, and at the size of them. I don't wanna hunt on a wildlife refuge anyway, especially with 5000 other hunters. I want the wide open spaces of BLM and National Forests to be good"


Ithaca ,that's part of the problem ,it's not all about YOU.
"Big Deal" "I don't wanna" " with 5000 other hunters" "I want"
Between all the Ithaca's "I want" & I don't wanna's"
and Elkgunner "My own private Idaho" LOL

If we all didnt know better we might think these two are self centered spoiled brat's.

Ithaca, can you not bring it upon yourself to even think for one second how opening up those area's might help other people?
While YOU don't wanna hunt them Im sure many other family's would get good use out of having more area's to hunt and fish.

That's as selfish as saying you dont want any more park's ,because your to big to go down the slide.
Earth to Ithaca--------IT'S NOT ALL ABOUT YOU.

 

[DRAFTSTUD]

In the last decade we have seen a large increase in access to the Red River in Northwestern Louisiana, but access to areas to hunt waterfowl were still mainly privately held. This action does what it says, opens a long area rich in wintering Waterfowl to the sportsmen of Louisiana. Thanks!

 

[RockyDog]

[No message]

 

[MarlandS]

Originally posted by Ithaca 37:
Big deal. Look where they are, and at the size of them. I don't wanna hunt on a wildlife refuge anyway, especially with 5000 other hunters. I want the wide open spaces of BLM and National Forests to be good habitat and support for all wildlife.

Yeah, yeah ,yeah. That 100 acres in IL can support probably 10 hunters the first deer season and 10 more the second with an unknown number more during the bow season. Let's just be conservative here and say it opens opportunity for 25 more hunters, that's 25 more contributions to PR. 25 more people INTERESTED in the Hunting Heritage possibly even a few more new hunters to help preserve the species.

Wonder how many that 10,500 in South Carolina will open or augment opportunities for?

Remember, the ground in the east isn't poor crap ground that takes a bunch of acres to support one animal a year, we can't sell enough tags to really keep the deer populations down, so yes, every little bit open to hunting helps.

So keep on chasing the honorable pursuit of keeping BLM and National Forests healthy and productive but don't look a gift horse for other outdoorsmen in the mouth, snobbery so unbecomes you.

 

[Ithaca 37]

You guys are right. Anything that adds any hunting opportunity for hunters anywhere is a good thing. I'm glad to see the increased hunting opportunities for others, but it's not doing much to help us in the West where Dubya's energy policies are decimating wildlife habitat.

 

[Bambistew]

250,000 acres is just ho hum to IT, but when Dubya wants to drop a 10 acre drill site on BLM... Back the whoa truck up he's destroyed the planet.

 

[JoseCuervo]

I can hit a 9-Iron from my backyard onto a National Wildlife Refuge.... Hunting on it would be about like hunting in Texas behind a high fence.

Of course, Dubya being from Texas probably thinks that is how everybody wants to hunt.

Bambi, how many acres has Dubya sold off of government land in the last 3 years? Land we can no longer hunt??? Didn't you post something on BLM land being sold near Vegas???

 

[Bambistew]

Gunner why don't you enlighten us on the Vegas deal... Then let us know how exactly Bush was tied into it. You don't have a clue!

 

[JoseCuervo]

Bambi,

Are you suggesting that Dubya, as the President of the US, along with a Republican House and Senate could not have stopped the Vegas deal?

 

[Bambistew]

Your donkey boys put the law on the books... Wouldn't that be steping on your toes too? If they didn't sell the land it would be going against Klintons best wishes, but if they do... then its the presidents fault. You're a joke.

 

[JoseCuervo]

Bambi,

Seriously though, how big was the Vegas deal? Do you still have the link?

 

[Nemont]

Legislative History *CLICK HERE*

BLM Land Auction Stuns Observers
by David Berman

In a two-way bidding war that stunned those in attendance at today’s (June 2) Federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) auction of government-owned land in the Las Vegas Valley, Focus Property Group of Las Vegas http://www.focuspropertygroup.com emerged the victor over Pulte Homes by paying $557 million to acquire one of the choicest pieces of undeveloped land in the area.

The 1,940-acre parcel, located immediately west of Del Webb/Pulte’s Anthem master-planned community in Henderson and carrying a minimum bid of $250 million, failed to attract any bids when it was first offered for sale at the previous BLM auction in November, 2003. But a combination of factors, including the startling jump in southern Nevada home prices over recent months, along with the willingness of the City of Henderson to relax or remove some of the stringent development requirements previously asked of property buyers, apparently made acquisition of the parcel more desirable for developers who had previously shied away from bidding.

Almost all of the 71 parcels offered for sale at this auction, some as small as two or three acres, sold for several times their appraised value, leading many of those in the standing-room-only crowd gathered at the Sam’s Town Live performance hall, site of the auction, to speculate on what the nearly 2,000-acre parcel, the final parcel up for bid, would command for a selling price. When all was said and done, the combined 2,532 acres up for sale, appraised at a combined total of nearly $310 million, sold for more than $707 million.

Though several bidders participated in the early stage of competing for the huge parcel, all but Focus Group and Pulte soon dropped out. As the bidding escalated, mostly by $100,000 amounts, the two bidders quickly leapfrogged each other while the bids moved over the $400 million mark and then passed the $500 million mark. While the drama developed and the atmosphere became electric, the crowd all stood and were almost transfixed as they stared at the two sides they raised their bids almost without hesitation. In addition, a full complement of newspaper reporters and TV cameras were at work recording the action.

At several points during the latter stage of the bidding, the auctioneer gave one side or the other a “time out” to allow for quick cell-phone consultations between bidder and advisers located off-premises. As the drama neared its conclusion, Focus Group CEO John Ritter seemed to gain crowd support, based on their murmurings, as he would raise his bid by large amounts, a half-million or more, while the Pulte bidder was more tentative with $100,000 and even $50,000 increases.

Finally, after many tense minutes, the Pulte people said they were through and Focus Group emerged the winner.

This writer participated in an impromptu press conference held by a smiling John Ritter on an auditorium exit ramp after the auction concluded. Ritter revealed that his winning bid was on behalf of a consortium of builder-partners whose names are well-known to those familiar with the homebuilding community: KB Home; Toll Brothers; Woodside Homes; Pardee Homes; Meritage Homes; Beazer Homes; and Kimball Hill Homes. Ritter said the property will ultimately be divided among these builders, who will each construct new subdivisions in the community, with the first model-home openings expected to occur in late 2006.

When Ritter was asked how high he and his group were prepared to go in the bidding, he said, “We were just about there, and couldn’t have gone much higher.”

Ritter was also asked if he found the process nerve-wracking. “My sweaty palms and nervousness came before the bidding started,” he replied, “but I’ve done this before, and once the bidding starts I just find it rather exciting.” He added, however, that he did not expect the final selling price would get as high as it did.

I asked Ritter if, in view of the fact that the adjacent age-restricted communities of Sun City Anthem and Sun City Solera were due for build-out within the next three years or so, any of the development in the newly acquired parcel would include neighborhoods strictly for seniors, and his emphatic answer was no. “That’s not what our builders do,” he said, “and we have no plans to build anything on this land for that market segment.”

Ritter was asked why the land he found so desirable at $557 million was not desirable at $250 million seven months ago. “That’s what I’m asking myself,” he replied, though he did note that the factors of soaring home prices and City of Henderson's relaxed developer requirements helped make it attractive at this time. And when asked if there is any risk of pricing buyers out of the market because of the high purchase cost that must be recouped, Ritter said he remains confident that the economics of the project will allow the construction of housing product that will be affordable to a wide spectrum of buyers.

As for his opinion about the future of residential development in the Las Vegas Valley, Ritter echoed a view being voiced increasingly in local circles: “Our land supply is not inexhaustible, even with these BLM auctions. You can definitely expect to see more vertical development, both in the form of high-rise and mid-rise housing.”

 

[Nut]

I enter th controlled hunt draws on the NWR near here every year. We have had some fun there. However you can only hunt once there per season if drawed.

 

[FAIRCHASEBEN]

The land sold around Las Vegas was mostly salt brush , rocks and sand . The houses built might displace three lizards and a spider. As I understand it the money is being used to purchase some critical wildlife habitat in the northern part of the state which is currently locked up in private ownership . It sounds like a good deal to me .