Page 33 - Flathead Beacon // 7.16.14

FLATHEADBEACON.COM OPINION CLOSING RANGE Dave Skinner
Howling Stupidity
JULY 16, 2014 | 33
ON JUNE 26, MONTANA FISH Wildlife and Parks announced the opening of public comment on a proposed $20 “Wolf Conservation Stamp.” The Fish, Wildlife and Parks commissioners voted unanimously to send the matter to the agency for rule- making at their Fort Peck meeting May 22. The “Notice of Proposed Adoption” foresees “No Public Hearing Contem- plated.”
Well, I’ve already sent my comment (deadline July 25) demanding a public hearing on this howling stupidity.
Wolf worshippers already can sup- port wolf management, or at least help FWP’s funding problems. First, like any- one else, they can buy a Montana conser- vation license, eight bucks for residents and ten bucks for visitors or admirers from afar. Or, really dedicated wolf lov- ers can buy wolf tags, $19 for residents, $50 out of state on top of the conserva- tion license. They could, of course, just writeadonationcheck.Butforsomerea- son, they won’t.
So, why a stamp? After listening to the Fort Peck meeting audio and doing some digging, this scheme is apparently the brainchild of Zack Strong of the Nat- ural Resources Defense Council. Strong prevailed on commission chair Dan Ver- milion to put the matter before the com- mission, and no opponents spoke up, only Mr. Strong, along with Wolves of the Rockies, Living with Wolves, Endan- gered Species Coalition, Defenders of Wildlife and the Montana Wildlife Fed- eration. Keep in mind that FWP’s wolf- management history page duly notes that “Defenders of Wildlife and the Na- tional Wildlife Federation spearheaded a successful effort to have wolves listed as ‘endangered’ under the ESA’s provi- sions.” Thanks, Wildlife Federation!
Using parts of Strong’s May 21 blog posting to the NRDC website “Switch- board,” after paying administrative overhead, one third of the stamp pro- ceeds would go to livestock producers who install “nonlethal” defenses against predators. Another third would go to “studying wolves, educating the public” and buying “suitable wolf habitat.” The last third would go to hire more game wardens, specifically “in occupied wolf habitat.”
Not a penny of stamp money would compensate livestock growers for munched property, nor make up for all the munched hunting opportunity.
Strong writes such a stamp would be a “perfect opportunity for non-hunters,
non-trappers, ‘non-consumptive’ wild- life watchers [...to...] add their voices and perspectives to the development of wild- life policies in our state.”
Ah ... perspectives. In a life long ago and far away in Colorado, I learned what happens when animal activists get ahold of wildlife policy. In 1977, Colorado was the first state to offer non-consumptives (basically freeloaders, who enjoy what sportsman dollars have kept available) a nongame checkoff to allow “the public” a chance to support wildlife. In the early ‘90s, that “public support” was abused by antis to pass two ridiculous ballot measures, one a spring bear hunt ban, and the other a partial trapping ban.
But actual “public support” was pa- thetic. The average Colorado sportsper- son spent an average of $32 per year on licenses. The average Coloradan? 10.4 cents a year – now that’s depth of pas- sion.
Montana also has a non-game check- off. FWP’s site explains the checkoff produced $496,000 in 20 years, and has averaged $24,000 the past five years. Across about 380,000 tax filers in 2014, that’s 6.3 cents. A year. Man, what com- mitment.
In screaming contrast, in 2001, FWP claimed 254,453 hunters in 2001. Today, resident deer tags are $16; elk resident B tags $25; resident multi-species sports- man licenses $85. Really, who totes Montana’s wildlife freight – or used to?
A 2013 Responsive Management study shows, despite national increases in hunting, a shocking Montana-resident hunter decline from 145,000 hunters in 2006 to 104,000 in 2011, (alongside what the 2011 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Survey tallied as 46,000 non- resident hunters). Does anyone notice how Montana’s hunters stopped buy- ing licenses about the same time wolves began seriously gobbling up Montana’s huntable game? Hunters sure did, and they voted with their wallets.
So what does the commission do? Turn away from the hunters, trappers and fishers who have loyally carried Montana’s wildlife ball for ages, in the vain hope of scoring a revenue stream from those who have never, ever sup- ported sensible wildlife management – and never, ever will.
Howling stupidity, indeed.
(Note: The Flathead Beacon web ver- sion of Skinner’s column has links to a means of commenting on the wolf conser- vation stamp proposal and related docu- ments.)
Mike (Uncommon Ground) Jopek and Dave (Closing Range) Skinner often fall on op- posite sides of the fence when it comes to political and outdoor issues. Their columns alternate each week in the Flathead Beacon.