Times Spent Outdoors: Priceless!
Times Spent Outdoors: Priceless!
Outdoor Enthusiasts Need To Know These Possibilities — Now!
While my focus and much of Hunting And Angling Heritage Workshop Group’s (HAHWG’s) effort is on recruitment and retention. There are other groups fighting the good fight at a higher level. I got an email from Arizona Sportsmen for Wildlife Conservation’s President Jim Unmacht (they also do the license plate grant program many of us have used) that listed the concerns, threats and challenges for sportsmen on a landscape scale.
And, I said to him, some of us work with kids, others work with legislatures, but we are all together. Below is a bullet-list of what this group is standing up for, while we continue to pass on the legacy, heritage and passion to the next generation. If you’re interested in political arena, email Jim at info@azsfwc.org, or sign up for their emails at http://www.arizonasportsmenforwildlifeconservation.org.
dburt@azgfd.gov
(623) 236-7487 Desk
(602) 531-7578 Cell/Text
Greetings all [from Jim Unmacht]. In this edition of our monthly enews, I'm going to pose a number of statements, and simply want you to ponder the issue(s).
What Would You Do?
The Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Club and others want to add more rules, regulations and restrictions to the North Rim via a National Monument.
That proposed monument, the Grand Canyon Watershed is evidently on the short list of the White House Council on Environmental Quality.
Should the President establish this monument via the Antiquities Act, 1.7 million acres will be forever changed, including Game Management Units 12A & B,13A, and portions of 9.
Many of these same groups have sued the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) on the Mexican wolf recovery plan, and also believe wolves north of I-40 are a good thing.
The same players have now sued the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to eliminate off road game retrieval in the Kaibab National Forest.
The Rewilding Institute is advocating the three C's...Cores, Corridors, and Carnivores.
http://rewilding.org/rewildit/what-is-rewilding/
The Humane Society of the United States is posturing to curtail mountain lion hunting in Arizona.
The Cloud Foundation is advocating for a Burro Preserve of 1 million acres in the Black Mountains near Kingman.
The head of the Cloud Foundation was recently named to the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board.
The National Park Service (NPS) is considering a sharpshooting option for the House Rock bison herd on the North Rim.
The USFWS is considering access closures on Lake Havasu.
The BLM is assessing if and where recreational shooting should be allowed for the Sonoran Desert National Monument.
The NPS and Bureau of Reclamation are considering how to handle and what to do with the Lees Ferry trout.
Last year the WildEarth Guardians had 5000 people sign on to a letter supporting Congressional funding for "Properly taking care---and even removing---hundreds of thousands of road miles" in our National Forests.
There is an AZ Senate Committee "studying" the merits of transferring Federal Public lands, BLM & USFS, to the state.
If you're a sportsman or woman in Arizona, this is a daunting and frankly depressing list of issues. If you were lucky enough to draw an elk or antelope tag this fall, congratulations and enjoy your hunt! If you don't have time to get engaged, get involved, write a letter or make a phone call, know this: Many of the groups listed above are fighting tooth and nail to stop what you love to do. Your freedom to hunt, fish, shoot, ride, explore and watch may only be marginalized now, but our kids and grandkids may not get to enjoy any of it, or at the minimum, a lot less than we did. So, What Will You Do?
Yours in Conservation,
Jim Unmacht
President
Interesting Articles and Stories for reading on vacation
I’m Disgusted with Hunters - http://theoutdoorinsiders.com/im-disgusted-with-hunters/
A Nonhunter Takes Hunter Ed: My Story - https://coloradooutdoorsmag.com/2016/05/23/a-nonhunter-in-hunter-ed/
Reader Comments(0)