Vermont Becomes 30th State to Join Families Afield Ranks

I just got back from a signing cerimony for H 243, the Vermont Mentored Hunting License bill. Governor Jim Douglas thanked everyone involved in passing the bill, especially Representative Steve Adams. I testified two times in favor of the bill based on my work at the national level with the Families Afield partners and safety research while at the International Hunter Education Association.
Thanks to the VT Traditions Coalition, DU and TU for backing the bill and the support of the VT Fish and Wildife Dept. This "Learners Permit" for hunting was one of the goals set at the Future of Hunting in VT conference held several years ago in Castleton. It will go into effect in 2011 and is open for people of all ages and residence.

From the US Sportsman's Alliance web site:

Vermont Becomes 30th State to Join Families Afield Ranks
Today, Vermont became the 30th state to pass Families Afield legislation aimed at reducing barriers for the next generation of sportsmen.

VT Fish and Wildlife Positions Saved

From the VT State Employees Assn, a bit of god news from this year's legislature :

Fish and Wildlife Positions Saved

Despite their positions being almost 75% federally funded, VSEA members in Fish and Wildlife were surprised to hear their positions were being eliminated to balance the Department’s budget. Thanks to our friends at the Vermont Natural Resources Council (who testified several times on this issue) the Appropriations Committees added a section to the budget that would preserve their jobs with the Landowner Incentive and Community Wildlife programs:

“It is the intent of the general assembly that the fiscal year 2011 budget provides funding to fill five (5) game warden positions that are vacant as of January 1, 2010, and funds two (2) limited service Fish and Wildlife Scientist II positions (position numbers 640148 and 640150). The Scientist II positions shall continue to implement the Landowner Incentive Program and Community Wildlife Program.”

The Department also just filled my old position with Hunter Education. This should be good news for hunter education instructors and new hunters.

UW hunter promotes eco-conscious behavior

Orion and Responsive Management have submitted a letter of intent for a multi-state grant to look at the connection of locavors and hunting. From what I see and read these folks have a strong respect for the land and animals, as do ethical hunters.

From Madison. Com

Locavor Hunters

...
Malcolm declared himself a hunter and environmentalist. He explained how those interests help him obtain "healthy, organic food in an ethical, eco-conscious manner." In fact, Malcolm appreciates hunting more than ever as he and his wife try to separate themselves from the industrial food chain that links our supermarkets to factory farms and petroleum-based agriculture that's making family farms obsolete.
Malcolm's no rebel. If you spend much time around serious gardeners, mushroom pickers and wild-berry pickers, as well as farmers' markets and community support agriculture -- CSA farms -- you've probably heard the term "locavore."
Locavores are do-it-yourselfers who try to obtain most of their food from local sources. They also like to "put up" as much food as possible through canning, smoking, pickling, vacuum-sealing and pressure-cooking.
In other words, they're food-gatherers who can often be nudged toward the "hunter-gatherer" lifestyle by folks like Malcolm. And he's more than happy to push. When he's not hunting deer, turkeys, waterfowl and small game, Malcolm is arming college students with guns and bows while teaching them to hunt.
Read more

Ohio Man Pleads Guilty to Poaching $23,000 Trophy Buck

This news item from the Outdoor Wire. Interestingly, when this guy gets out of jail he could come to VT (and 16 other states) and hunt legally. So far Vermont has shown no interest in entering the interstate wildlife compact. Why? I have heard thru inside sources that Vt FWD doesn't want to lose any license sales. Sounds like we aught to put up some bill boards (outside the state lines of course- bill boards are illegal in VT) "Poachers Welcome"!

Ohio Man Pleads Guilty to Poaching $23,000 Trophy Buck

After pleading guilty to four charges including taking a deer in a closed season, hunting without permission, no license and no deer permit, a Scioto County, Ohio man has been fined $23,572.05 in restitution - the largest fine ever for a poached deer in Ohio. Beginning today, the confiscated deer will be available for photographing at the ODNR District Five office in Xenia. 

In addition, Clay will lose his hunting privileges for life. Clay had 10 prior wildlife convictions for deer violations and has spent time in jail for several of those offenses. He will be entered into the Wildlife Violator's Compact and most likely will lose hunting rights in 33 other states.

The Division of Wildlife is also imposing restitution for the deer in the amount of $23,572.05. This is in accordance with Ohio's revised restitution law for illegal taking of white-tailed deer. The law went into effect March 2008 and allows the Division of Wildlife to seek an increased recovery value on all illegally harvested wildlife.

The typical trophy deer, scored according to Boone & Crockett (B&C) guidelines, netted an impressive 197 2/8. This deer was the largest typical white-tailed deer harvested in North America during 2009. In Ohio, this deer would rank fourth all time in the Buckeye Big Buck Club records.| For More...

Jim Posewitz Awarded Montana Federation's first Heritage Award

Technology and fair chase

Terrific video from the NSSF about the AR-15 and its use in hunting. They make the point that virtually ALL conventional sporting arms started out as "military guns."



My thanks to Cagey for passing this along.

Today's NYTimes: Coyote Hunting with Hounds

Video on the NYTimes web page at http://video.nytimes.com/video/2010/04/26/sports/1247467638442/one-mans-controversial-sport.html :

One Man's Controversial Sport

Justin Sablich

 

John Hardzog, a cattle rancher, uses trained greyhounds to hunt coyotes, a common pest for farmers. It's a practice that goes back generations, but is also opposed by some animal rights groups.

Pretty sympathetic portrayal of this rancher and of his hunting of coyotes.

Today's Supreme Court decision

The U.S. Supreme Court today reversed a federal law that prohibited the sale of videos depicting "cruelty to animals," a law which,  as Justice Roberts noted in his opinion, "was so broadly written that it could include all depictions of killing animals, even hunting videos."

From today's Washington Post:

Supreme Court voids law aimed at banning animal cruelty videos

By Robert Barnes
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, April 20, 2010; 11:48 AM 

The Supreme Court struck down a federal law Tuesday aimed at banning videos depicting graphic violence against animals, saying that it violates the constitutional right to free speech

Chief Justice John J. Roberts Jr., writing for an eight-member majority, said the law was overly broad and not allowed by the First Amendment. He rejected the government's argument that whether certain categories of speech deserve constitutional protection depends on balancing the value of the speech against its societal costs.

"The First Amendment's guarantee of free speech does not extend only to categories of speech that survive an ad hoc balancing of relative social costs and benefits," Roberts wrote. "The First Amendment itself reflects a judgment by the American people that the benefits of its restrictions on the Government outweigh the costs. Our Constitution forecloses any attempt to revise that judgment simply on the basis that some speech is not worth it."

The law was enacted in 1999 to forbid sales of so-called "crush videos," which appeal to a certain sexual fetish by depicting the torture of animals or showing them being crushed to death by women with stiletto heels or their bare feet. But the government has not prosecuted such a case. Instead, the case before the court, United States v. Stevens, came from Robert Stevens of Pittsville, Va., who was convicted and sentenced to three years in prison for videos he made about pit bull fighting.

Animal rights groups and 26 states had joined the Obama administration in support of the 1999 law. They argued that videos showing animal cruelty should be treated like child pornography rather than granted constitutional protection

But Roberts said the federal law was so broadly written that it could include all depictions of killing animals, even hunting videos. He said the court was not passing judgment about whether "a statute limited to crush videos or other depictions of extreme animal cruelty would be constitutional.

Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. was the lone dissenter.

"The First Amendment protects freedom of speech, but it most certainly does not protect violent criminal conduct, even if engaged in for expressive purposes," Alito wrote

David Horowitz, executive director of the Media Coalition, said in response to the ruling: "We are gratified that the justices soundly rejected the government's invitation to create a new exception to the First Amendment. As today's ruling demonstrates, if the Court were to rewrite the First Amendment every time an unpopular or distasteful subject was at issue, we wouldn't have any free speech left. We continue to believe that animal cruelty is wrong and should be vigorously prosecuted, but as the Court today found, sending people to prison for making videos is not the answer.

The Media Coalition is an association that defends First Amendment rights and represents U.S. publishers, booksellers and producers and retailers of movies, videos, video games and other recordings.

The Humane Society of the United States said it was disappointed by the ruling but found hope in the majority's statement that it was not deciding whether a narrow statute targeting "crush videos" might be constitutional.

"The Supreme Court's decision gives us a clear pathway to enact a narrower ban on the sale of videos depicting malicious acts of cruelty, including animal crush videos and dogfighting," Wayne Pacelle, president and chief executive of the Humane Society of the United States, said in a statement. "Congress should act swiftly to make sure the First Amendment is not used as a shield for those committing barbaric acts of cruelty, and then peddling their videos on the Internet."

Sounds like a pretty sane decision to me . . . although it is unfortunate that the Washington Post sees fit to give Wayne Pacelle and the HSUS the final word on the subject.

Conservation Leaders for Tomorrow on VPT

VPT's Outdoor Journal

New Season in HD!
Tuesdays, 7:30 p.m., on Vermont Public Television

The new season continues for Outdoor Journal, VPT’s award-winning outdoor adventure program. Hunting, fishing, camping and conservation are all included as Lawrence Pyne leads us across Vermont’s hills and waterways!

Highlights from this Tuesday's episode include:

Conservation Leaders of Tomorrow
At Camp Kehoe on Lake Bomoseen, catch up with Conservation Leaders of Tomorrow – a unique program that introduces wildlife management students to the culture and concepts of hunting.



You can also catch full Outdoor Journal episodes online!

Defending Principle, Not Politicians

This post is from the US Sportsmen's Alliance blog, Bullseye. I'm no fan of Sarah Palin, but I like the concept the Alliance puts forward in this post.
Eric

Defending Principle, Not Politicians

4/7/2010

By Doug Jeanneret, Vice President of Marketing

For over 30 years, the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance (USSA) has defended and promoted valid, scientific wildlife management principles. It does not defend politicians, unless they are taking unfair criticism by also defending valid wildlife management.



This is the core issue with respect to the story the USSA recently ran criticizing a campaign led by the animal rights group Defenders of Wildlife against former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. The USSA’s effort is not about defending Sarah Palin as a political figure. It is about keeping the public from being misled by the rhetoric employed by Defenders regarding wolf and polar bear management.



The Defender’s campaign is designed to pressure the Discovery Channel into not airing a new television program starring Palin. The USSA suggested sportsmen counter the call by Defenders to drop the show.



Our release generated much feedback.

"Challenges for Change" and the VT Fish and Wildlife Dept

This morning I attended a meeting of Lamoille County Legislators including Speaker of the House, Chap Smith. The focus was on the "Challenges for Change" report that is being hotly debated in the Legislature. As Chap explained it, they are looking to reduce the state general fund budget by 30 million this year through structural improvements while improving outcomes now and in the future. Vt Fish and Wildlife has been tapped to be a first wave charter unit. See below copied from the report for what that means:

We have identified seven “first wave” charter units:
• Tax Department
• Department of Information and Innovation
• Fish and Wildlife Department
• Department of Liquor Control
• Department of Labor
• Department of Forest, Parks and Recreation
• Buildings and General Services

Each Charter Unit offers Vermonters the benefits of a “better deal.” These along with the
individual legislation requirements of each charter unit are listed below. More charter
units may be added prior to the next quarterly report; these will not be dependent on new
legislation.

The Secretary of Administration will grant appropriate administrative flexibility to each
charter unit to allow that unit to more effectively achieve its goals. These flexibilities
may include but are not limited to relief from bulletin 3.5 (contracting procedures),
flexibility in part time and seasonal hires, exceptions from requirements to use certain
BGS services, and latitude in website and marketing material development. Where
flexibilities prove effective, they may be extended to other units; where appropriate,
flexibility can also be withdrawn.

Some of the General Fund relief from charter units will actually come from an increase in
entrepreneurial revenue; examples are more paid visits to state campsites and better
collection of taxes owed.


Department of Fish and Wildlife
Vermonters will get:
• Additional revenues into the state’s economy based on increased outdoor
opportunities for families and people of all ages, as measured by license sales
and the National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated
Recreation.
• Improved public safety as measured by the number of shooting-related deaths
and injuries.
• Improved shooting and hunter education as measured by number of graduates
from hunter education and conservation camp programs.
• Improved access to and safety of public and private shooting facilities as
measured by the number of publicly accessible shooting ranges in the state.
• Better licensing, registration, and permitting services, as measured by reduced
turnaround times and applicant satisfaction as measured by surveys.

The primary initiatives the Agency will undertake:
• Develop a more effective, streamlined process for selling Department licenses
and permits
• Generate additional revenues by promoting the sale of Department
merchandise such as t-shirts, mugs, hats, books, posters, patches and stamps
• Reduce fee-for-space costs
• If feasible, collaborate with VT Lottery Commission to develop new mutually
beneficial products

Legislation required:
• Allow permanent licenses to be sold by Point of Sale license agents [Title 10,
Chapter 105, Section 4255 ( c )]
• Change the amount a Point of Sale license agent can charge for a lost license
to $1.50 [Title 10, Chapter 105, Section 4261 (a) and (b)]

My take is this looks pretty good - if they can pull it off. Unfortunately the Department does not have a great record of listening to it's people in the field. Many are burnt out form endless committees and planning efforts that don't get implemented. I suggested to Speaker Smith that key house committee chairs pull in a select group of lower level workers and 1st line supervisors and work with them on recommendations for improvements. That way the ideas get to the decision makers before they are filtered and watered down. Still give the upper management a chance to comment. The premise is the closer to the work you are the better you know what works and what doesn't work.
The 2011/12 budget deficit is a crisis. The Chinese symbols for crisis are danger and opportunity. Let's hope the opportunity to improve our fish, wildlife, and habitat is realized and the danger is dodged.

A HERITAGE LIKE NO OTHER

From Orion founder Jim Posewitz:

A HERITAGE LIKE NO OTHER

In 1885 a cowboy looking for open range grazing opportunity rode from Little Missouri, North Dakota to the base of Rocky Mountains and back. It was a journey of a thousand miles across America’s Northern Plains. Upon his return he told a young Dakota rancher and hunter, Theodore Roosevelt (TR), “I was never out of sight of a dead buffalo and never in sight of a live one.” It was a dramatic moment in a nation without a conservation ethic. A French nobleman, Alexis de Tocquville studying “Democracy in America” earlier observed we were “insensible to the wonders of nature.” To be sure, the pine forests of the lake states and a wildlife resource once described as something that “exceeded anything the eye of man had ever looked upon,” lay in ruins.

There were some who saw the unfolding tragedy. In 1858, the year of TR’s birth, Concorde naturalist Henry David Thoreau wrote: “Why should not we have our national preserves … in which the bear and panther, and …the hunter … may… not be civilized off the face of the earth.” Thoreau’s vision was described as “a mere whisper in the popular conscience.” When TR the hunter/conservationist became our president forty-two years later that whisper became a roar as he and associates endowed America with 230 million acres of national forests, wildlife refuges, game ranges, parks and monuments. It was 9.9 percent of America held for the restoration of wildlife. Perhaps more important, it was done for “the average man and average woman who make up the body of the American people” that we might all enjoy “the sturdy pleasure of the chase.”

It was not an easy road. When the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl drove our continent to its knees Franklin Roosevelt called the First North American Wildlife Conference. He told the assembled sportsmen and that this was their fight to win or loose. The challenge was accepted and today we are blessed with a new wild abundance from sea to shining sea. This endowment, passed to our custody, is a heritage like no other. This history of restoration, conservation and sharing through a little more than a century stands as living testimony to the common man’s power to change what exists.

We are again challenged, the economic times are not easy and the earth itself needs attention. The good news is that as hunters and anglers we have been here before, we have the “model” that works. A century and a half ago, Thoreau worried about saving a place for the hunter in civilization. Today, the conservation ethic those hunters brought to our culture, holds the answer to saving an environment capable of sustaining civilization.

VT Mentored Hunting License in the Senate

Final Push needed to pass H.243

A strengthened Mentored Hunting bill. H 243, has passed the House and is now in the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Energy. We have a window of opportunity to get this important recruitment and retention legislation passed this year, but our Senators need to know that we want them to take action.
Some folks, including the VT Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs, are concerned about this bill for safety reasons. They reason that parents and adult mentors can't be trusted to demonstrate and teach folks who what to try hunting how to do it safely. They contend that only certified hunter education instructors can do this. As a HE instructor and the former HE Training Coordinator in VT, I respectfully disagree. 30 years ago I would say they were mostly right, but today with over 80% of our hunters having taken hunter education and our hunting related shootings at all time lows, I find this argument insulting to VT hunters. Admittedly, we still have some bad actors out there that are not safe. But they are not the people that will give up their time and share their bag limits to mentor a new hunter. These are the folks that look for short cuts and violate fair chase, game laws and safety practices.
The evidence from other states who have enacted similar legislation is compelling. Wisconsin's program started last fall. They sold 70,000 mentor licenses and had no accidents - zero. Nationally the figure is the same, mentored hunters are the safest group of hunters by far.
Call to action - If you want to help Vermont's efforts to build support for hunting and recruit new hunters, please contact your local Senator and tell them you support H. 243. Then contact a member or two from the Senate Natural Resources committee and urge them to take positive action on this legislation.
Groups supporting this bill include, Ducks Unlimited, US Sportsman's Alliance, NRA, National Wild Turkey Federation and the VT Traditions Coalition.
The amended bill can be found at the Legislative tracking site.

People. Animals. Nature. Why Hunt?

An excellent discussion going on over at Animals, People and Nature on The Why of the Hunt.


People. Animals. Nature.

The why of the hunt
Mar 18th, 2010
by Tovar.

When I was a vegetarian, I had no clue why modern people hunted.

Now that I hunt, I still puzzle over it. Every hunter has his or her own reasons, of course. I wonder mostly about my own, and even there it’s often hard to lay claim to certainty.

Photo credit: Robert Bryan

Of two things, though, I feel sure.

First, the labels we ascribe to ourselves say very little about why we hunt.

When, a few years ago, a local hunter told me he was a “meat” hunter, he wasn’t saying that “meat” explained his hunting; he only gets a deer once every few years, and enjoys his time in the woods for its own sake. He was saying that he was perfectly willing to shoot a doe if he got the chance. In other words, he was telling me what kind of hunter he isn’t. He’s not a trophy hunter. He doesn’t hunt for antlers.

This way of defining ourselves—by marking the boundary between “us” and “them”—is a human habit long studied by anthropologists. “Identity,” after all, comes from the Latin idem, meaning “the same.” We say who we are by saying who’s different: who we are not.

Read more