My name is Cecil Fredi and I thank you for the privilege of speaking to you today. I represent a group called HUNTER'S ALERT and I'm going to talk for a few minutes about some prob­lems concerning our shared interest in fish and game matters. I'll then be happy to answer any questions regarding our goals. I have some literature for those of you who may be interested.

I've lived in Las Vegas for 50 years and like yourselves, I enjoy the outdoors. The other day I was looking through some of my old photo albums and came across a picture of 27 deer hanging in our deer camp, and another picture of 30 bass from Lake Mead, all weighing between 3 and 7-1/2 pounds. How long would three of us have to stay at Lake Mead today to do this? And when I say bass, I mean large mouth bass, not the saltwater carp that we catch out there today. WHAT HAPPENED? How did we get into this sorry state of affairs? We still have Lake Mead and the State of Nevada is still the same size. The prob­lem is, pure and simple, the NEVADA DEPARTMENT OF WILDLIFE.

Now let me clarify that. HUNTER'S ALERT does not hate the NEVADA DEPARTMENT OF WILDLIFE. Quite the contrary, there are many fine employees working for them. We are against the present director and his direc­tion. It was for this reason that HUNTER'S ALERT was formed.

If you want to make some changes in our hunting and fishing rules and regula­tions, the proper procedure is to attend a County Wildlife Advisory Board meet­ing with your suggestions. If your idea had merit, it would be passed on to the State Wildlife Commission. Here is where the problems begin. Wildlife Commissioners are appointed by the Governor and currently the majority of them do not hunt and some of them reek of antihunting sentiment. Let me give you an example of what Tina Nappe, one of your Wildlife commissioners said at the February Wildlife Commission meet­ing: "Basically, a lot of people say that the sportsmen pay for this agency. In effect, they don't. The animals under­write the agency through their death."

Is this the type of person you want set­ting your seasons and bag limits? It isn't what HUNTER'S ALERT wants. I've just given you proof of the anti-hunting sentiment in the Wildlife Commission. Now I will tell you about some of the anti-hunting in the NEVADA DEPART­MENT OF WILDLIFE. Do we have any trophy hunters here? You'll love this! Dave Rice is the Education Chief for the NEVADA DEPARTMENT OF WILDLIFE. He is the spokesman for the Department and he presents departmental information to outdoor groups and other agencies. On numerous occasions he has given a speech called "Crisis in Communication" and I would like to quote some excerpts from that speech.

"On the other end of the spectrum we find the LTD Hunters (an acronym for LESS THAN DESIRABLE HUNTERS.) These are the rednecked animal killers who hunt for ego gratification — a big set of horns or antlers to mount and brag about. These are the people who put a bad name to hunting and hunters each and every time they open their mouths in public."

Does that sound like anti-hunting pro­paganda to you? If you're still not con­vinced, let me read you another piece of his speech:

"Which leads us to the next area of concern — trophy hunting, hunting con­tests, including the wanton slaughter of coyotes, prairie doges, rattlesnakes or marmots, or for a prize for the killing of the animal with the largest rack of horns or antlers. These types of activities, in my way of thinking, do not shed a posi­tive light on hunting or hunters. We need to distance ourselves from these types of activities, and when asked by the media, tell them that we do not approve of the killing of animals for these purposes." NOW ARE YOU CONVINCED?

After many frustrating years of going through the proper procedures to make changes, we realized two things: First, The Nevada Department of Wildlife does what it wants when it wants; and second, this is accomplished by inexperienced people being appointed to the Wildlife Commission.

Six years ago HUNTER'S ALERT was formed to make hunting and fishing

better in our state. In the 1989 legislative session we were responsible for getting two more sportsmen on the Wildlife Commission. Little did we know that anyone who has walked outdoors was considered a sportsman! Guess who opposed us on this legislation? THE NEVADA DEPARTMENT OF WILDLIFE AND THE WILDLIFE COMMISSIONERS. That's right, they didn't want two more sportsmen on the Wildlife Commission.

In the 1991 legislative session, we were able to put the big game tag out to privatization. We knew of many irregu­larities by NEVADA DEPARTMENT OF WILDLIFE in this process and we just wanted a fair big game tag draw. Who fought this piece of legislation? That's right, The NEVADA DEPART­MENT OF WILDLIFE. In other words, they didn't want a fair big game tag draw.

In addition, the NEVADA DEPART­MENT OF WILDLIFE was charging $5.00 for a big game tag application fee and was going to go to $10 before priva­tization. The actual cost now with the private company is a little over $3!

Hunters and fishermen don't mind paying more to get more or even get the same. But that is not happening. Nevada has the highest hunting license fees in the West with some of the lowest game num­bers. In 1981 there were 43,000 hunting licenses sold in Nevada. In 1991, there were 20,000. Our population had at least doubled but our sale of hunting licenses is less than 50%. WHY? It is real simple. LACK OF GAME! By the way, fishing licenses went from 83,000 to 52,000 dur­ing this same period.

Our current director has many excuses for this decline in game. But he refuses to acknowledge the real reason, that being lack of predator control. In 1991, 80,000 deer were killed by mountain lion while hunters harvested 12,000. In October of that year during an Interim Finance Committee meeting I pointed this out to the Director. His reply to the senators and assemblymen on the committee was, "Why, we are just lucky to be able to hunt mountain lion in our state. California does not allow it at all." Now

that's the way to solve the problem!

Currently, predators are out of control. And why shouldn't they be? Some are protected.' And with others, the NEVA­DA DEPARTMENT OF WILDLIFE refuses to do any predator control. At one time, Nevada had 18 fulltime govern­ment trappers along with the private trap­pers, while today we have none.

Predators have to kill to survive and it was certainly made evident to me last season while quail hunting. I saw 30 doe deer and only one fawn with them. NEVADA DEPARTMENT OF WILDLIFE knows how bad the predator situation is. Let me give you an example. From July 1989 to June 1991, the NEVADA DEPARTMENT OF WILDLIFE conducted a survey on sage grouse production and mortality. Fourteen hundred eggs were placed in 200 simulated sage grouse nests. During the 15 days of the nesting season, all 1400 eggs were eaten by predators, main­ly ravens.

In the 1991 legislative session, there was a bill presented to do some raven control. When the bill was presented, the NEVADA DEPARTMENT OF WILDLIFE did not show up to testify. In other words, they spent the hunters' money to find the problem. But when it came time for the solution, they were nowhere to be found!

I'm sure you have heard about Governor Miller's proposal to consoli­date state agencies. He has proposed that NEVADA DEPARTMENT OF WILDLIFE merge with the STATE PARK SYSTEM. If the director in charge of this proposed department prefers that the bulk of his available funds be directed towards parks and away from game programs, it is obvious that hunting and fishing programs, which are 97% funded by hunting and fishing license fees would suffer. Is this what you want to happen? HUNTER'S ALERT doesn't.

Presently, a tremendous amount of hunting and fishing license money is spent on nongame programs such as rap­tor investigation, water and shore bird surveys, threatened and endangered species investigations, and many, many more nongame areas. In addition, by law,

the NEVADA DEPARTMENT OF WILDLIFE is obligated to police all pet shops and exotic pet owners in Clark County. Who is paying for all this? The hunters and fishermen with our license fee money.

I see a lot of businessmen in this group today and I ask you, How much money could you spend on nonbusiness related programs before you are out of business?? That is exactly the direction the NEVADA DEPARTMENT OF WILDLIFE is heading. At one time, the NEVADA DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND GAME was a self-supporting agency. But now the director stands before the legislature every session beg­ging for money to keep his agency going. I could stand here for hours telling you about the mismanagement, waste, and coverups in the NEVADA DEPART­MENT OF WILDLIFE. That would be merely stating the problems and not pro­viding any solutions. We have the solu­tions but they continue to fall on deaf ears.

HUNTER'S ALERT has one main goal, to make more huntable game and to make fishing better. This will not be accomplished with our present NEVA­DA DEPARTMENT OF WILDLIFE DIRECTOR OR WILDLIFE COMMIS­SIONERS. We must legislate to accom­plish this. As you are aware, this is a legislative year and we want to see two important changes made. First, we want some experienced people on the WILDLIFE COMMISSION. Is that ask­ing too much? We don't think so and second, we want all hunting and fishing license money spent on hunting and fish­ing programs. Does that make us selfish? Absolutely not. It will make one of the few state departments self-supporting by user fees.

HUNTER'S ALERT wants better hunting and fishing for all Nevadans and for this we have been called "radicals" and "malcontents". But we have made a difference and we will continue to fight for this. Do we enjoy the fight? Not real­ly. Is there any personal gain? Absolutely not. Then, why bother? Because your elected and appointed officials refuse to make more game!

In closing, HUNTER'S ALERT respects your right to make friends

instead of waves but remember, if our forefathers hadn't stood up for what they believed in, we would still be under British rule. Thank you for your time. Now I will be happy to answer any ques­tions you may have.