Reprinted from The Nevada Rancher, May 2008

Currently, there are many states that are getting proposed federal land cancer, also known as wilderness. I fought against wilderness in our state (Nevada) to no avail twenty years ago. Basically, wilderness is a cancer afflicting people who want to use federal lands for multiple use.

Let’s look at wilderness with a completely wide open mind. Just what the hell is it and just what good or bad does it do? Before we get into breaking it down, let’s define wilderness. The Federal Wilderness Act defines wilderness as an area of 5,000 acres or more of uninterrupted and non-manipulated environment. There are four federal agencies that can restrict land use. They are The Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service and the United States Fish & Wildlife Service.

Excerpts from Range Magazine

Summer, 2008

Environmental activists and many agency biologists are working relentlessly to make the sage grouse the spotted owl of the Intermountain West. If they succeed in getting sage grouse listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), they will likely effect sweeping change over traditional land use in the West. That is their goal. Ironically, this “sage grouse conservation effort” is based on the fraudulent claim that many millions of these birds inhabited the sagebrush country of the West prior to European contact but this claim is without factual basis.

For a hunter or gun owner in our state, no election has been as important as this year’s gubernatorial race. For the last eighteen years, Nevada sportsmen have been A.W.O.L. (absent without leave) when it comes to having a governor who cares about sportsmen’s issues. For ten years, Bob Miller and for eight years, Kenny Guinn totally neglected sportsmen’s issues. As bad as they were, by electing Dina Titus it will get a lot worse.

The deer population in Nevada has been stagnant for five years, but the Nevada Division of Wildlife continues to expand the number of tags available to hunters

July 1, 1998 will mark the first year of my term as wildlife commissioner. This has been an exciting and frustrating year Trying to balance the needs of the commission, department, sportsmen, family and career has been a challenge Hopefully. 1 have not left anyone out and have answered your concerns quickly and honestly I am not even going to try to agree with everyone, but then you probably didn't expect that anyway

The Commission has met nine times in the year, dealing with numerous petitions from sportsmen and the county advisory boards and sportsman's groups. The following are highlighted from memory:

When the weak link is at the top, nothing works right below. This is particularly true of two state agencies, those being the Division of Wildlife and Attorney General's Office. In our lead story we told you how a good NDOW employee, Barton Tanner, was set up by his fellow employees, wardens Dennis Roden and Frank Chaves. The director of the Conservation and Natural Resources Department is Pete Morros. He was quoted in the Elko Daily Free Press as saying, "Roden and Chaves marked the fox three days before the season." Nothing could be further from the truth. In court documents, it is clearly stated that the fox was reported to be in the trap on December 18. Opening day of fox season is December 19. Warden Roden marked the fox on December 19. That is not three days but one day. When the head of a state agency doesn't know the facts how can the Division of Wildlife make informed judgments on this or any other case? With his statement, Mr. Morros proves the weak link is at the top.

Deer hunting in Nevada is an immensely popular activity, with, in a normal year, 50,000 - 75,000 people applying for deer tags. Of course, it goes without saying that you need deer, in quantity, to fill even a portion of the demand.

(A Pitiful Tale of Waste and Deception)

Nevada's wild horses are descendants of domestic horses that either escaped or someone turned loose. Contrary to popular and misguided belief, wild horses arc not native to Nevada. However, in a fit of divine intervention, our infinitely wise congress declared these feral creatures to be wild. Congress also required the bureaucrats to manage horses as an integral part of the natural system. Here are some interesting tidbits obtained from BLM (Bureau of Land Management) records. From 1973 to 1995, BLM spent over $214.000.000 (yes. million) administering the wild horse and burro program. From 1973 to 1993, BLM spent 58% ($93,500,000) of the wild horse budget on un-adoptable horses housed in feedlots. Most disturbing is BLM's overhead cost rose from 11% in 1985 to 32% in 1995.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation has published a booklet with the above title. The booklet has position statements regarding hunting from major conservation and preservation organizations.

Finally, someone has the intestinal fortitude to expose the animal rights groups for what they really are. Kathleen Marquardt has written a book called "Animal Scam". It is a must read for all hunters, trappers and ranchers. To order the book, call (406) 442-5700. Following are a few excerpts from "Animal Scam".