bonuspointjohn Report post Posted January 9, 2012 I will try and address some of the issues that have been presented here. I have been in favor of the concept of having this legislation passed and will support the bill during the legislative process. I am a life member of the AES, President of the ADA, Board member of the AZSFWC, Vice President of the Arizona Super Big Game Raffle and board member of the Arizona Wildlife Federation. As president of the ADA, I am approached constantly about access to public lands that are blocked by private landowners. The bill in question will address that issue by funding 1/3 of the money that is raised through the tags allocated towards public access FOR ALL.... not just the wealthy. The ADA and every group that I belong to have all been united in one cause..... NO landowner tags. The AZSFW is not affiliated with any other national group. The AZGFD has tried for years to negotiate landowner access and have failed miserably. For southeastern Arizona I have a map which shows all the locked gates to public land that is currently being treated as private. County monies are being spent to maintain those roads....your monies, the taxpayers. The AZSFW will be attempting to negotiate access and cannot do any worse that the AZGFD has done. There are statements that salaries will be increased. AS president of the ADA, I make nothing. zero,nada. So, yes, I will get a raise. I will make 10 times more than zero..... zero. We would hope that sportsmen would read the bill and understand the benefits that the package presents. I have worked on behalf of wildlife for many years, worked on many projects and sat through countless meetings. In all the years that I have been active, one group has been able to work with the legislature.... The AZSFW. A healthy series of questions regarding the bill and what will be happening should be expected. Condemning the bill and making statements that have no basis in fact are truly detrimental to the process. Coues country is being tucked away by landowners who are either afraid of damages, greedy to maintain a haven behind them that no one can access or simply wanting to maintain privacy. We can have philosophical discussions in the future, but condemning a bill without any readings and assuming that this is for the rich is wrongheaded. I hope that some of you will attempt to understand the process and submit coherent questions. BPJ 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bonuspointjohn Report post Posted January 9, 2012 I have done some more research and there will be roughly 54 tags that will be auctioned. The remainder will be for raffle tags... for all of us who cannot spend the big $$ to buy the auction tags. So really, anyone who wins the raffle tag is doubly blessed. Cheaper than an AZGFD tag and still in the draw for the next year. Please keep forwarding the questions. thanks, BPJ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gotcoues Report post Posted January 9, 2012 Is it true that government leased land to ranchers can be locked? Also is it true that large tracts of locked land can receive tax breaks due to throwing the proper amount of cattle on it? Seems to me a vast area I truly loved to hunt around in Unit 29 was locked up to all except friends and family. I have zero issues with this. Private Property is just that! However, I believe that if it is leased land from the government, than it should never be locked or if people were getting massive tax breaks for cattle, then that also should come with an unlocked gate policy. I'm a little naive in my statements and I apologize up front for speaking without knowledge of the facts, but can someone elaborate on the above statements? (Also, the rancher described above enjoyed locking one of his gates right before a WT season would open even though he knew people were just using this road as access to public land. In a conversation I had with him personally, he got a chuckle out of his statements.) I feel I pay a pretty stiff annual fine (I mean tax) for the two properties I own. Unfortunately, the HOA won't let me put a cow in the backyard, so for now I'll keep paying the tax for the privilege of owning my own home. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Non-Typical Solutions Report post Posted January 9, 2012 It always worries me when I have a document in front of me that requires a lawyer to interpret! Didn't the state clean out the game and fish funds a few years back??? What would keep them from getting their hands on the 20 million generated for wildlife in this case? Come on lawers, what are the pros and cons, to the average AZ hunter?? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DesertBull Report post Posted January 9, 2012 Get the HALE outta here with this bullcrap. The Utards fell for this same crap. Their drawings odds have not improved. The quality of elk and deer has declined as well. They hate it. Well, $OME of them like it. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rag Horn Report post Posted January 9, 2012 Didn't the state clean out the game and fish funds a few years back??? What would keep them from getting their hands on the 20 million generated for wildlife in this Because it is the law and they promised. Bwha hahaha I can't even type that without laughing. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Red Rabbit Report post Posted January 9, 2012 AZGFD commmission to have a telephone conference this Tuesday Jan 10 at 1PM. The meeting should be webcast. http://www.azgfd.gov/inside_azgfd/documents/2012.01.10%20Agenda%20-%20Telephnic%20Mtg.pdf Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bonuspointjohn Report post Posted January 9, 2012 The tags would be purchased from the Department and there could be no possible involvement by the legislature. The $20,000,000 dollars represents the figure of all the dollars that would be spent by visitors coming to the Expo. The tags will be purchased by the AZSFWC and there are 18 groups currently that are members of that organization. Public scrutiny of the money would be welcomed and justified. Thinking that the money could be swept is impossible. As far as landowners who lease land..... yes, they do block gates that go past their privately owned land. In SE Arizona, there are thousands of acres of public lands that are blocked by these landowners. Negotiations by the department have proven to be fruitless. Checkerboard land is indeed being blocked, since there is no way to stake jump. The ranchers have new pots of gold in the future through solar development and it just gives them another reason to say NO!... When ranchers own the land, that is theirs to use and we have no dispute with that. When someone owns 200 acres and is the bottleneck to 40,000 acres, that is when we have a problem. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
40-year-AZ-hunter Report post Posted January 9, 2012 "Of course we are talking about 0.2 of 1 percent of the tags, the change in drawing odds is so small that it cannot be calculated. " This is very misleading. Look above at the description of the tags to be sold. It includes many of the best tags in the state. While it may be only 0.2% of the TOTAL tags, it is a MUCH higher percentage of the most sought after tags. It should also be noted that the person who wrote this is a member of the unelected Board of Az Sportsmen for Wildlife. Funny he did not mention that in his signature line. Here are the members of that unelected Board, ARIZONA SPORTSMEN FOR WILDLIFE CHAIRMAN: Alan Hamberlin BOARD MEMBERS Chris Denham Brian Dolan Randy Gaskill Hays Gilstrap Floyd Green Todd Hulm Nick Heatwole Mark Nuessle Art Pearce Trent Swanson (Note added at 9:30 PM on 1/9/11 - Nick Heatwole has clarified later in this thread that he has not been on the AzSFW Board for over a year! http://arizonasportsmenforwildlife.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=81&Itemid=67 It appears that this list taken from their website today is not maintained. How the heck can we trust them with all these valuable tags when they don't even seem to know who is on their Board? Also of note is that this bill is never mentioned on their website including under their list of "Political Action" or "Current Issues". I wonder why they are not so proud of it????) I've looked at their website and can not find a copy of the bylaws for the organization. That would be interesting to see. Some of us were very suspicious of Az Sportsmen for Wildlife when the group was formed by a few VERY well to do fellows. It is still run by an elite group that includes some VERY well to do fellows who are not elected. Everyone should read this bill VERY carefully, then contact your State representative and senator as soon as possible. Dont wait either. Notice that the bill has an emergency clause "This act is an emergency measure that is necessary to preserve the public peace, health or safety and is operative immediately as provided by law." I dont get what the hurry is except to get it done before the majority of hunters hear about it. We surely dont need more raffles for hunt permits. The drawing is essentially a very fair raffle. Let's keep it that way. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elkaholic Report post Posted January 9, 2012 kinda like this group - singular organization has seen the money raised by this kinda tag - they want their share and want all their bills to be paid also - BS Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Outdoor Writer Report post Posted January 9, 2012 6. "Qualified organization" means an organization that is qualified pursuant to section 501©(3) of the internal revenue code and that meets all of the following conditions: The only group that qualifies for this is the Sportsman for Wildlife and that is it! It was written by and for the Sportsman for Wildlife (Gilstrap and Jerry Weiers to be exact) so you see if this goes through it will tie the hands of all other organizations in this state. Bingo!! And shades of what Don Peay (sp?)of Sportsman for Wildlife in Utah has done with tags there over the last few years. Lots of hunters in that state aren't happy about it either. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
40-year-AZ-hunter Report post Posted January 9, 2012 The bill is schedule for a hearing in the House Commerce committee on THIS Wed. Jan 9. Tell me that this is not being rammed thru? http://www.azleg.gov/FormatDocument.asp?inDoc=/agendas/01110202107%2Edoc%2Ehtm Interestingly, Weiers is the Chair of that committee. Guess what will happen? This is before the Commission meets on the 10th. WTF. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Outdoor Writer Report post Posted January 9, 2012 I have done some more research and there will be roughly 54 tags that will be auctioned. The remainder will be for raffle tags... for all of us who cannot spend the big $$ to buy the auction tags. So really, anyone who wins the raffle tag is doubly blessed. Cheaper than an AZGFD tag and still in the draw for the next year. Please keep forwarding the questions. thanks, BPJ Can we assume that these 54 auction permits will be in ADDITION to the 30 or so that are already allocated through another state law? Also, did either Weiers or AZSFWC run this by the game commission before going forward with it? If so, what did the commission think of the idea? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bonuspointjohn Report post Posted January 10, 2012 The tags are going to be generated to the AZSFWC, which is comprised of 18 different member organizations. How does this block them from anything:?... The current tags that go to the different critter groups will stay in place. Where does this hurt our groups?..... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AZLance Report post Posted January 10, 2012 This is a very Bad idea! Sounds like a pay to hunt scheme... So we are suposed to sit back and be happy that guys with unlimited amounts of money can buy more tags, and we should be happy because the money will improve wildlife habitat! Screw that! I will build my own water catchments! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
