Hunters, conservation groups in bitter fight - News

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Apr. 20, 2008
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Hunters, conservation groups in bitter fight

Gibbons may replace two on Wildlife Commission

By SANDRA CHEREB
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

RENO -- Nevada's wildlife and how it will be managed are at a crossroad, according to hunters and conservation groups battling over who should oversee the state's bighorn sheep, mule deer and other creatures.

On one side are those who believe the state's priorities have been misdirected and should place more focus on maintaining big game herds to be hunted. They want changes on the state Wildlife Commission.

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They are opposed by other sportsmen and conservation groups who believe the commission should continue to take a wider view, that preserving habitat benefits all species, from mule deer to sage grouse.

The opposing factions are in a political fight over whether Republican Gov. Jim Gibbons should replace or reappoint two wildlife commissioners, Jack Robb and Jim Jeffress, selected by Gibbons' predecessor, Kenny Guinn.

Those in favor of the status quo fear Gibbons will replace the men with members of Hunter's Alert or the Nevada Hunters Association, who they criticize as fringe groups of "hateful" and "disgruntled" hunters.

The Coalition for Nevada's Wildlife is gathering signatures on a petition and urging hunters to send letters and e-mails to the first-term governor, asking him to reappoint Robb and Jeffress.

At issue, organizers say, is the philosophical direction the commission will take toward wildlife conservation and management.

"Whether it's bighorn sheep, sage grouse, pygmy rabbit, we're there for all of it," said Dr. Jim Nelson, a veterinarian and president of Nevada Bighorns Unlimited, which has a representative on the coalition board.

Larry Johnson, president of the coalition, said the group has a track record of working in partnerships with state agencies and federal land management agencies "to obtain our goals, which is the protection and enhancement of our wildlife resources."

Nelson said petition organizers have asked to meet with Gibbons but were told he wasn't available because of the state's budget crisis and other issues.

"We have a huge following in the state of Nevada," Nelson said. "For political purposes, I'd think he'd want to at least hear from us."

Gerry Lent, president of Nevada Hunters Association in Reno, questioned the motive and appropriateness of the petition drive. He called organizers "an elite group of hunters" who work closely with the state Wildlife Department and raise money for it at high-profile events.

"They want to put their own people in," Lent said. "If that pays your way to get someone on the Wildlife Commission, that's wrong. How do you tell a governor what to do? I think it's wrong to put pressure on him."

Hunter's Alert, which endorsed Gibbons' 2006 election bid and claims to have about 1,000 members, has derided money spent on "tweety birds" and "guppies," and portrayed Nevada Department of Wildlife biologists and administrators as clueless bureaucrats.

Cecil Fredi, president of Hunter's Alert in Las Vegas, did not return telephone or e-mail messages, but on the group's Web site, he lambastes environmental groups as "antis" and criticizes the use of taxes raised on sales of hunting and fishing equipment for conservation projects instead of sportsmen.

"For the past few years, the favorite greenie buzzword has been biodiversity," Fredi wrote. "In layman's terms, it means spending sportsmen's money on tweety birds, lizards, guppies and hundreds of other nongame creatures."

His group is worried about the decline of mule deer herds, and blames predators, mountain lions in particular, and inept management.

Wildlife biologists have blamed mule deer declines on several problems, including human encroachment, habitat changes, predators, wildfires and climatic swings such as drought that leave the animals too weak to face harsh winters.

"When are the people in charge going to wake up? The answer is 'never' until former Gov. Kenny Guinn's appointments to the Wildlife Commission have expired," Hunter's Alert's Web posting said.

"The current wildlife commissioners don't have the knowledge and NDOW doesn't care," the unsigned article said. Commissioners and agency employees, it said, "don't want their minds corrupted with facts."

"This will change once Gov. Jim Gibbons has selected his appointments to the wildlife commission," the article said.

Robb, a former board member of Nevada Bighorns, and Jeffress, a biologist with the Wildlife Department for 31 years before he retired, said they've sent letters to the governor expressing their desire to retain their posts.

Jeffress is regarded by many as the finest wildlife biologist to come out of Nevada, Johnson said. "To remove this man from the commission, quite frankly, is a crime."

Johnson and Nelson make no apologies for their fundraising efforts or close links to the Wildlife Department.

"We have raised and donated millions and millions of dollars to Nevada's wildlife and habitat," Johnson said. "We have donated many tens of thousands of volunteer man hours."

Over the years, Nevada Bighorns has contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars in money, equipment and volunteer hours to the agency and for projects to benefit wildlife, including replanting after wildfires, installing remote water guzzlers for birds and animals and buying helicopters and other heavy equipment.

The Wildlife Department uses volunteer time, calculated at $38 per hour, as matching portions for federal grants. Since 2001, the agency estimates Nevada Bighorn volunteers have contributed nearly 23,000 hours, the equivalent of $874,000.

"And we want to have a say in this matter," Nelson said. "We think we've earned that."

The upcoming appointments underscore wildlife conservationists' unease with a new governor who for 10 years in Congress was among a block of conservative Western Republicans who routinely painted environmentalists as the enemy and made an annual priority of overhauling the Endangered Species Act. The National Environmental Trust and Nevada Conservation League nicknamed Gibbons' congressional voting record as "Crimes Against Nature."

Johnson said he fears a shift in priorities that could come with new commission members will jeopardize years of conservation work.

"We've put so much time and effort and so many millions of dollars into all of this," Johnson said. "The resource still needs us badly. It's hard to see all of this go for naught.

"That's our point with this petition. The governor needs to be aware."

Gibbons' spokesman Ben Kieckhefer said the petitions haven't been delivered to the governor but that his office has received letters and e-mails about the appointments.

"No decisions have been made, and no one has been offered a position on the board," Kieckhefer said.

"These appointments don't come up until June. There's still a lot of time to make this decision."

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Please enter your name Name: Please enter your email Email: Please enter a comment COMMENTS : (word count limit is 300) You have reached the maximum number of words allowed Current Word Count: Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background. jim gibbons wrote on April 23, 2008 10:55 AM: THE SO CALLED GOV CAN'T EVEN RUN HIS PERSONAL . MUCH LESS THE STATE. Bud wrote on April 22, 2008 09:11 PM: It turns out that the big three, NDOW and their commissioners, Nevada Bighorns Unlimited, and the Associated NV Press are publicly exhibiting early signs of poor sportsmanship along with something else that has been nonexistent for the past 40 years due to all of their arrogance......FEAR ! Has anyone given it any thought what's going through the minds of the USF&WS who control 87% of Nevada, hold the money bag and are a huge part of this equation? Do you think they're just going to sit idly by disaffected? I thank all of you for your comments. I especially thank our Governor Jim Gibbons, who because of selfish Nevadans like the above, has no easy job . He now faces a tough dilemma whether to canonize em or can em. Like most of you, I say can em ! ! Mike Laughlin wrote on April 22, 2008 10:45 AM: I do not underatand why the current Govenor of the State of Nevada, Jim Gibbons can not put in place as Commissioner anyone he chooses. When the new President of the United States is elected he or she will reappoint a new cabinet. Why is Nevada that much different from state and federal agencies? The current Commission is not working to restore our deer herds and needs to be replaced with someone that is interested in Mule Deer, not just Big Horn Sheep, Elk and other strange animals, fish and birds instead of Mule Deer. James M Laughlin Lamoille, Nv people whom live in glass houses should not throw stones wrote on April 22, 2008 09:47 AM: IN ALL OF HUNTERS ALTERT RAMPAGE WAY DOESN'T HE TALK ABOUT HIS POACHING EXPERCINECE? IT'S PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE!!!!!! Reader wrote on April 22, 2008 02:24 AM: I searched for hunters alert and on their site I couldn't really find anywhere that Gov Jim Gibbons backs that website or it's president. I also noticed that the articles on that site do go back quite some time and it seems they do tend to hint toward their favorite candidate at any given time. It looked like they just promoted who they wanted to win. Did I miss it? I was also curious why "the status quo is worried Gibbons will replace them with members of Hunter's Alert or the Nevada Hunters Association." It seems like the idea is to get someone different because these guys were not doing what was needed or outlined, so why should they be worried about that. It seems they should be more worried about doing something different to keep their jobs from what I understood of this article. Mike D. wrote on April 21, 2008 08:49 PM: When two sitting commissioners from a single special interest group mount a smear mud-slinging campaign to besmirch others in order to retain their appointed seats, it seems to me that they automatically disqualify themselves from reappointment. Gathering a hate diatribe petition and releasing it to newspapers is not proper behavior for would-be commissioners, let alone sitting commissioners. This is not the way volunteerism in public service is supposed to work. I think the two casting aspersions should be de-commissioned immediately. And reappointment is absolutely out of the question now. Pete wrote on April 21, 2008 04:49 PM: I just finished reading the article on appointment to the NV Wildlife Commission. My question is simple "why would the Governor appoint two people that have done little to increase the majority of wildlife in NV?" The NV Wildlife Commission and the Department were not set up to save and protect every creature within the State. If that were so they would have no real goal or purpose. The Wildlife Department was established to preserve and protect harvestable wildlife for the use of the people. I am sorry if that doesn't fit into the package that the current preservationist organizations like. That was the purpose and need for establishment for nearly ever State Wildlife management agency in the US when they were established I do not know who the Governor will appoint but if he doesn't appoint people that are better and more capable than those that are currently on the Commission he has done the State of NV and outdoor sportsmen, the original and true conservationists, and the wildlife of NV a great disservice. I just hope he has enough sense not to put another "fox in charge of the chicken house" or should I say "another predator lover in charge of of mule deer herds." An added comment to David J. your lack of knowledge about predators and what several biologists with Dr.'s degrees readily agree that many of the problems in NV and other sates are from an over abundance of predators. If you continue to live in such an uninformed world the only place you will have to hunt will be on private game preserves. For those that want to know my wildlife back ground it is wide and varied but the best way to find out would be come on a bear or cougar hunt with me. Anything for a buck wrote on April 20, 2008 07:31 PM: It appears Sandra Chereb and the LVRJ have initiated a hate campaign. Here come the politics of personal destruction! Let's not discuss the issues, shall we. Let's just cast stones. So in that vein, Sandra, what's your background on wildlife biology, game management, NDOW, or anything else having to do with Nevada wildlife? Or are you just a shrill screamer for a buck? Lucky for you, your occupation is legal in NV. tim wrote on April 20, 2008 09:01 AM: it sounds more like entrenched bureucrats against hunters and sportsman.they say they have donated millions of dollars?whos dollars would that be,taxpayers,namely the hunters and sportsman who pay taxes on equipment,fees and licenses.typical 30 yr.gov.workers,no one is going to tell us how to do our job.sound about right david? David Johann wrote on April 20, 2008 06:50 AM: "Cecil Fredi . . . lambastes environmental groups as 'antis.' . . . 'For the past few years, the favorite greenie buzzword has been biodiversity,' Fredi wrote. 'In layman's terms, it means spending sportsmen's money on tweety birds, lizards, guppies and hundreds of other nongame creatures.'" "His group is worried about the decline of mule deer herds, and blames predators, mountain lions in particular, and inept management. "Wildlife biologists have blamed mule deer declines on several problems, including human encroachment, habitat changes, predators, wildfires and climatic swings such as drought that leave the animals too weak to face harsh winters." Cecil Fredi reminds me a lot of the late Johnny Carson's character, Floyd R. Turbo: "Floyd R. Turbo was a recurring comedic character on The Tonight Show, portrayed by host Johnny Carson from 1977 until his departure from the program in 1992. "Floyd R. Turbo was a middle-aged 'everyman,' a politically conservative type who taped editorial messages for television . . . and based on characters Carson encountered in his northeast Nebraska childhood), Turbo dressed in a plaid hunting jacket and hat, and stood nervously in front of a TV camera as he delivered his opinions on gun control, war, women's liberation, and hunting. "Carson once told Rolling Stone reporter Timothy White, "He's (Turbo) the epitome of the redneck ignoramus. I find the things (characteristics) each week when I go out to do...his gestures at the wrong time, his not knowing where he's supposed to be, his feeble attempts at humor, his his talks about things he doesn't quite understand.'" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floyd_R._Turbo It's reassuring to know that Gov. Gibbons backs Cecil Ferdi (who sounds like Floyd R. Turbo) over hunting veterinarians and biologists.