Attn deer hunters

[Ken C]

I am copying the following facebook post by Doug Markham this am. Some of you may be hunters, even if you are not, all sportsmen should watch each other's back. The next bill could do something stupid to the fisheries. Go to the link to the Tennessee Wildlife Federation site and read the info.

URGENT Doug Notes to everyone: This was sent to me by Chris Nischan. The Tennessee Wildlife Federation is calling for help on the deer farming isssue. A vote will take place tomorrow to do a bunch of stuff you hunters will not want. Please read and help out:

http://capwiz.com/tnwf/issues/alert/?alertid=60991531

http://external.ak.fbcdn.net/safe_image.php?d=AQDhaNrUt9clTFi9&w=90&h=90&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.capwiz.com%2Fimg%2Ffb%2Fcapwi zXClogo_fb.gif (http://capwiz.com/tnwf/issues/alert/?alertid=60991531) Stop Deer Farming - Oppose HB3164 (http://capwiz.com/tnwf/issues/alert/?alertid=60991531)
www.capwiz.com (http://www.capwiz.com/) Tennessee Wildlife Federation is the largest statewide organization dedicated to the conservation of wildlife and natural resources through stewardship, advocacy and education. We bring together and represent the varied interests of people who enjoy the great outdoors.

[Adough]

I seem to have a misunderstanding on some of the statements.
It states that,
"The wild white-tailed deer herd of Tennessee is a minimum $500-700 million annual economic input supporting tens of thousands of jobs in Tennessee."

I've never heard such numbers and as such I am reluctant to sign on and show my support. I've no doubt that importing deer is a bad idea. It's my understanding that the natural deer population is so heavy that we're actually losing forests due to deer eating saplings. But, I fail to see the numbers quoted above as being realistic( I truly would like to see those numbers reinforced.) I'm more than happy to show support for numbers that are half that or even smaller. But, without something to back the current numbers.......

I do without question agree with the SCOTUS on this one though,
"The U.S. Supreme Court has twice ruled that wildlife are owned by the people to be held in public trust by the states. Thus, white-tailed deer should not be privatized."

[bd-]

The numbers aren't that unrealistic when you think about it. Think about all the sporting goods shops that make money off deer season. Hunters are out there buying new rifles, bows, arrows, practice and sighting targets, ammunition, tree stands, etc. every year in the lead-up to deer season. There is at least one muzzleloader company that I know of that is entirely based in Tennessee and makes all its rifles right here. There are even gas stations and hotels in certain parts of the state that get a bit of a boost in the fall when hunters come in to hunt after deer season opens. Then there are people who spend money on hunting leases and stuff like that. There are even a few folks who spend money to drive to a park and watch deer or photograph them without even hunting them.

It's hard to find specific stats on the number of deer hunters in TN, but just as a guideline, I did find that in 2009, Tennessee sold just under 500,000 hunting licenses (not including another 200,000 or so, give or take, who have Lifetime Sportsman licenses or Senior Citizen licenses). Not all of them deer hunt, but a significant number do. It's not hard to get from there to a multi-million dollar economic impact on the state.

Besides, TWRA doesn't pull numbers like this out of thin air - they devote a significant amount of study to putting a dollar value on what hunting and fishing mean to Tennessee's economy, because it's crucial to determining how their budget ought to be allocated.

bd

[tkwalker]

The numbers aren't that unrealistic when you think about it. Think about all the sporting goods shops that make money off deer season. Hunters are out there buying new rifles, bows, arrows, practice and sighting targets, ammunition, tree stands, etc. every year in the lead-up to deer season. There is at least one muzzleloader company that I know of that is entirely based in Tennessee and makes all its rifles right here. There are even gas stations and hotels in certain parts of the state that get a bit of a boost in the fall when hunters come in to hunt after deer season opens. Then there are people who spend money on hunting leases and stuff like that. There are even a few folks who spend money to drive to a park and watch deer or photograph them without even hunting them.

It's hard to find specific stats on the number of deer hunters in TN, but just as a guideline, I did find that in 2009, Tennessee sold just under 500,000 hunting licenses (not including another 200,000 or so, give or take, who have Lifetime Sportsman licenses or Senior Citizen licenses). Not all of them deer hunt, but a significant number do. It's not hard to get from there to a multi-million dollar economic impact on the state.

Besides, TWRA doesn't pull numbers like this out of thin air - they devote a significant amount of study to putting a dollar value on what hunting and fishing mean to Tennessee's economy, because it's crucial to determining how their budget ought to be allocated.
bd

Thanks bd .... <'TK><

[bd-]

Today's Tennessean included a column that discusses this important issue. It is worth a read:

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20120214/OPINION03/302140010/Legislators-endanger-Tennessee-wildlife-resources

Unfortunately, Rep. Frank Niceley has been gunning for TWRA for quite some time now. As mentioned in the article, he has introduced a pile of bills this session aimed at hurting TWRA.

It looks like Chairman Cobb has joined his efforts, refusing to let the bill to reauthorize TWRA get out of committee. They should be embarrassed about playing politics with such an important state agency that serves sportsmen's interests, but they seem to have no shame.

I encourage everyone to contact their elected representatives and tell them that we do not support what is being done here.

Rep. Niceley (R-Knoxville, District 17) has his website here: http://www.capitol.tn.gov/house/members/h17.html
Rep. Cobb (R- Spring City, District 31) is here: http://www.capitol.tn.gov/house/members/h31.html

From this page, you can put in your address and find out who your Representative is:

http://www.capitol.tn.gov/house/members/index.html

You can use it to send your Rep. an e-mail politely telling them that sportsmen are watching this issue, we support TWRA, and we ask them to reject Rep. Niceley's bills and get back to the business we elected them to do, because this surely isn't it.

bd

[sammy joe]

One thing that seems to never get mentioned is the contributions that hunters (and fisherman) make to land aquistion and wildlife restoration/management. This is done thru the Pittman-Robertson Act of 1937, which is an excise tax on all related equipment. This tax was "self-imposed" by sportsman for these causes. Absolutely everyone who enjoys the outdoors, hunters and non-hunters alike, benefit from these dollars.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittman-Robertson_Federal_Aid_in_Wildlife_Restoration_Act

[Catch & Release]

Yup they just keep coming after us. We are going to have to get on the ball and start calling representatives again... from my understanding Cobb and Nicely are the ones behind all this stuff. Very disappointing.....

[Ken C]

Here's the latest in an article in the Tullahoma News.

http://www.tullahomanews.com/?p=2563

[bd-]

Many thanks to Rep. Matheny for supporting TWRA in this. Hopefully his bill will make it through.

bd