More S339 info

[AZ402]

Many members of the hunting community have been following U.S. Senate Bill 339, the federal legislation introduced by Senator Harry Reid and other sponsors regarding state regulation of hunting and fishing. That bill addresses the ten-percent nonresident hunting cap lawsuit issue and was included as part of a supplemental appropriations bill that was signed into law by President Bush this week.

What does passage of this legislation mean for Arizona?

The issue is under ongoing legal review by the Arizona Game and Fish Department's attorneys and will require direction from the Game and Fish Commission. New rules would need to be drafted and approved by the commission and the Governor's Regulatory Review Council before any cap could be reinstated.

The department and commission are also still under a federal court injunction in this matter and would need to take legal action to have that injunction lifted before the rulemaking process could be completed.

Therefore, there will be no cap in place this year for bull elk and for deer north of the Kaibab. The earliest a new rule could be in place would be for the fall 2006 drawing.

 

[A-con]

Thanks for the up date Stan.

 

[AZ402]

This will be one your best years to draw Dan. You'll have a better chance then me with you bonus points, good luck.

 

[ringer]

True and too bad but I am willing to give up another year to finally step on that bunghole's neck for good. Still gotta love that the bill is law now. Should protect all states with marketable animals from getting raped.

 

[Bandit]

It's a damn good thing yes. I have to agree with you guys on that one. If things go well, Arizona hunters should be set.

 

[Bambistew]

Just a question... just because it was made law, couldn't it still be challenged as being unconstitutional?

 

[ringer]

It may end up being challenged. I know AZ has to run it by the Gov's legal team then file a court case based on the new law then if the rich boys want to spend more money it could go to the supremes. I hope that happens as it is a common sense law and has overwhelming support so we could then countersue USO for our state legal fees and it will be a hell of a lot more than the $300000 we had to pay Taulman's lawyer. This one needs to go all the way and we as hunters will raise money for legal fees if it comes to a hard fight. The last time we counted on G&F to be strong and IMO they screwed the whole deal up and had a part in the result. Very few hunters here in AZ were even aware of the impact and what was happening but they sure are now. Bring him on.

 

[A-con]

Even if I (or any other non-resident) do not draw this year, things are looking up for the near future. With the single draw pool this year, I figure non-residents should draw upwards of 50% of the better tags. This will seriously reduce the (NR) high point pool.
Maximum points for deer is 7, and less than 550 people have 7. Half of them should draw this year, and most of the others in 2006. After that, I will be in the Max. point pool.
By 2008, I’m thinking late rifle deer, north of the river.

 

[AZ402]

The person inside the AZGFD that has been replying to my questions said they expect about 20% of the tags will go to non-res. Last year there was roughly 40,000 non-res applications and well over 200K resident applications. We shall see soon what happens..................