MT Governor. Who are they?

[Sytes]

Hate to start one of these threads though I actually gain some perspective from the back and forth info... So here it goes ... especially in this case where I know diddly on either of these guys. Where do they stand on sportsman issues, etc?

http://m.missoulian.com/mobile-touc...bb2963f4#75216716-0387-11e2-8e74-0019bb2963f4


Bullock (D) vs Hill (R)

 

[Ben Lamb]

Bullock.

Bullock has a long track record of fighting for hunters and anglers. He wrote the stream access law and defended it through the MT Supreme Court.

I don't agree with some of his ideas on tax rebates for homeowners, but I do think he's much more honest than Rick Hill.

Plus, Hill's campaign staff are the same folks who run United Property Owners of Montana - which just filed a friend of the court brief to eliminate MT's stream access law:

http://missoulian.com/news/state-an...cle_f99911e8-230c-11e2-98b4-0019bb2963f4.html

Hill is pandering to the lowest denominator on sportsmen's issues, and his plan for wolf control will result in relisting. Bullock has a solid plan to increase access to public lands, and as AG he's been aggressive in re-opening county roads that have been illegally shut down.

Hill's idea of tieing school funding to oil and gas revenue is a great way to defund public schools and leave them at the mercy of a boom and bust economy, rather than putting schools on a stable fitting.

Plus, when you can't return $500,000 of illegal contributions, people should really think twice about voting for that candidate. Hill is trying to buy his race, much like Tim Fox.

 

[Straight Arrow]

Bullock! Ben Lamb is spot on.

As a sportsman, hunter, wildlife, stream access advocate ... no way does Hill protect your interests.

 

[MThuntr]

Bullock got my mark yesterday on my absentee ballot.

 

[Bugle 'Em In]

Here is a little something about Bullock before you guys vote for anyone...

http://www.plwa.org/viewarticle.php?id=210

This was started LONG before campaign season...meaning he's not doing this for your vote. He's doing whats right.

 

[Ben Lamb]

Another thing to consider is that the Legislature is going to be even worse than 2011. If we want to simply maintain what we have here, we'll need a Governor who is willing to wield the veto pen.

By any stretch, the MT legislature is one of the worst in the nation. We don't need the same people running that clown show running the governor's office or FWP.

 

[Straight Arrow]

As a lifelong moderate republican, I hate to say this ... but if Montana has to suffer through the 2013 legislative session with a republican governor and a republican-heavy legislature, then hunting, fishing, wildlife, wild places, stream access, and many aspects of Montana that we enjoy and love will all take big hits in an adverse way.

Guys like Randy of OYA, Vito of Headwaters Sportsmen, Shoots Straight, Ben Lamb and many others will need to camp at the Capitol to try to fend off the constant attacks.

Let's hope we have some kind of political balance, as we will have to fight for hunting, angling, and wildlife in any case.

 

[jerrym]

As a public educator and hunter Bullock all the way.

 

[shoots-straight]

As a lifelong moderate republican, I hate to say this ... but if Montana has to suffer through the 2013 legislative session with a republican governor and a republican-heavy legislature, then hunting, fishing, wildlife, wild places, stream access, and many aspects of Montana that we enjoy and love will all take big hits in an adverse way.

Guys like Randy of OYA, Vito of Headwaters Sportsmen, Shoots Straight, Ben Lamb and many others will need to camp at the Capitol to try to fend off the constant attacks.

Let's hope we have some kind of political balance, as we will have to fight for hunting, angling, and wildlife in any case.

Be advised, it's going to take a small army this time. Add Straight Arrow to that mess of has Ben's (pun intended), and I hope many more Hunt talkers.

BTW, Bullock is our guy, but if Rick Hill wins, we hope to have a dialog with him just the same.

 

[Straight Arrow]

Count me in, Shoots. 'Recently had a great conversation with Ted Washburn, Republican house representative and chair of Montana House FWP committee. Now carry his legislative business card in my wallet. Ted appears receptive to sportsmen's input and willing to ignore party lines ... but we'll see???!!!

 

[Ben Lamb]

Count me in, Shoots. 'Recently had a great conversation with Ted Washburn, Republican house representative and chair of Montana House FWP committee. Now carry his legislative business card in my wallet. Ted appears receptive to sportsmen's input and willing to ignore party lines ... but we'll see???!!!

Here are the bill draft requests that Ted has:

LC0186 06/25/2012 Ted Washburn (C) Draft On Hold 10/29/2012 Generally revise laws related to wolf management
LC0187 06/25/2012 Ted Washburn (C) Draft On Hold 10/29/2012 Generally revise laws related to wolf management
LC0188 06/25/2012 Ted Washburn (C) Draft in Assembly/Executive Director Review 10/17/2012 Allow lighted nock on arrows while big game hunting
LC0238 07/06/2012 Ted Washburn (C) Draft in Assembly/Executive Director Review 10/19/2012 Authorize use of sound suppressors while hunting certain large predators

LC0278 07/20/2012 Ted Washburn (C) Draft Request Received 07/20/2012 Revise laws related to hunting certain large predators
LC0326 08/29/2012 Ted Washburn (C) Draft Request Received 08/29/2012 Revising large predator laws

LC0470 10/10/2012 Ted Washburn (C) Draft in Assembly/Executive Director Review 10/29/2012 Authorize trapping of mountain lions by residents

We'll be fighting Ted on a number of these I'm sure. He's drunk the SFW koolaid from what I can tell.

 

[Straight Arrow]

It appears Montana Shooting Sports also has his ear.

 

[Ben Lamb]

Yep. I like Ted, but I have come to realize that he does not do well with compromise or listening to those whom he disagrees with.

 

[bjtc_brian]

I wished I could vote just based on one issue, it would make my decisions a lot easier! I'm glad you guys are doing your diligence and posting info for others. Although, there are always two sides to every candidtate(and those sides seem to change on a moments notice anymore).

Just curious about "Authorize trapping of mountain lions by residents". Are you guys against this? And if so, I would be curious as to why. No, I haven't read the bill, I was just going off the name.

 

[Ben Lamb]

Personally, I'm against trapping of lions. I think it's unnecessary and ignores the biology of the critter. We can get to where we want to go in terms of lion numbers through increased traditional harvest. I am pro-trapping, but it is not necessary here and it's part of the larger effort to get sportsmen to focus away from habitat conservation and ignore what people want to do with public lands. In short, all of this predator BS is the road to the Utah model.

I can also see Footloose getting a lot of traction on taking trapping away if this goes through.

 

[CabinFever]

Personally, I'm against trapping of lions. I think it's unnecessary and ignores the biology of the critter. We can get to where we want to go in terms of lion numbers through increased traditional harvest. I am pro-trapping, but it is not necessary here and it's part of the larger effort to get sportsmen to focus away from habitat conservation and ignore what people want to do with public lands. In short, all of this predator BS is the road to the Utah model.

I can also see Footloose getting a lot of traction on taking trapping away if this goes through.

I was kind of hoping the "predator BS" somehow had something to do with delisting G-bears, but I'm guessing not so much...

 

[Ben Lamb]

The best thing the legislature can do when it comes to getting bears delisted is to sit down and get out of the way.

If they change our plan, just as with wolves, we end up back in court and the games start all over. We're about 5 years out from having Grizz delisted based on the available science. That might come sooner to the Yellowstone population.

 

[dustinf]

That might come sooner to the Yellowstone population.

I truly believe the forest service will continue to kill(euthanize in ranger speak) bears, just to keep recreational hunting out of the park.

 

[CabinFever]

As of last night now 4 guys I know have lost elk to bears, and have heard of a few others and I'm sure there's many more throughout ID, MT, and WY. Not that delisting will change that, but a hunt in the lower 48 will be extremely sought after.

 

[Ben Lamb]

I truly believe the forest service will continue to kill(euthanize in ranger speak) bears, just to keep recreational hunting out of the park.

There are certain protocols in place to determine whether or not to kill a bear. Generally, those decisions are made by either the US Fish and Wildlife Service, or by the National Park (if it's in the Park). The Forest Service does have some management authority, but it is not they who decide, IIRC. Furthermore, the decisions to kill problem bears have been rising lately due to food production, climate change and a host of other issues. Not insignificantly is the loss of cutthroat trout from Yellowstone Lake, which bears fed on extensively in the spring. Runs in the Thoroughfare, Pelican Creek, etc, have all but vanished. Same goes with a lot of the white bark pine crop. However, the current research is indicating that Grizz will shift food sources in order to survive. Unfortunately, the food source has become Michiganders and garbage.

You won't have hunting in Yellowstone. I can't see that happening in our lifetime.

As of last night now 4 guys I know have lost elk to bears, and have heard of a few others and I'm sure there's many more throughout ID, MT, and WY. Not that delisting will change that, but a hunt in the lower 48 will be extremely sought after.

A hunt will help change that. I don't think many folks outside of the big green groups who want continued listing disagree that we've got good numbers of bears. Although Critter gets a little protective of them, I do think we're just waiting on the last pieces of the science to fall into place in order to survive a challenge to delisting. Most biologists working on this issue agree that it's time to delist, and return management to the states.

Unless the states go off the rails like they've tried to with wolves.