Removing Doug Sayer from Wild Sheep Foundation for Idaho political strong-arming

[6speed]

I'm not seeing it on wsf.
Was it removed?
Linky Link?

Posted as a response to reviewers on the WSF FB page.


"WSF respects the sovereignty of each state or province to set wildlife policy. That sovereignty is defined by the citizens of each state or province engaging in the democratic process to elect, appoint, as well as express their opinions to their representatives on such policy. The Wild Sheep Foundation encourages all members to engage in this democratic process. This is a fundamental principle of the North American Wildlife Conservation Model, which is responsible for the unprecedented restoration of our continent’s wildlife.

WSF Policies on Resource Allocation and Auction Tags are available on our website at https://www.wildsheepfoundation.org/about/policies."

 

[Ben Long]

Not to keep stirring this pot, but here is some more press coverage out of the Lewiston Trib.

Wild Sheep Foundation not pushing auction tags

Director says chairman of the group's board was acting on his own in efforts to increase Idaho tags

By ERIC BARKER of the Tribune
7 hrs ago
0

The director of the Wild Sheep Foundation said Tuesday that the chairman of the hunting and conservation group's board was not speaking for the organization when he lobbied Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter to shake up membership of the state Fish and Game Commission over its opposition to auction tags.

But the foundation's executive director said board Chairman Doug Sayer of Pocatello was within his rights to do so.

"We as an organization do not get involved in allocation (of hunting tags), be that resident or nonresident, be that whether a state, province, territory or tribal entity does or does not offer auction tags or raffle tags and, if they do, how many," said Gray Thornton of Bozeman, Mont. "We just feel that is inappropriate for us as an organization to get into. But that said, we certainly encourage our members in each jurisdiction to be actively involved in that."

Last month, the Idaho Wildlife Federation released a cache of email exchanges it acquired between key state legislators, the governor's office and Sayer showing how they pressed for more auction tags - permits for coveted species such as bighorn sheep, moose, mountain goats, elk, deer and antelope that are sold to the highest bidder - and how they responded when the commission declined.

Each year, the Idaho Fish and Game Commission allocates one bighorn sheep hunting tag to the Wild Sheep Foundation. The group then auctions the tag for the state, sometimes fetching a six-figure price. The money is used by the state for wild sheep management and research.

The commission does not offer any other tags for auction but some, like Sayer, have advocated for an expansion of the program. Doing so would raise more money for wildlife management, according to proponents. But opponents say it favors wealthy hunters who can purchase tags instead of winning them via a lottery.

Acquired through the state's Public Records Law, the email cache included a message Sayer sent to Otter's chief of staff, David Hensley, in March saying a "change of chemistry" was needed on the commission and recommending that commissioners Mark Doerr and Will Naillon not be reappointed.

Sayer, who serves as CEO of Premier Technologies in Blackfoot, was a proponent of the 2011 legislation that gave the commission authority to expand the auction tag program. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the email, in which he also suggested that Fish and Game Director Virgil Moore and an unnamed deputy director may need to be replaced.

When their terms expired in June, Otter declined to reappoint Doerr and Naillon. He later appointed Jerry Meyers of North Fork, near Salmon, and Greg Cameron of Rupert to replace them.

Thornton said the foundation has heard from several individuals concerned about Sayer's tactics. Last week, Fred Trevey, Keith Carlson, Keith Stonebraker and Alex Irby - all former Fish and Game commissioners representing the Clearwater Region - sent a letter to Thornton expressing their displeasure at Sayer's action and saying it appeared to violate the foundation's values. According to the foundation's website, those values include honesty, integrity and respect for others.

"We sincerely hope your chairman's actions to politically influence the selection of Idaho Fish and Game commissioners, staffing of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and dictate the allocation of hunting tags is not indicative of the direction of the Wild Sheep Foundation," they wrote.

Carlson, of Lewiston, said he spoke with Thornton on Tuesday and was satisfied with the foundation's response.

"We were happy with the fact that the sheep foundation can be found harmless in this and that Sayer was off on his own."

Carlson said he and the three other former commissioners all oppose expansion of the auction tag program.

Josh Kuntz, a Boise hunter, wrote to Thornton asking that the foundation publicly condemn Sayer. He said Tuesday he was disappointed in the response he described as "vanilla" and hoped the foundation would "do the right thing."

"That right thing should be publicly condemning Doug Sayer for circumventing existing wildlife management procedures and trying to unduly influence the Fish and Game Commission and basically trying to cram something down the throats of Idaho sportsmen without the sportsmen having their chance for input," Kuntz said.

---

Barker may be contacted at [email protected] or at (208) 848-2273. Follow him on Twitter @ezebarker.

 

[RobG]

After reading the WSF statement I decided to post a review on their FB page as well. See below

The justification of Doug Sawyer's actions by stating he was taking part in the "democratic process" is entirely misinformed. Democracy, derived from a Greek word meaning "rule of commoners" is centered around the idea that everyone should have equal rights and be allowed to participate in making decisions. When over 70% of Idaho sportsmen told the Idaho Fish and Game Commission that we did not want additional auction tags allocated and the commission made a decision based upon the overwhelming opposition to the addition of auction tags that was by definition democracy.

When Doug Sayer used his wealth and position within the WSF to convince the Governor to not reappoint 2 commissioners who listened to the sportsmen of Idaho that was not democracy. When Doug Sayer used his wealth to lobby for the Idaho Governor sheep tag, stepped over all other hunters in the limited entry system by purchasing the tag and skirted the once in a lifetime status of all Idaho trophy species by purchasing the tag 3 times that was not democracy. When Doug Sayer used his wealth and position attempting to force politicians to pass a law that would require the Idaho Fish and Game to move 40 non resident tags from the limited entry draw to an auction system where only wealthy hunters would have the opportunity to ever get such a tag it was in fact the very opposite of democracy. Using wealth and power to circumvent the will of the people is not democracy it is oligarchy, "rule by the rich".

If WSF wants to promote a Kings Deer system as opposed to supporting North American Model of Wildlife management where wildlife is accessible by all that is up to the WSF and it's members but to call these actions democracy is either ignorant or disingenuous.

Good stuff. You ought to send this as a letter to the editor to some newspapers, especially the Pocatello one.

 

[Trial153]

"That right thing should be publicly condemning Doug Sayer for circumventing existing wildlife management procedures and trying to unduly influence the Fish and Game Commission and basically trying to cram something down the throats of Idaho sportsmen without the sportsmen having their chance for input," Kuntz said.

Unless I missed it that hasn't happened yet has it?

 

[mtmiller]

If you increase the cost of a hunting license by just 1 dollar you match or exceed the money made by the auction tag.

concur

 

[idelkslayer]

From the WSF Directors Code of Conduct:

"As a tax-exempt, public charity, WSF has a fiduciary obligation to its donors and the general
public. The issue of public trust demands that Directors (the “Director” or “Directors”) of WSF’s
Board of Directors (the “Board”) act with integrity and in accordance with high ethical principles
in all of its activities. WSF also expects Directors to recognize and avoid activities and
relationships that involve or might appear to involve conflicts of interest and behavior that might
cause embarrassment to WSF or compromise its integrity. Accordingly, WSF is committed to
integrity as the fundamental guiding principle for all of its officers, employees, trustees,
directors, contractors, and vendors. WSF has prepared this Director’s Code of Conduct (the
“Code”) to reaffirm this commitment. " (emphasis added)

I would say that Doug Sayer violated this code of conduct.

 

[Elkmagnet]

IDWSF has given IWF approximately $40k in the last two years to buy grazing allotments. IWF is very good at negotiating the buyout of grazing allotments to help Wild Sheep.

I just wanted to say Bravo.
I know I'm preaching to the hunttalk choir but most average Sportsman just don't understand how much of a limiting factor these grazing allotments are on our sheep population.
If that's what's best for sheep I sure hope that partnership continues.

 

[Elkmagnet]

From the WSF Directors Code of Conduct:

"As a tax-exempt, public charity, WSF has a fiduciary obligation to its donors and the general
public. The issue of public trust demands that Directors (the “Director” or “Directors”) of WSF’s
Board of Directors (the “Board”) act with integrity and in accordance with high ethical principles
in all of its activities. WSF also expects Directors to recognize and avoid activities and
relationships that involve or might appear to involve conflicts of interest and behavior that might
cause embarrassment to WSF or compromise its integrity. Accordingly, WSF is committed to
integrity as the fundamental guiding principle for all of its officers, employees, trustees,
directors, contractors, and vendors. WSF has prepared this Director’s Code of Conduct (the
“Code”) to reaffirm this commitment. " (emphasis added)

I would say that Doug Sayer violated this code of conduct.

Without a doubt!

 

[grandejuan]

If any of us were out hunting for bull elk and got into the amount of scent coming from Mr Sayer's direction, we would know we were on top of that bull. In this case it is "Bullsh*t coming from Sayer's associates. Don't they know they are losing the WSF's reputation? Or much worse, they are creating a new reputation of a self serving, insider dealing group of thugs. The guys at Mt. Horeb Wisconsin in 1977 must be rolling in their graves. GJ. My opinion.

 

[Pierre]

I think all conservation orgs should have a conscience. Practice what you preach. If we don't have an ethical backbone, we have nothing. These Gov and auction tags have resulted in more land being leased by outfitters trying to get a big piece of the pie, closing access, thereby eliminating the opportunity to the average hunter. Montana needs only look in its own back yard. If we are to decide what is right and wrong by the amount of money involved, the basics are certainly flawed. Does the amount of money determine the level of ethics in practice?

 

[Pierre]

Mr. Sayer would be doing a good org. like WSF a favor by resigning.

 

[huntid73]

So for those following this issue, Doug Sayer wrote a letter/op-ed to the Idaho State Journal for publication. Make of it what you will: http://www.idahostatejournal.com/ne...cle_1de29264-55f1-520e-b9a8-cab1cc1ea611.html

 

[smarandr]

So for those following this issue, Doug Sayer wrote a letter/op-ed to the Idaho State Journal for publication. Make of it what you will: http://www.idahostatejournal.com/ne...cle_1de29264-55f1-520e-b9a8-cab1cc1ea611.html

One of the things that I wasn't aware of was Sayer mentioned that the two commissioners weren't reappointed because they didn't reapply for the position. Is that because they truly didn't want to be on the commission, or because they were essentially told "don't bother, you're not going to be reappointed anyway"?

 

[huntid73]

That is tough to say...I have heard rumors that they were told that if they applied that they wouldn't be reappointed, but again that's rumors. http://www.idahostatesman.com/news/...gs/letters-from-the-west/article76117842.html found this article from May, when it was all going down, it sounds like they were made to re-apply for the position but didn't apply; however the article also that the governor can re-aapoint them without re-applying. Direct quote from the article, "Generally, the governor reappoints appointees he’s happy with, without making them re-apply for the job." So by forcing them to re-apply for the position to me sounds like they were told that whether they apply or not, they won't be back.

 

[grandejuan]

Mr.Sayer sounds like a man who protests to much. I have to feel his responce is coming from a guy who is feeling some heat. Well, turn up the gas some more. Probably a lot of WSF members are making enough noise that Sayer's hoped result, (whole issue being forgotten) needed to be addressed. He has embarrassed himself and the sheep foundation and needs to be brought up before the convention for what he is, a bully who beats down any opposition with his wallet. Resign now and save yourself more grief. My opinion. GJ

 

[Ben Lamb]

Dude should run for office. He's got the PR spin game down.

 

[TheTone]

Dude should run for office. He's got the PR spin game down.

Yep, pretty funny his comments on being against auction tags and yet he sure likes buying them. Running for office or at least running state political parties is certainly on his radar. I will continue to not support the WSF and IDWSF for this reason, as well as a few others

 

[1_pointer]

It what way was his 1st Amendment right violated??

Every citizen should be allowed to exercise their First Amendment right by expressing his or her point of view as I did without fear of retribution.

He sounds like a rich, whiny, douchebag who's used to always getting his way.

 

[LopeHunter]

From the WSF Directors Code of Conduct:

"As a tax-exempt, public charity, WSF has a fiduciary obligation to its donors and the general
public. The issue of public trust demands that Directors (the “Director” or “Directors”) of WSF’s
Board of Directors (the “Board”) act with integrity and in accordance with high ethical principles
in all of its activities. WSF also expects Directors to recognize and avoid activities and
relationships that involve or might appear to involve conflicts of interest and behavior that might
cause embarrassment to WSF or compromise its integrity. Accordingly, WSF is committed to
integrity as the fundamental guiding principle for all of its officers, employees, trustees,
directors, contractors, and vendors. WSF has prepared this Director’s Code of Conduct (the
“Code”) to reaffirm this commitment. " (emphasis added)

I would say that Doug Sayer violated this code of conduct.

Drop the mic and walk off the stage. Now, let's see what the WSF does and if is nothing then they sold their soul to the 1%ers and is no longer an organization for people like me that like to see Joe Sixpack and Ritchie Rich have the same odds for every tag. Is not about raising the most money since if that is the goal then every last tag should be auctioned on eBay for every hunt. No, this is about special treatment for "special" people and they hate having anyone call them on crap. Didn't we just go through an election that highlighted how backroom deals and favoritism ended badly for an entrenched organization that was tone deaf to the common person?

 

[idelkslayer]

I think this thread deserves a bump. If you haven’t already you should read through the actual e-mails that the IWF published. Here is a link:
http://www.idahowildlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Bair-and-Siddoway-Highlighted-Emails-IWF.pdf

In these e-mails you will see Steve Bair and Jeff Sidoway talking about “slugging the commission in the gut…with legislation”.
They show that the legislature repeatedly tried to force the commission into a corner and issue “governors tags” like Utah to raise revenue rather than increase tag and license fees. Their e-mails to each other are full of arrogance and a disdain for the commission and Idaho Sportsmen. What they fail to acknowledge is that the commission was acting on behalf of sportsmen who overwhelmingly spoke out against auction tags when surveyed.

One email expressed disgust that the IDFG commission even put out a survey to get sportsmen input. The only reason I can think of for that is because they don’t care about sportsmen and knew that popular opinion would be against them.

Then they seek any opportunity to work auction tags into the conversation whenever funding comes up. Steve Bair expresses surprise at how little is spent on habitat projects and then like a smug bully says “Sure does look to me like they would be interested in doubling that amount via auction tags”. He must be bad at math also because there is no way that selling 12 auction tags for various species will raise enough money to double the $3.5 M referred to in the e-mails.

And within these e-mails is direct contradictions to the article that Doug Sayer put in the Idaho State Journal to defend his actions.
The e-mails make it clear that Doug Sayer has been unfairly singled out for what he e-mailed to the Governor’s office. He didn’t act alone and so shouldn’t take all the blame, Steve Bair and Jeff Siddoway need to be strung up just as high as Mr. Sayer.

This isn’t over yet. Raising tag and license fees has the support of sportsmen in Idaho. A $1 raise to all tags and licenses would raise more money in a year than auctioning 12 tags. The IDFG will again be requested that the legislature authorize fee increases to raise revenue and the legislature will again try to force auction tags as a condition of approval. You can bet that they have devised some new way of accomplishing this for the coming legislative session.