Went to a Sportsmen For Wildlife Meeting Today..

[Gerald Martin]

Just checked my email...

Gerald
I have heard these same issues bandied about for a year now. I am not going to take the time to defend SFW because I prefer to use my time in defending the wildlife of Montana from the extreme environmental groups. This is a much better use of my valuable time don't you think? You can bloviate all you want on this subject just a waste of time read Don Peay's article in the latest magazine you scurried off with it will give you all the info you need. Your time would be better spent working with us instead of against and help accomplish some of conservation efforts that we strive for on a daily basis. That's all the time I have for you back to the real work of pushing forward predator management and promoting abundant wildlife.

( signature deleted by myself)

My response-

Dear______

I can appreciate your efforts to defend the wildlife of Montana from extreme environmentalism. I think we would see eye to eye on how ill informed and destructive the agenda of animal rightists and extreme environmental groups is to the proper management of wildlife and our rural way of life.
I can also appreciate your personal passion and involvement in a group you see as benefitting Montana's wildlife and hunters. My questions and dissent about SFW are not directed toward you personally.
But being involved in the organization as you are, don't you have questions about a non-profit org. that solicts donations from the people it claims to represent and then doesn't provide financial transparency? Have you ever been shown how much money SFW brings in and where the money goes? Wouldn't it be a lot simpler for Don P. and SFW to simply open their books and prove to the skeptics that they have nothing to hide? Just showing that they spend X amount of dollars on habitat projects in a glossy advertisement doesn't cut it for many people, myself included.
Then consider the history of SFW as reguards to the privatization of wildlife and making tags available to wealthy supporters of the organization. Do you want what is happening in Utah to be what happens in Montana? As I stated before, you as an individual might not support that kind of activity, but look at the actions of SFW in every other state they operate in. If you do support that model of wildlife management then you are part of the problem for the average hunter and not part of the solution as you claim.

It would be easy for you to conclude that I'm not going to be a member of SFW and I'm not worth wasting your time on. I'm just saying that in your frustration with the wacko environmentalists and wolves, be careful you don't get lured into going on a snipe hunt for Don P. and the guys at the top of the pile. Instead of a snipe in your bag at the end of the hunt you might find yourself holding a big pile of stink.

I would love to be proven wrong about SFW's financial transparency. All it would take is some disclosure and an audit by qualified personnel to lay those accusations to rest.

I too intend to do my part in protecting Montana's wildlife from wolves and other threats. At this time, I intend to spend my $35 dollars on a couple of shells and part of a tank of gas to go wolf hunting.
Good luck this fall, I hope you fill all your wolf tags.

 

[Ben Lamb]

a bit touchy, no?

 

[ingomar]

SFW is known for taking credit when none is deserved. For example, It was Montana Sportsmens Alliance not SFW that asked the FWP Commission at the wolf tentative season hearing to allocate multiple tags for both trapping and hunting for the 2012 wolf season. We also provided several Fish & Game statutes that we believe gave the Commission the authority to issue those multiple tags. All along, the FWP legal dept. had been saying that the Commission did not have that authority but needed legislative action. After much lobbying by MSA, the legal dept told the Commission that they did have the authority to issue multiple tags for trapping but not hunting. That is the reason that a trapper can take up to three wolves in the upcoming season. We still believe that the Commission had the authority to issue multiple tags for hunting as well but their legal dept. says no. Where was SFW's support for the issuance of multiple tags at both the tentative hearings and final hearing??? They not only were not leading the charge for multiple tags, they were not even involved. It would appear that they are far more interested in the money that the issue brings in then having a substantial impact on the regulations.

A new elk management plan is essential to bring back the elk herds in those areas where they have declined dramatically.