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The Call To Arms Thread...Answered

Iowabowtech

Iowabowtech

Active Member
As we now know, SF 338 passed the Senate. It now sits in the House who thankfully is in recess until next week. This means we have a weekend to make a difference. It can be difficult to find the time so as several people have mentioned, it may be wise to get a common letter we can all use. If you think mine is worthy, please use it. If not, make the changes you desire and send that. I will also post the e-mail addresses of all House Natural Resource Committee Members below. The list can be copied and pasted right into your e-mail address bar, I tried it in Outlook and it works great. <u> This means you can make a difference in less than one minute.</u>

(Title of e-mail is "SF 338")


I am writing each of you as House Natural Resource Committee members to ask for your voice in opposition to SF 338 due to a very concerning addition to the Deer Study Advisory Committee in section 2. The "Friends of Iowa Landowners and Sportsmen" are anything but friends to Iowa. This is a group of non-residents that should have absolutely no say whatsoever in how we as Iowans manage our deer herd. In fact, I very firmly believe that this group will be detrimental to management efforts and further, has a self serving agenda of disenfranchising the resident hunter while strengthening their own stake in our resources. I sincerely hope the addition of the "Friends" group was an accidental oversight as this moved through the Senate but fortunately there is still time to make it right. If anything, I would prefer to see numerous other Iowa based groups given a seat at the table such as Pheasants Forever, National Wild Turkey Federation and other similar groups whose membership ranks also include a large percentage of deer hunters. While the name "Friends of Iowa" exhibits a great connotation, it's intentions are anything but friendly to residents of Iowa, particularly those of us who are concerned with deer herd management efforts. I ask each of you for a nay vote and sincerely hope there is one or more individuals on this committee that have the strength and courage to stand proudly and make your voice heard in opposition to not only this legislation in it's current writing, but also against future efforts of this group, the Friends of Iowa Landowners and Sportsmen. Thank you all for your service to our great State.

&gt;&gt;&gt; Add your name here&lt;&lt;&lt;




Here is the e-mail list:

paul.bell@legis.state.ia.us, john.beard@legis.state.ia.us, dave.deyoe@legis.state.ia.us, richard.arnold@legis.state.ia.us, clel.baudler@legis.state.ia.us, gene.ficken@legis.state.ia.us, dan.huseman@legis.state.ia.us, jim.lykam@legis.state.ia.us, larry.marek@legis.state.ia.us, mike.may@legis.state.ia.us, delores.mertz@legis.state.ia.us, eric.palmer@legis.state.ia.us, henry.rayhorns@legis.state.ia.us, jason.schultz@legis.state.ia.us, sharon.steckman@legis.state.ia.us, annette.sweeney@legis.state.ia.us, phyllis.thede@legis.state.ia.us, linda.upmeyer@legis.state.ia.us, john.whitaker@legis.state.ia.us, wesely.whitead@legis.state.ia.us, ray.zirkelbach@legis.state.ia.us
 
It passed the Senate with zero opposition gentlemen. If you don't act, it will clear the House for sure. Don't be like this guy:



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IBT
I am not as well written as you obviously are so I used your letter and sent my copies to all concerned. thanks for putting this out there to be used by others, hopefully it does some good.

Dan
 
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Spitfire</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> Done, Nicely done IBT! </div></div>

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<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: risto</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Spitfire</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> Done, Nicely done IBT! </div></div>

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Email Sent! Thanks!
 
Thanks for the well put-together letter IBT. Email sent!

Everyone, it is important to forward this email, but it is also important to draft your own. Anything and everything helps at this point! FOI isn't going to let up for anything, and neither should we! Keep up the efforts /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cool.gif
 
Also, it may prove beneficial to contact YOUR local State Representative in a separate e-mail if they do not sit on the NRC. If unsure, here is the link to find yours by using your address (Option 1):

Legislator Lookup

My hope is that the NRC will listen to our concerns but to rely solely upon them is not the only option, nor is it wise IMO. All we need is one of our local representatives to start asking questions about this and so begin the process of educating everyone about who these people really are. We represent a great cross section of the state so the more reps that are made aware, the better. My e-mail to my local rep, who does not sit on the NRC and therefore won't get the previous e-mail I sent, is similar but the language was cleaned up to fit the situation. It's generic enough however that the body of the e-mail could apply to any representative should you choose to take this extra step:


Representative (Insert your representative here),

I am writing you to ask for your voice in opposition to SF 338 due to a very concerning addition to the Deer Study Advisory Committee in section 2. The "Friends of Iowa Landowners and Sportsmen" are anything but friends to Iowa. This is a group of non-residents that should have absolutely no say whatsoever in how we as Iowans manage our deer herd. In fact, I very firmly believe that this group will be detrimental to management efforts and further, has a self serving agenda of disenfranchising the resident hunter while strengthening their own stake in our resources. I sincerely hope the addition of the "Friends" group was an accidental oversight as this moved through the Senate but fortunately there is still time to make it right. If anything, I would prefer to see numerous other Iowa based groups given a seat at the table such as Pheasants Forever, National Wild Turkey Federation and other similar groups whose membership ranks also include a large percentage of deer hunters. While the name "Friends of Iowa Landowners and Sportsmen" exhibits a great connotation, it's intentions are anything but friendly to residents of Iowa, particularly those of us who are concerned with deer herd management efforts. Thank you for your service to our district and the State of Iowa.

Name and address here
 
if you want to add some facts, cut and paste some stuff outta this

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I can't believe that one or two people have the authority to set the course of this committee for their own agenda. Every conservation group in this state should be up in arms with this latest decision.
Y
ou can call me a politician, call me anything you want, but when a Non-Resident Landowner is given more representation than 250,000 Iowa sportsmen it just WRONG.

When you send emails to House Natural Resource Committee members, please ask the following questions to them.

1. Who is representing the Iowa deer hunters? In 2008, 69% of Iowans purchased a firearms deer license,that is well over 100,000 deer hunters that do not have a voice at the committee!

2. What about the muzzleloader hunters, why are they not being represented?

3. Where is Pheasant Forever, 83% of their leadership and members also deer hunt, who is representing them?

4. Why shouldn't the NWTF be at the table, most turkey hunters also hunt deer hunt, who is representing them?

5. Why does the Upland Bird Study Committee have two persons who hunt upland game birds, one who resides in northern Iowa and one who resides in southern Iowa? Are there any deer hunters on Deer Advisory Committee?

It appears that we have only minority players on this committee, what a travesty to leave off the majority groups. Is this the way this county is suppose to be run!

The above would bring to the table the real stakeholders of this state.

The entire DNR Legislative update is attached. Below are two bills which are of
particular concern.

Senate
SF 388--DNR Omnibus

The DNR omnibus bill passed out of the Natural Resources Committee on Mar. 5. This bill covers a number of topics including snowmobiles and ORVs, liquidated damages for fish and bobcat, and commercial fish, turtle and roe licenses and reporting requirements. The Senate version includes a provision giving county boards of supervisors the authority to designate their roads for ATV use and requiring the DNR to pay for signage marking these roads. The amendment also struck the language giving DNR the authority to set nonresident anysex deer license numbers. Due to an error, it unintentionally struck the language allowing DNR to set the nonresident turkey license numbers, and this authority will be reinstated.

Note-this legislation for nonresident turkey hunting provides the toe in the door to eventually garner the department the ability to set all nonresident quota's by DNR administrative rule, rather than let these contentious and significant matters be arbitrated by the Legislature as is currently the case. If this occurs, it will have a negative impact on access for resident Iowa hunters.

Senate File 338-Upland Game Advisory Committee; Extension of Deer Committee This bill establishes an upland game bird study advisory committee and reestablishes the deer study advisory committee.

The upland game bird study advisory committee would study restoration of a sustainable and socially acceptable population of pheasants and quail in the state to maximize the economic value of upland game bird hunting to Iowa's economy while balancing the needs of the agricultural industry. The committee is composed of members representing specified organizations, entities, and interests appointed by the governor, as well as the director of the department of natural resources, the secretary of agriculture, and the director of the department of economic development, or their designees. The committee membership also includes legislative staff members of United States Senators Harkin and Grassley or their designees, and four members of the general assembly. The committee is directed to review, analyze, and make recommendations on issues relating to the state's upland game bird population and submit a final report to the governor and the general assembly by January 10, 2010. This will provide opportunities. The next paragraph provides some concerns.

The deer study committee would continue meeting in its present form except that the Iowa restaurant association is no longer represented and representatives of professional guides and outfitters and friends of Iowa landowners and sportsmen are now included.

The Deer Study Committee appears to be undergoing changes that will load it in favor of groups that advocate for additional Non-Resident deer permits and represent paid hunting interests. It is worth noting that 85% of PF leaders taking the Survey at the Iowa PF Convention are deer hunters, and over half are having difficulty finding hunting access. Of those who lost access for hunting, over half cited losses to

Non-Resident Land Purchase, and 60% cited losses to Leased/Paid Hunting (resident land purchase was also a smaller concern). Deer hunting and non-resident numbers are a significant issue for resident deer hunters and also for those Iowa hunters that do not pursue deer, but who lose access due to the issues above that are principally related to deer. More conservation groups that advocate for average Iowa sportsmen deserve representation on this study committee to provide balance and fairness, particularly in light of the move to load the committee with paid hunting interests.

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I burned up the internet lines last night. I email them your form letter, then turned around and composed one of my own and sent it off also.

I started at the top with Culver, then Leuopold, Litchfield, and on and on and right on down the line to some boots on the ground C.O.’s.

Also sent King, Anderson, Harkin, and Grassley a few thoughts.

I am expecting homeland security to come busting through my door at any minute now……………………. /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/eek.gif


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PM
Ron Wyllie
Southwest Iowa IBA Area Representative
rwyllie@iowawhitetail.com
 
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