Volume 22 Issue 1

January 2003

Boise, Idaho

2003 Officers

President Russ Heughins 208-322-8645 russheughins@msn.com Vice President Clyde McNeal 208-375-7633 Treasurer Al Kiler 208-376-3109

Directors William Robins 208-383-0409 Neil Gudjunis 208-587-4257 Lee Sutherland 208-887-7751

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IBH Monthly Meeting: January 23, 2003

Where: Trophy Room, State Office of Department of Fish and Game 700 S. Walnut St., Boise
Time: 7:00 p.m.

Election of Directors and Officers
Program: Revised Fish and Game Commission Initiative

Board of Directors and Officer Election

There is still time to nominate directors and officers. Call Lee Sutherland, Clyde McNeal or Al Kiler with your nominations. Their phone numbers are listed in the left margin at the top of this newsletter. Elections will be the first order of business.

Membership and Dues

It is time to renew your Idaho Bird Hunters membership dues. Membership dues are as follows:

Family/Individual - $20.00 per year
Sponsoring member - $35.00 per year

From the Field

Well, the bird hunting season is entering its last month. Hope this has been an enjoyable and productive year for you. Next season could be a tough one unless we get more precipitation in the form of snow this winter and rain in the spring. So, let's get out there and do our snow and rain dance or whatever it is that will bring on the snow and the rain!

Just before Thanksgiving Lee Sutherland and I hosted a couple on a chukar hunt here in Idaho. Dan Anderson and his wife Diane were first-time chukar hunters, and they did well. They also did some chukar hunting on their own before they left for the Southwest. Dan is a new member of the IBH and will be contributing an article on his Idaho chukar hunting experience for a future newsletter.

As you probably know, the chukars are well educated at this point in the season and provide a hunting challenge. There can be some good late season pheasant hunting if you are fortunate enough to have some good places to hunt. You can count on a real challenge there. The hun and quail hunting still provides plenty of wing shooting. So, hope you can take advantage of the latter part of the season.

Is Greater Public Access in the Future for Idaho Bird Hunters?

The issue of greater public access to private and public lands for bird hunting, and other hunting and fishing, should be of major importance for all bird hunters. The obvious reason is that opportunities to hunt on private lands and access to public lands have significantly decreased in recent years. The reasons for the decrease are loss of habitat due to "clean farming," subdivisions , and leases and purchases of land for new owners' personal use. Large blocks of public lands are closed off to public access by private lands - such as in the Crane Creek and Little Willow Creek areas. In many cases, being able to cross just a quarter or a half mile of private land would provide access to large blocks of public lands.

The Idaho Department of Fish and Game is considering a new program called "Access Yes." This program will allow private landowners to be paid with sportsmen and sportswomen dollars in order to provide access to the public ground. The amount paid per acre is related to property size and the nature of the access provided. The question is how will the program be implemented so that meaningful public access is actually acquired and that the dollars are not paid out for little or no public access. In other words, the "devil is in the details."

An excellent summary of the proposed program can be found in an article by Roger Phillips in the December 19, 2002 Outdoors Section of the Idaho Statesman.

The Idaho Cattlemen's Association has endorsed the program. Several individual sportsmen and sportsmen groups have expressed concerns regarding implementation of the program due to the failure of three other programs which were designed to provide public access but which failed to achieve this laudable goal. These programs were the payments for wildlife depredations, the landowner permits, and the landowner appreciation permits program. The latter two provide landowners with controlled hunt permits in exchange for public access. Copies of some letters sent to the Idaho Fish and Game Commission can be found at the Idaho Bird Hunters' web site: www.idfishnhunt.com/idahobirdhunters

The Idaho Fish and Game Commission will consider this issue at their January, 2003 meeting. The taking of public comment is scheduled for January 15, 2003. Copies of the proposal can be obtained from the Fish and Game Wildlife Bureau, P. O. Box 25, Boise, Idaho 83707, or by calling 208-334-2920. If you are interested in this issue, now is the time to express your thoughts or concerns wither by written comment or by testifying at the January 25 public comment hearing.

Montana, North and South Dakota have successful programs that provide public access to hundreds of thousands of acres of private lands. Hopefully, Idaho's program will be as successful. Now is the time to help this happen.

If you have any questions, you can contact either Russ Heughins at 322-8645 or Steve Goddard at 587-1027, who are reviewing and commenting on this issue on behalf of the Idaho Bird Hunters organization.

Copyright 2003 by Idaho Bird Hunters, Inc.
An affiliate of the Idaho Wildlife Federation