HR 621 and 622 Death by a thousand cuts to public land

Joined
Jul 30, 2013
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3,428
Publiclandhunter most of what you said makes more sense. My argument is that costs can be cut enough that it would never be necessary to sell public lands, and large, wasteful bureaucracies could be eliminated. Enforcement of small offenses like you described does not require a huge force, or millions of dollars. The BLM and FS do a horrible job of keeping people on designated roads. I end up having to build barriers correctly because they're too incompetent to do it, despite huge budgets. They make for great Dedicated Hunter projects but they ought to be able to do it themselves. Here in central Utah, our CS does patrol in the mountains etc and handle S&R. Personally, I like it when roads don't get maintained and even close. I wouldn't miss campgrounds either. Use fees could pay for those 100%, and wouldn't add an additional burden.

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PublicLandHunter nailed everything regarding this. The other issues is the way state views land holdings, vs feds. For states they are suppose to be a profitable endeavor, some states even have it in their constitutions that if they are not profitable they must be sold to square the budget, feds obviously don't have to do that.

cutting costs=selling land to private, now its never going to be a negative expenditure on the books for the state again.
 

D_Eightch

WKR
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Sep 10, 2016
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474
Location
North Dakota
Coming from North Dakota I never know how to have any kind of impact on these situations.

I think we may have the lowest percentage of Public Land (something like 1%). It sucks not have access for hunting, we have programs in place like P.L.O.T.S, which is PRIVATE Land Open to Sportsman. But that's not the way it should be.

What would be the most effective action I could take? Who should I send a letter to and hopefully not have it fall on deaf ears?
 

CorbLand

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Mar 16, 2016
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Coming from North Dakota I never know how to have any kind of impact on these situations.

I think we may have the lowest percentage of Public Land (something like 1%). It sucks not have access for hunting, we have programs in place like P.L.O.T.S, which is PRIVATE Land Open to Sportsman. But that's not the way it should be.

What would be the most effective action I could take? Who should I send a letter to and hopefully not have it fall on deaf ears?

You would want to send yours to North Dakota Representatives and Senators. They will also have to vote for this and you should state your support/opposition.
 
OP
P
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Mar 17, 2016
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Coming from North Dakota I never know how to have any kind of impact on these situations.

I think we may have the lowest percentage of Public Land (something like 1%). It sucks not have access for hunting, we have programs in place like P.L.O.T.S, which is PRIVATE Land Open to Sportsman. But that's not the way it should be.

What would be the most effective action I could take? Who should I send a letter to and hopefully not have it fall on deaf ears?
Send one to your representatives in the house and senate. Join Backcountry hunters and anglers ($25 a year), donate to TRCP if you can, and join RMEF ($35 a year) if you can. You get a magazine for both places for a year as well if you buy a membership. I would say make sure you support at least one of those groups. Being from North Dakota I bet you are a member of Pheasants forever, they recently came out opposed to this as well, so you're doing good if you're supporting them too.

Also if you have time please call Jason Chaffetz office:202-225-7751 and let his office know you are a hunter and you oppose HR 621 and 622 and any legislation that transfers or sells our public lands. Let your representatives know the same thing. See if this ever makes it to the house floor or to the senate, your representatives will vote on it and it would be very beneficial for you to contact them.
 
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Apr 14, 2014
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Helena, MT
Coming from North Dakota I never know how to have any kind of impact on these situations.

I think we may have the lowest percentage of Public Land (something like 1%). It sucks not have access for hunting, we have programs in place like P.L.O.T.S, which is PRIVATE Land Open to Sportsman. But that's not the way it should be.

What would be the most effective action I could take? Who should I send a letter to and hopefully not have it fall on deaf ears?
Correction, while ND may only have 1% public land, you and every other American own all public land. If you have or plan to come out west to hunt, you will hopefully be using what is yours.
 

D_Eightch

WKR
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Sep 10, 2016
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474
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North Dakota
Send one to your representatives in the house and senate. Join Backcountry hunters and anglers ($25 a year), donate to TRCP if you can, and join RMEF ($35 a year) if you can. You get a magazine for both places for a year as well if you buy a membership. I would say make sure you support at least one of those groups. Being from North Dakota I bet you are a member of Pheasants forever, they recently came out opposed to this as well, so you're doing good if you're supporting them too.

Also if you have time please call Jason Chaffetz office:202-225-7751 and let his office know you are a hunter and you oppose HR 621 and 622 and any legislation that transfers or sells our public lands. Let your representatives know the same thing. See if this ever makes it to the house floor or to the senate, your representatives will vote on it and it would be very beneficial for you to contact them.

I actually joined as a Supporting member to BHA yesterday. Currently a member for PF, or up for renewal, but yes I am a member of that as well.

Correction, while ND may only have 1% public land, you and every other American own all public land. If you have or plan to come out west to hunt, you will hopefully be using what is yours.

I hear ya, I was just mentioning how bad it sucks living in a state that does have little access for the general public to good hunting grounds.
I do plan on heading out to Idaho, and will plan at least 1 trip a year from there on. When things like these come up I worry about the future opportunities my son may not have. That thought ran through my head almost continuously while I was out deer hunting this Fall in MN. If I didn't have a connection there to private land, as well as North Dakota my hunting options are slimmed way down. So I do see the importance of keeping all of OUR land open for recreation. Hope we can keep what we do have.
 

KurtR

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Sep 11, 2015
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South Dakota
Correction, while ND may only have 1% public land, you and every other American own all public land. If you have or plan to come out west to hunt, you will hopefully be using what is yours.

Nd is not that bad there is all of the bad lands and quite a bit in plots and land that is not posted is open to hunting. So might only be 1℅ federal public land but it does not tell the whole story. It is nothing compared to Western states but like SD if you are complaining about access you are either lazy or hunt from the road. I have contacted all the SD politicians against this just waiting for response.
 

KurtR

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South Dakota
I actually joined as a Supporting member to BHA yesterday. Currently a member for PF, or up for renewal, but yes I am a member of that as well.



I hear ya, I was just mentioning how bad it sucks living in a state that does have little access for the general public to good hunting grounds.
I do plan on heading out to Idaho, and will plan at least 1 trip a year from there on. When things like these come up I worry about the future opportunities my son may not have. That thought ran through my head almost continuously while I was out deer hunting this Fall in MN. If I didn't have a connection there to private land, as well as North Dakota my hunting options are slimmed way down. So I do see the importance of keeping all of OUR land open for recreation. Hope we can keep what we do have.

If you want to learn more about nd you need to look on North Dakota angler. There is a lot of good info and alot of good deer killed on public land both rifle and bow.
 

D_Eightch

WKR
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Sep 10, 2016
Messages
474
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North Dakota
If you want to learn more about nd you need to look on North Dakota angler. There is a lot of good info and alot of good deer killed on public land both rifle and bow.

Right, and I live on the Eastern side of the State. So heading out there to deer hunt is a trip in itself. Bringing me back to the fact that having mostly private lands sucks. There is a bunch in PLOTS, but I have already seen quite a few of those be taken out of the program by the landowner, these are typically better habitat for birds with a few here and there that are actually located along the river bottoms (In the area I live). This year when I went out bow hunting a PLOTS section there were 3 pickups parked, hunting the same small area, about 25% which was wooded, 25% cropland and 50% prairie grass. Also, the fact that there is so little it all gets piss pounded by non resident and resident hunters like myself.

I am neither lazy, nor do I "hunt" from the road.
 

KurtR

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Sep 11, 2015
Messages
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South Dakota
I lived Fargo for two years grew up on east side of sodak and still have lots of friends over east. They kill a bunch and some big deer on little dinky public plots most wouldn't think hold a deer so it's not all doom and gloom.
 

CorbLand

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That's awesome, but I guarantee he brings it forward again, he will rewrite it and call it something else.


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I agree. I see this as a front. Stay vigilant and strong, continue to make our voices heard.
 

Phil4

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jan 12, 2015
Messages
254
HR622 has not been killed to my knowledge. Please correct me if it has been. That one is bad news as well. Stay on it fellas!


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dble07

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jul 19, 2014
Messages
167
Location
NW North Dakota
Coming from North Dakota I never know how to have any kind of impact on these situations.

I think we may have the lowest percentage of Public Land (something like 1%). It sucks not have access for hunting, we have programs in place like P.L.O.T.S, which is PRIVATE Land Open to Sportsman. But that's not the way it should be.

What would be the most effective action I could take? Who should I send a letter to and hopefully not have it fall on deaf ears?
North Dakota has about 1.7 million acres of public land(3.7 percent roughly). Most of that is located west and south of the Missouri River but at least there is some to be found. Living in NW ND I still live a couple hours from the bulk of the public land but it sure is nice to have the option. BHA, RMEF, and several other organizations would be good places to start.

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whaack

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Dec 17, 2015
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Midwest - IL
Anyone care to explain how exactly public lands require "maintenance" and law enforcement? I pretty much view all government as non essential, and see land management agencies do very little and waste a lot of money. Anti poaching activities are probably the only thing I personally benefit from, and the DWR isn't very good at that either. I can see state governments being able to "own" lands with almost zero cost. It will require laws absolutely banning their sale, and a strictly limited amount of money spent to manage them. Either way, no government should be able to sell public land. We ought to quit crying about what they try to do to sell it, and fight for legislation banning the sale of our public lands. There are enough people that would support such a law to get it through. Raise money, buy the votes, get it done. Tree huggers, liberals, hunters, and conservatives alike could get behind a bill that does nothing but ban the sale of public lands by any government agency. I'd like to see the wasteful bureaucracies die off, but that's another issue.

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Wild fires, road and facilities maintenance , wildlife control?
 
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Front Range, Colorado
Wild fires, road and facilities maintenance , wildlife control?
1. Wild fires are good. Nearly all of my best hunting and shed spots are burns.
2. I don't care about road maintenance. Poor roads keep other people home or out of more places. Always a plus.
A. I don't need or use "facilities." That's kind of the whole idea of going to the mountains.
3. The federal government doesn't engage in wildlife control outside of the ESA. When they do, they abuse power and cause nothing but problems. Wild horses are a great example of their ineptitude. Wildlife is managed on a state level.

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