CM
WKR
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2012
- Location
- Franklin, Idaho
I didn't want to hijack the thread about the Hunting Expo in Salt Lake this weekend but I felt I should share my thoughts regarding the Expo. I am usually a member of the silent majority but what has gone on behind the scenes of the Expo has been very disturbing to me. There is a great article about it in one of the local papers, here is a link: http://www.standard.net/Recreation/...16-Western-Hunting-and-Conservation-Expo.html
The amount of corruption in Utah's wildlife management in general is disgusting, the Western Hunting and Conservation Expo is a poster child for the corruption. Using the guise of conservation, SFW (Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife) has essentially stolen 200 public big game permits, raffles them and lines their pockets with 70% of the revenue generated from the raffle and ALL of the revenue generated by the expo itself.
A few months ago RMEF (Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation) placed a bid to take over the expo that would have returned 100% of the money generated by the tag raffle and 50% of the money generated by the expo itself to wildlife conservation projects in Utah. They were also planning on moving their annual Elk Camp to Salt Lake City and would have at a bare minimum had twice as many people as currently attend the SFW expo. It is likely (based on the number of people who currently attend Elk Camp in Las Vegas every year) that 5 times as many people would attend, most from out of state. It goes without saying that this would have been a boon not only for Utah's wildlife but also for hotels and resteraunts around Salt Lake.
In my mind there was no question which offer was better, but because 4 of the 7 members of Utah's Wildlife Board have direct ties to SFW, and SFW has essentially controlled wildlife management in Utah for over a decade, their proposal won.
Until SFW is no longer in control, or at a bare minimum they donate all of the revenue generated by the raffle of the 200 public tags to conservation projects, I will no longer attend and they will not receive one red cent from me.
It's a shame because in the past I have enjoyed going to the expo seeing the newest gear and meeting lots of different people. I would really like to go this year and swing by the Mountain Ops booth and get my copy of Robby's book signed but I just can't bring myself to support anything about the expo anymore.
The amount of corruption in Utah's wildlife management in general is disgusting, the Western Hunting and Conservation Expo is a poster child for the corruption. Using the guise of conservation, SFW (Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife) has essentially stolen 200 public big game permits, raffles them and lines their pockets with 70% of the revenue generated from the raffle and ALL of the revenue generated by the expo itself.
A few months ago RMEF (Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation) placed a bid to take over the expo that would have returned 100% of the money generated by the tag raffle and 50% of the money generated by the expo itself to wildlife conservation projects in Utah. They were also planning on moving their annual Elk Camp to Salt Lake City and would have at a bare minimum had twice as many people as currently attend the SFW expo. It is likely (based on the number of people who currently attend Elk Camp in Las Vegas every year) that 5 times as many people would attend, most from out of state. It goes without saying that this would have been a boon not only for Utah's wildlife but also for hotels and resteraunts around Salt Lake.
In my mind there was no question which offer was better, but because 4 of the 7 members of Utah's Wildlife Board have direct ties to SFW, and SFW has essentially controlled wildlife management in Utah for over a decade, their proposal won.
Until SFW is no longer in control, or at a bare minimum they donate all of the revenue generated by the raffle of the 200 public tags to conservation projects, I will no longer attend and they will not receive one red cent from me.
It's a shame because in the past I have enjoyed going to the expo seeing the newest gear and meeting lots of different people. I would really like to go this year and swing by the Mountain Ops booth and get my copy of Robby's book signed but I just can't bring myself to support anything about the expo anymore.
