elkaholic Report post Posted January 17, 2012 Memo ARIZONA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1700 West Washington l Phoenix , Arizona l 85007-2844 PHONE: (602) 926-3233 l FAX: (602) 417-3043 Rep. Jerry Weiers (R-Dist. 12) hb 2072 SALE OF BIG GAME TAGS STATE CAPITOL, PHOENIX (January 17, 2012) – In a well intentioned effort to preserve the future of big game sport hunting in the state of Arizona, I worked with my colleagues and constituents and Arizona Sportsmen for Wildlife by sponsoring HB 2072. I did so not only out of a sense of duty to promote the natural health of our state’s wildlife but also to guarantee the future of big game hunting for generations of hunters to come whom, like myself, want nothing more than to responsibly join in this rich and deeply rooted tradition. The conservationists and hunting/angling sportsmen and sportswomen whom were supporting this bill met with me last week. After meeting with them I decided that this legislation would not be received favorably by the hunting sportsmen and sportswomen of our state. And for this reason I ultimately decided that the bill in its present form will not move forward. It is most unfortunate that Arizona’s sportsmen, including members of some of Arizona’s foremost wildlife conservation groups, have no concept as to how HB 2072 would benefit the state of Arizona, the Arizona Game and Fish Department, wildlife and wildlife habitat, Arizona’s youth, landowners and sportsmen. The State would benefit by increasing tourism and providing a $25.4 Million annual boost in economic activity for the state - $4 Million of which would benefit our rural counties; raise an additional $2.2 Million in new tax collections for state and local governments; and $10.2 million additional income for Arizona households. The Arizona Game and Fish Department would benefit by increasing hunting and fishing license revenues to the state by approximately $900,000 and providing additional sources of revenue to augment three critical problem areas identified in the Department’s Five-Year Strategic Plan. From 1996 to 2006 (according to a U. S. Fish and Wildlife Report) the number of hunting and fishing licenses sold by the Department decreased by 98,000 combined despite the fact that Arizona ’s population grew substantially. Arizona’s wildlife would benefit by providing approximately $1 Million for wildlife habitat enhancement and increasing big game wildlife populations. The Department has insufficient revenues to fund the many habitat enhancement projects currently on the list and Arizona ’s big game wildlife herds, except for elk, are either decreasing in size or are staying relatively flat despite the annual infusion of $90 to $100 Million annually in Department spending. For example total deer permits issued have dropped from a high of 92,545 permits in 1984 to a low of 36,665 permits in 2004. In 2010 43,993 total deer permits were issued. Mule deer herd sizes have suffered the most as demonstrated in the Department’s harvest report which shows that harvested mule deer numbers decreased from a high of 19,454 in 1986 to a low of 3,753 in 2003. A total of 4,818 mule deer were harvested in 2010. Arizona’s youth would benefit by providing approximately $750,000 to introduce the youth to replace hunters and anglers leaving the sport. As of the most recent U. S. Fish and Wildlife published in 2006 68% of the hunters and anglers are 35 years of age and older while 32% are 35 years of age and under. Arizona Landowners and Sportsmen would benefit by providing approximately $750,000 to $1 Million in new revenue to augment the Department’s landowner access program. Landowners are closing access, in large part because of the cost incurred to accommodate public access and damage done to private lands by irresponsible sportsmen, access across private land to public lands is continuing to diminish, thus leaving hundreds of thousands of acres unavailable to the sportsmen to hunt and fish. The situation that helped me decide to not move forward with the legislation is one in which I found myself determined to avoid the breakdown of a currently unified front of hunting constituents and enthusiasts though holding the bill may not accomplish that objective. I know that we cannot afford to divide this extremely important union of conservationists that have been, for the most part, our most staunch allies in the face of threats against the rights of Arizona’s hunters and anglers starting with the initiative that ended the ability to trap on public lands. I feel we, the sportsmen and women of Arizona , have a mutual admiration for the wildlife of our state and the rights of Arizona ’s hunters and anglers to join in its bounty. I can only hope that conservation organizations and the average sportsmen will try to understand the bigger picture and the benefits of HB 2072, support this or a similar concept and not allow those who would oppose us to divide and conquer and further destroy our right to hunt and fish. I will continue to work in earnest to make sure that the sport of big game hunting and angling will be available for many generations to come. I encourage those of you who were concerned only about getting a tag to rethink your position. HB 2072 offered a unique and innovative way to help offset the current trend of problems that, if allowed to continue, will only continue to deplete our big game herds and limit fishing opportunities, thus reducing our hunting and fishing opportunities in the future. 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AZLance Report post Posted January 17, 2012 What a idiot! My donation of $500 to whoever his opponent is just doubled to $1000... His memo basically says we are too stupid to understand this issue... 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Redman Report post Posted January 17, 2012 What a idiot! My donation of $500 to whoever his opponent is just doubled to $1000... His memo basically says we are stupid to understand this issue... "have no concept" what a moron to say that in the opening paragraph..... 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
.270 Report post Posted January 17, 2012 i hafta agree. screw him. he isn't the only guy in his district that is qualified to be a rep and it sounds like about anyone would be better. why is it that only him, pbj and their cronies can see all the good it will do? while they can't see or understand wny 90% of the sportsmen are against it? where is the $22 million they said this would provide for conservation? i see a million for conservation, and a million and half for everything else. and $900 grand in increased revenue for the azgfd. where do they figure that taking 350 tags away is gonna increase their coffers? the rest is just tax revenue that wouldn't make enough difference in county budgets to even matter. $20 million divided up all over the state? what a joke. his little condescending memo make me a lot happier this thing got killed. this proves even more that it was just a tag grab for rich guys. smoke and mirrors and bull$h!t is all this is and i resent the h e l l outta these guys implying that me and my friends are too stupid to understand it. Lark. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shawn Report post Posted January 17, 2012 He sure didn't help his case with that crap! 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AZLance Report post Posted January 17, 2012 Can't wait for Baghdad Bob to show up and defend this BS... Maybe Weirs is still under the influence of anesthesia from his shoulder surgery! 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
.270 Report post Posted January 18, 2012 $4 million would benefit rural counties? how many rural counties we got? like all of em except maricopa and pima. 4 million to benefit em all. these guys don't realize that maybe they're dealing with folks that can actually think. Az has 15 counties. so subract the 2 big ones, and divide that into $4 million "projected" bucks. that's $307 grand and change per county. wow, that oughta really make like a .01% increase in everbuddies budget. heck, if one county got it all of it wouldn't make a buncha difference. these guys are used to dealing with a lotta bucks. they should know that their numbers don't make any difference to any county budget. and they are projected numbers that are always way smaller than they actually end up being. oh well, one thing for sure, rep wiers said a lot about how he feels about his constituents and this little memo says a lot about the real motive behind it all. too bad we're all to stupid to understand it. Lark. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
krp Report post Posted January 18, 2012 This bill was an attempt to transfer Public property/funds (sale of public tags) to a private organization to use for all administrative, lobbyist, special interest costs with no oversite. This was also an attempted transfer of wildlife management responsibilities from AZG&F to a private organization with no oversite. Nonprofit organization funding by 'Public' resources is truly distasteful, besides setting a president for PETA, HSUS, Sierra Club ect to sue for their own tags off this legislation... I'm for private organizations existing on 'private' donations... period. I don't support public funding for the NRA, RMEF, Salvation Army, St Mary's, First Baptist, Hunt of a lifetime, Ward 57... But 'Kent who Jesus loves best' should be funded, as obviously I am his favorite and am here to save the heathens, plus I just know best because I say. I only want 100 tags... a bargain. Sounds like they will try to take another route to the same destination. Hmmm Kent Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Red Rabbit Report post Posted January 18, 2012 I only want 100 tags... a bargain. Kent Kent, you must be from Utah and looking for a good start. Look at this raffle/auction tag list. Unbelievable. http://www.monstermuleys.info/dcforum/DCForumID5/18901.html Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
krp Report post Posted January 18, 2012 See, that's why Jesus loves me best... I'm not greedy, one of the seven deadly sins... of the other six... wrath, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony... I may seem just a little lustful... but really just looking out for the folks. Kent Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
40-year-AZ-hunter Report post Posted January 18, 2012 Who was the memo addressed to or was it a "press release"? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AZLance Report post Posted January 18, 2012 I got the memo in e-mail today... 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DesertBull Report post Posted January 18, 2012 I would like to see how they come up with $25.4 million. Totally BOGUS. No doubt they included things like 5,000 people flying in, renting cars, booking hotels, eating $100 meals and playing 4 rounds of $150 golf. Not going to happen. We should have forwarded this to the Goldwater Institute when it first came out. Their specialty is preventing the privatization of public assets. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
.270 Report post Posted January 18, 2012 ok class, required reading for tonight is the list of tags red rabbit posted. this is what we have narrowly avoided here in Az, for now. i kinda think these guys will make another run at it. is anyone still a member of this asfw outfit? if you are, why? i mean other than pbj and wiers. Lark. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AZLance Report post Posted January 18, 2012 That's alot of tags!!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
