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Show Letters from our readers Dear 'Mr. Taylor, This letter is an honest and true side of the article which was written in your paper by Mr. Garth Carter on Thursday, Oct. 5, 1978. I have an extreme problem with the deer on my property. I can go to my fields anytime of the day and count at least a dozen and a half grazing on the crops. My fields are bordered by dense willow and tamarisk growth a-long a-long the river banks which is a perfect hiding place for deer. My neighbors have just as much of a problem with deer as I do, but don't seem to want to do anything at this time about them. That is their business and economical loss. Here is how this fiasco came about. On July 18, I met Garth on the mountain moun-tain road and asked if he would please come look at the problem I had and what damage had been done. The corn was then about 3V3-4 feet tall and you could still see the deer in the fields. I asked him if the deer could be tranquil-ized tranquil-ized and transplanted to another place far away. I was told it was too much trouble and not worth the bother. So I asked if they could pay for the damages and damages in the future since these animals are state owned. I was told that the Fish & Game doesn't handle cases of this matter year after year. At the end of the conversation Carter told me to write a letter to them and him asking for assistance on the problem. pro-blem. So I wrote the letter to him. I did not hear from him until Aug. 7 and it was late in the evening and I was on my way to a meeting in Moab and could not show him the situation. But he did go drive around and look for himself with my permission. permis-sion. By this time the corn was 5 '2 -6 feet tall and you couldn't see them in the fields. Again I heard nothing from Carter until Aug. 16 when Carter &nd James Bates came and looked around. By this time the corn was 7 ft. and taller. There was no chance of seeing the numbers of deer in the fields. Again I asked if the deer could be hauled away or the crop loss paid for and again I was told the same thing as before. I showed these two men the damage and was asked by them to wait until the corn was silaged. I was also asked to keep the deer problem quiet so the Fish and Game would not get to much riff-raff from the public. But on Oct. 5 it's splattered all over the page in the paper. So on Oct. 1 I received a phone call and was told by Carter that he and 3 men would be . up to kill the deer. At 10 p.m. they arrived and spent the night spot lighting the fields. They spent the following two nights doing the same as above. At this time only lA of the com had been silaged. On Oct. 2 I asked Carter how many were killed and he answered, an-swered, "We got 4 or 5 and several got away that were wounded and are sure to die." I found evidence that 7 had been butchered. I greatly resent re-sent being answered e-vasively. e-vasively. He surely knew how many deer carcasses he hauled to town. If they were going to kill the deer why didn't they issue the special limited use permits to deer hunters for this fall's hunting season? They have known about it since July. Deer hunting with permission has always been allowed on my place. I resent the way they handled this problem. And I repeat I did not request elimination of the deer by killing them. I feel I have been betrayed and double talked to. I haven't received the co-operation that I expected. M. B. Doles Dear Sam, Even though I lost in my bid for District Governor of Lions District 28-A (which covers about a third of the State of Utah), I wish to convey my sincere thanks to the Lions of Moab who supported me in our efforts. I am cheerful and well pleased with their efforts. I sincerely sin-cerely hope none of our Lions will feel they have let me down. I understand that I lost by the very narrow margin of only one vote. Who could ask for anything better by a small club stuck off down here where perhaps only one tenth of the total voted are represented. I offer my most sincere thanks to those of the Moab Lions that went out of their way to support me with special thanks to those that went to the convention to rally and demonstrate for me. It was a most rewarding experience. My special thanks and gratitude to Bob Pattison for stepping forward to manage a very colorful campaign for me. And, of course, to his wife Dot who hand painted all the posters and banners that were greatly admired by all in attendance including two International Internation-al Directors and visiting dignitaries from Arizona and the other three Districts in Utah. Everyone Every-one wanted to know, "Who made your posters nnd banners?" Her artist ic ry was admired by many Jwho remarked that they ywere more different than ( anything yet seen at a Lions Convention, demon-i demon-i stration or rally. y I feel good in losing if ) for no other reason than the fact that we let the people up state know that Moab is on the map and has a lot of very fine people in it that are willing to fellowship with them. Sincerely, Slim Mabery Dear Editor: I feel that any person running for any political office can have many varied qualifications to his credit, knowledge, experience, exper-ience, ability, honesty and a sincere desire to serve those who elect them into office. And among the most valuable those who know the needs of the community love the community, com-munity, and have an interest in the future of the community. These to me are the best qualified to fill the offices needed to direct and give leadership to our community. Many people criticize, but fail to see the real problems involved in running run-ning a community such as ours. A tourist town, a town of pioneers here from day one, new faces from every corner of the USA, varied faiths placed together to live in accordance ac-cordance with the laws and to communicate each and every persons needs. A large and time consuming job that can be done only by the experienced, exper-ienced, dedicated person. Qualified with the hope for only betterment of our town tomorrow. James N. Phillips E.M.T.A. Dear Sam, Our efficient Wildlife Resources Department has done it ugain! On July 18, 1978 I wns with Margaret Doles when she made a complaint to Officer Garth Carter about the doer damaging her cornfields. She usked then that the deer lie "trans planted" from her ranch-not ranch-not killed- or reimburse her for the Toss. After several weeks a higher echelon representative repre-sentative of the W. R. Department came. Margaret Mar-garet was told that the Department would not pay for the damage and that they could do nothing about the deer until after the corn was harvested. Last week a group of officials showed up (while the corn was still standing) stand-ing) and killed; by spotlighting; spot-lighting; some deer in an alfalfa field. It probably cost more to do it that way than to have paid for the damage, as it took a few nights to do this. The damage to this year's crop had already been done. With hunting season less than three weeks away, I imagine hunting will be poorer because of the disturbance. disturb-ance. Mr. Carter made an erroneous statement that Margaret was the only one to complain about deer damage. Most all of the ranches ud here have, or have had "deer fences" furnished by the state to protect "stockyards." I felt that it was futile to make any more complaints com-plaints this summer, due to past experiences with the Department even though my crops have been damaged. Another thing a few years ago when deer were ruining our graden we asked for "deer fence" to protect it and were told, "kill them" in just that way! We didn't need thai f I advice as I could havr done that in broad dav i light. I wanted help. ,P Deer on these ranched are native here. They have'f learned to live with us.My wife has taken pictures of bucks at noontime, on bright day, within fifty ' feet of the house. We have ?" watched does eat toma-' toes and have walked within twenty-five feet of' them to make them leave Several years ago when-' the deer were overpopu- lated the Department is..?' sued permits until the deer were almost extinct. I have seen very little'' evidence that the Depart-(' ment does anything to promote the deer. y Thanks for this oppor - tunity to hear my side, i Bill Boulden |