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Show wFiVW & Stream" By Vernon W. Shields In writing this article in answer ans-wer to the Utah Cattle and Horse Growers' Association's report which was run in this column last week under the signature of J. L. Carey, Independent Land Owners, Salt Lake City, we the representatives of the Utah Sportsmen's Association Associa-tion wish to make it clear that it is not our purpose to unjustly criticize criti-cize or to interfere in the rights of any private land owner in the state of Utah. However, to protect our own wild life interests of the state we feel that a few facts as herein stated would prove of interest not only to the sportsmen but to the private citizen and landowner as well. The report begins with a statement state-ment that: "At all times in the past the landowner has allowed big game to graze, their private lands I only by sufferance." To us, this statement seems to cover too much territory because of the fact that to our knowledge there are scores of private landowners within the state who have no objections whatsoever what-soever in permitting hunting on their lands. It would therefore be reasonable to conclude that such an objection or sufferance is very much in the minority, and, yet, we as sportsmen feel that such a minority min-ority should be given just consideration consider-ation of every issue involved. The report further makes the charge that during the year, 1947, the press and numerous individuals and organizations have been unfair to the landowner in most of their articles and Statements regarding range management. Regarding this statement, we ask: Can it be possible pos-sible that the press, numerous individuals in-dividuals and organizations have during the year, 1947, been led so far away from facts and figures or is it reasonable to believe that a small minority of landowners do lands involved, and they are now I proceeding to present the argument argu-ment that our big game herds are to be blamed. Our water-shed history his-tory shows carrying capacity dropping, drop-ping, water-sheds deteriorating and livestock still getting fat. It is our firm belief that the right to use public domain is an inherent right of all the citizens of this state, and that one interest should not be destroyed to the advantage of another. an-other. I This report of the Utah Horse and Cattle Growers' Association states that deer alone have in-, in-, creased 137,140 over a period of , twenty-three years. Let's take a I look at some more recent figures. The deer population in Utah in 1941 was, according to the Utah Fith and Game Commission reports, 222,851. In the year, 1945, the .deer population was 200,000. That is a decrease in four years of 22,851. Our deer are decreasing at the rate of 5,712 per year. This report of the Big Game Committee division of the Utah Horse and Cattle Growers' Ass'n. states further that they do not advocate ad-vocate the destruction of our big game, but, in the same report, they favor the extension of the hunting hunt-ing season to thirty days instead of ten and urge the changing of the regulations to permit each person per-son purchasing a big game license to kill two deer, one with horns and one without, anywhere in the state, and for each elk permit drawn they advocate that an alternate alter-nate permit shall be drawn, and that the first permitee be given the first half of the season to bring in his kill and if not successful his or her alternate be given the last half of the season to make the kill. Fellow sportsmen and citizens of the state of Utah, under a system of this kind how long would our big game herd survive? It is further charged in this report re-port that because of refusal of of- not wish to accept such facts and figures, and, by so doing, enhance their own . property values and holdings so that they would defin-ity defin-ity react against the best interests of the sportsmen of the state of Utah? We note with a certain degree of alarm that the number of cattle grazed on national forests of Utah have been reduced 51,567. Sheep were reduced 125,563. All this in a period of twenty-three years. It is not our purpose to refute these figures, but we do wish to follow with a statement that this reduction reduc-tion has not been caused by the increase in deer and elk upon the public and private lands of our state, but rather, it is our foregone fore-gone conclusion that the private land owners and users of public lands have through lack of a definite def-inite long-range improvement plan destroyed wholly or partially the stock carrying capacity of these the failure of game wardens and i forest officials to cooperate in enforcing en-forcing civil laws losses of millions of dollars in stolen domestic stock have increased during the hunting and fishing season, and, in addition, addi-tion, millions fo dollars of damage by destruction to land owner's property pro-perty by hoodlum hunters. It is our opinion that the peace officers, Game Wardens and Forest Officials have rendered excellent service of all laws referred to, and we as sportsmen of the state of Utah re- sent any inference that these so-claimed so-claimed losses have occurred thru the inefficiency of these officers. We admit some vandalism by irresponsible ir-responsible hunters, and we can assure the author of the cattlemen's cattle-men's report that our organization organiza-tion would support a law that would stop such destruction. We know of only one case where peace officers refused to enforce the law, and in this case, certain individuals individ-uals closed a public road that had been constructed with tax payer's money and demanded a fee of five dollars per hunter to travel this particular road. We deplore such a practice on the part of certain individuals in-dividuals and can only but admire those peace officers who refused to support them in such a procedure. Signed, Ray Hammond State President. Vernon Shields, State Vice-President. Utah Sportsmen's Ass'n. |