| Montana Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife recently held its 2nd Annual Auction and Pig Roast. Over 400 people attended the event at the Western Montana Fairgrounds in Missoula. The number of attendees was up considerably this year. And MT SFW raised more dollars this year to continue "Common Sense" conservation of our wild life resources and habitat. This year`s event was geared towards families and with a fishing pond and prizes for the kids and a large, inflatable bouncy house, everything seemed to work very well. The MT SFW Board and Volunteers worked tirelessly to make this event come off and boy did it ever! Every child that participated in the fishing event was given a nice prize that was donated by numerous sponsors and private donors. The items in the silent and live auction were also a big hit with the "older" sportsmen that attend the event as well. Nearly everything received a bid and was sold and the money raised insures another hard year in the fight for sportsmen, land owners and ranchers to be heard about very important issues. Huge thanks to all who came out and donated time, money, and items for this cause. It was very successful and the good food and music made it even more memorable. You can contact us via the web site next year for the event if you`d like to donate man-power or auction items at the event. Jana Waller of Skull Bound TV was on hand to film the event for an upcoming segment in her new show to air sometime later this year on one of the outdoor networks. Jana does a "Conservation Minute" at the end of each episode and showcases great organizations that are working at the ground level to pitch in and help where needed. She recently became a member of MT SFW and donated a beautiful bison skull that she ornately decorated with beads and beautiful gemstones. This item brought some of the highest bids in the whole auction and was a 100% donation from her and SFW life member Shawn Andres. Shawn provided the skull and Jana did a bang-up job of beautifying the old Bison head for auction. Many thanks to both these individuals for their selfless contribution to this year`s event and for being involved in a major way with MT SFW. The event was great, but there was a grim reminder on that morning of a huge problem facing many rural Montanans. There was a wolf attack in the small town of Hamilton, MT. Just one of the many issues SFW is engaged in, (the wolf war) reared its ugly head that very morning. A man in Hamilton awoke to find his dogs being attacked by a 90 lbs. black wolf in his own back yard. This was at some back country cabin in the Selway Wilderness, this was less than 1 mile from the city limits and the Ravalli County house in this small town of about 8,000 people. Just like any other town in Utah, Idaho or Wyoming. He had to kill the wolf to save his dogs, one of which took some deep bite marks in one haunch and a pretty good scrape or two. The Fish, Wildlife, and Parks Warden said it was a justified case in killing this lone wolf who`d killed quite a few "neighborhood" pets in the area over the last few weeks. None of the other attacks can be corroborated, however it was interesting that a rash of disappearances of beloved pets began to happen during the same time numerous sightings of this wolf occurred in the same area by other neighbors. Our prayers go out to their family and we`re just glad that it wasn`t something much worse than the dog being attacked at their home. Another sad case that just recently happened was that of a prized ranch horse, that was the victim of Wolf predation in the small town of Darby just south of Hamilton, MT. This happened just days after the dog attack. The sad owner was outraged, yet nothing can really be done about this as no one witnessed the wolves that killed the horse and then ate very little and left the horse to rot. However, wolf tracks, scat and bite marks were very consistent with the signs of a wolf kill. That owner is out an expensive horse and now has to rethink about pasturing their animals on their own ranch. These occurrences in western Montana have been very common, but people are now finally speaking out and hoping that legislation that currently passed will open up public wolf hunts this fall. Curtailing the aggressive nature of these animals through hunting and changing their daily habits is what needs to happen. Many Montanans are fed up with the lip service from state and federal officials over these incidents and how the FWP folks even qualify (or un-qualify) these attacks in most cases. It happens a lot and it`s being played down about as much as the debt crisis in this country...just no a big deal. That Hamilton Family has small children that play in that yard every day. I`d say it`s a pretty damn big deal. Or maybe the unthinkable has to happen in one of the lower 48 states before Congress, FWS and the Dept. of the Interior get serious about this and again, knock off the lip service and get this Eco-disaster taken care of. Unfortunately, another court case is now pending as again, several Eco-Jihadist groups have filed to stop the hunts slated for this fall in Montana and Idaho, saying "Delisting the Gray Wolf is unconstitutional". I wish I could say I was shocked or outraged about this but I am not. Call me a pessimist, but I`d be truly surprised if old Judge Molloy DIDN`T put a hold on the hunts again. This time MT SFW has filed along with RMEF, MDF, FNAWS SFW, and Big Game Forever to be interveners in the case for the defense and go back and again fight tooth and nail in a court room where the deck is stacked against us. SCI and the NRA have also filed on their own accord and will be in support of the defense against the plaintiffs. So again, even after the Tester legislation we are going back to court on the "never ending" merry go round that is state wild life management and the "broken" ESA. The Rehberg bill and the Hatch bill would have, and still can prevent this from happening. As in no judicial review by a liberal, Eco Activist judge with a track record dirtier than my skivvy`s after a 10 day back country hunt. But that`s not all that is happening in Big Sky country and the surrounding areas. Several other pressing issues with tag allocations and quotas are now looming as well and we`ll be addressing that in short order. We are looking into problems that have existed for decades in different hunting regions throughout Montana. Just finding the time and manpower to address everyone individually is a challenge. But we have more volunteers throughout the state stepping forward everyday to make SFW a leader in many conservation issues. There is a lot of work to be done by this organization and many other that have formed a sort of coalition for Sportsmen. Together we are trying to make a difference, but it`s not easy nor is it cheap. And it usually boils down to politics, sadly. It has been a very busy time of year but we are making huge strides in ensuring that our members have "One Voice for Montanans" through SFW. We are over 800 strong now and gaining more concerned folks every day who subscribe to the idea of "Common Sense" Conservation and political activism in wildlife and hunting issues. The silent majority is no longer silent and seems to be in this for the long haul. We have some great member pictures in this issue from some spring hunts and fishing excursions. As always, you can submit your Member Trophies to bill.merrill@mt-sfw.org and we`ll get them in the next issue for fall. I hope you have some time to spend in the field or on a Montana river or stream this spring and summer and really get a sense of what it is we continue to fight for; our hunting, fishing and trapping heritage on Montana`s public lands. We also will continue to help our private land owners, ranchers and agricultural friends in any way we can during this tough time in our economy when it comes to predation and problems that face these folks on a daily basis. While doing this, we will continue working with Outfitters and guides who certainly have a place in our culture. The point is Montana is big enough for everyone, if we manage our herds to abundance and use proactive management tools versus reactive management our FWP now engages in. Many of these issues would go right away if we all felt there was enough game and hunting opportunities for everyone. That`s not the case right now and we are losing more by the minute. Cooperation amongst all groups and a good dialogue along with a unified front is paramount in fixing many of these issues and pressing our agenda. This is the only way we can continue to enjoy the lifestyle that we choose to live and ensure recreational opportunities on public lands for our children and their children. Enjoy the summer and keep those photos coming! By Bill Merrill - State President |
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