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New sportsmen group organizing
3/6/03
By JEFF GEARINO, Casper Star-Tribune Southwest Wyoming bureau
GREEN RIVER -- A new state organization that will advocate for Wyoming hunters and anglers is quietly being formed in Wyoming.
Organizers for the Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife in Wyoming say they are trying to model the new organization on the highly successful Utah Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife formed in 1994.
The Utah SFW has grown to between 10,000 and 15,000 members in less than a decade and wields considerable influence on wildlife management in that state, according to organizers and other sources.
The goals of the Wyoming SFW will be to protect the state's hunting and fishing traditions and heritage, and to promote quality hunting and angling opportunities, the group's Wyoming organizer, Bob Wharff, said in a telephone interview Wednesday.
The group wants to provide a "new voice for hunters and anglers" and to advocate on their behalf on such issues as wolf delisting, public access and protecting elk feedgrounds and big game habitat, Wharff said.
The Wyoming SFW has already held several meetings in Fremont, Park and Lincoln Counties in western Wyoming to organize chapters of the group.
Another meeting is scheduled for Thursday night at 7 p.m. at the White Mountain Junior High School in Rock Springs.
Wharff said some 20 members gathered in Cody last week to begin charting the chapter's organizational plans. A similar meeting in Dubois drew nearly 150 people and meetings are planned at Pinedale and Evanston later this month, he said.
He said the Wyoming SFW hopes to represent the interest of a diverse group of sportsmen, including gun and bow hunters, outfitters, anglers, bird hunters, big game hunters and other wildlife enthusiasts.
The nonprofit group has its roots in Utah and was founded by conservationist and sportsmen Don Peay.
Wharff -- a three-year resident of Evanston who currently serves on the Utah group's executive committee and as vice-president of their mule deer operations -- said the grassroots organizational effort turned its focus on Wyoming because many sportsmen in the state feel their voice is not being heard on important wildlife issues.
"Part of the reason we're doing this is that there is an awful lot of people out there who disagree with the other (conservation organizations) and don't like what they're doing in the name of Wyoming's sportsmen," he said.
"I don't know if anyone in the state is really speaking any longer for the hunting and fishing population of the state," Wharff said.
"Almost every special interest group has representation and a voice in our legal and legislative system" he said. "It's about time we, as the 40,000-plus resident sportsmen and women in Wyoming, had one also."
Wharff said the group ultimately hopes to form 18 to 20 chapters across Wyoming's 23 counties.
"We're getting lots of interest, it's really moving now," he said. Each chapter would select one representative to serve on a statewide board, according to plans.
Lots of clout
Former Wyoming Game and Fish Commissioner Les Henderson of Rock Springs is serving on Sweetwater County's organizational committee.
He said Wednesday there's a feeling among Wyoming sportsmen that no current wildlife/conservation organization is adequately representing the interests and concerns of the hunter and anglers who live and work here.
"Indications are that there is a great deal of interest in Sweetwater County and the organizing committee hopes that we will have the largest and most active chapter in the state," Henderson said.
"This will be a bottom-up organization ... and the goal is to have a statewide organization with enough members and financial ability to hire a full-time lobbyist," he said.
"The long-term goal is to have affiliated state organizations in all of the Western states so the voice of the hunter and angler who lives and works in the west will be heard in Washington as well as in Cheyenne," Henderson said.
A recent article on the Utah organization in the Salt Lake Tribune called Peay one of the state's "most influential power brokers with enough clout on (Utah's) Capital Hill to get what he wants. ... for better or worse, he dictates wildlife policy in Utah."
One of Peay's biggest fans is Utah Jazz superstar Karl Malone, who often hosts dinners where Utah state legislators discuss hunting issues with Peay, the article said.
The Utah SFW lobbying group was instrumental in getting the state constitution rewritten to limit use of citizen initiatives in wildlife management through what's known as Proposition 5. The move preempted a hound-hunting ban in Utah that was passed in many Western states.
The group is credited with raising more than $100 million for Utah wildlife since 1994. Peay's greatest gift seems to be to organize hunters and anglers into one powerful, lobbying voice, according to a variety of sources.
Some Utah environmental groups, however, have criticized Peay's support for predator controls and have accused him of caring only about big game. Utah environmentalists refer to SFW as "Sportsmen For certain Wildlife."
Peay has been a critic of wolf reintroduction, but has pushed for increased funding for endangered species and for increased habitat for wildlife. He has also criticized public grazing and all-terrain vehicles on public lands.
Wharff said Peay is expected to attend Thursday night's meeting in Rock Springs.
3/6/03
By JEFF GEARINO, Casper Star-Tribune Southwest Wyoming bureau
GREEN RIVER -- A new state organization that will advocate for Wyoming hunters and anglers is quietly being formed in Wyoming.
Organizers for the Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife in Wyoming say they are trying to model the new organization on the highly successful Utah Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife formed in 1994.
The Utah SFW has grown to between 10,000 and 15,000 members in less than a decade and wields considerable influence on wildlife management in that state, according to organizers and other sources.
The goals of the Wyoming SFW will be to protect the state's hunting and fishing traditions and heritage, and to promote quality hunting and angling opportunities, the group's Wyoming organizer, Bob Wharff, said in a telephone interview Wednesday.
The group wants to provide a "new voice for hunters and anglers" and to advocate on their behalf on such issues as wolf delisting, public access and protecting elk feedgrounds and big game habitat, Wharff said.
The Wyoming SFW has already held several meetings in Fremont, Park and Lincoln Counties in western Wyoming to organize chapters of the group.
Another meeting is scheduled for Thursday night at 7 p.m. at the White Mountain Junior High School in Rock Springs.
Wharff said some 20 members gathered in Cody last week to begin charting the chapter's organizational plans. A similar meeting in Dubois drew nearly 150 people and meetings are planned at Pinedale and Evanston later this month, he said.
He said the Wyoming SFW hopes to represent the interest of a diverse group of sportsmen, including gun and bow hunters, outfitters, anglers, bird hunters, big game hunters and other wildlife enthusiasts.
The nonprofit group has its roots in Utah and was founded by conservationist and sportsmen Don Peay.
Wharff -- a three-year resident of Evanston who currently serves on the Utah group's executive committee and as vice-president of their mule deer operations -- said the grassroots organizational effort turned its focus on Wyoming because many sportsmen in the state feel their voice is not being heard on important wildlife issues.
"Part of the reason we're doing this is that there is an awful lot of people out there who disagree with the other (conservation organizations) and don't like what they're doing in the name of Wyoming's sportsmen," he said.
"I don't know if anyone in the state is really speaking any longer for the hunting and fishing population of the state," Wharff said.
"Almost every special interest group has representation and a voice in our legal and legislative system" he said. "It's about time we, as the 40,000-plus resident sportsmen and women in Wyoming, had one also."
Wharff said the group ultimately hopes to form 18 to 20 chapters across Wyoming's 23 counties.
"We're getting lots of interest, it's really moving now," he said. Each chapter would select one representative to serve on a statewide board, according to plans.
Lots of clout
Former Wyoming Game and Fish Commissioner Les Henderson of Rock Springs is serving on Sweetwater County's organizational committee.
He said Wednesday there's a feeling among Wyoming sportsmen that no current wildlife/conservation organization is adequately representing the interests and concerns of the hunter and anglers who live and work here.
"Indications are that there is a great deal of interest in Sweetwater County and the organizing committee hopes that we will have the largest and most active chapter in the state," Henderson said.
"This will be a bottom-up organization ... and the goal is to have a statewide organization with enough members and financial ability to hire a full-time lobbyist," he said.
"The long-term goal is to have affiliated state organizations in all of the Western states so the voice of the hunter and angler who lives and works in the west will be heard in Washington as well as in Cheyenne," Henderson said.
A recent article on the Utah organization in the Salt Lake Tribune called Peay one of the state's "most influential power brokers with enough clout on (Utah's) Capital Hill to get what he wants. ... for better or worse, he dictates wildlife policy in Utah."
One of Peay's biggest fans is Utah Jazz superstar Karl Malone, who often hosts dinners where Utah state legislators discuss hunting issues with Peay, the article said.
The Utah SFW lobbying group was instrumental in getting the state constitution rewritten to limit use of citizen initiatives in wildlife management through what's known as Proposition 5. The move preempted a hound-hunting ban in Utah that was passed in many Western states.
The group is credited with raising more than $100 million for Utah wildlife since 1994. Peay's greatest gift seems to be to organize hunters and anglers into one powerful, lobbying voice, according to a variety of sources.
Some Utah environmental groups, however, have criticized Peay's support for predator controls and have accused him of caring only about big game. Utah environmentalists refer to SFW as "Sportsmen For certain Wildlife."
Peay has been a critic of wolf reintroduction, but has pushed for increased funding for endangered species and for increased habitat for wildlife. He has also criticized public grazing and all-terrain vehicles on public lands.
Wharff said Peay is expected to attend Thursday night's meeting in Rock Springs.
