Fishing Forum

As many of you know, the content of HB 187 was released to the public yesterday. The legislation presented was worse than we could have imagined. The thread by TS 30 covers this well and I would encourage all of us to get involved. There is more information here and in other Utah internet fishing forums for those interested in more background.

What was even more disappointing to me though was the contents of this article in the Tribune.
[url "http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_11684170"]http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_11684170[/url]

Here is a quote from it.
"Division of Wildlife Resources director Jim Karpowitz said last summer's Supreme Court ruling raised a number of questions that needed to be clarified by legislation. He said his agency has been working with Ferry on the bill, which was expected to be controversial. Karpowitz got his first look at the bill Wednesday and said he has several concerns, including how the process of adding waters to the list would work.
"We've tried to represent the interests of the anglers in this bill," he said. "At the same time, we recognize the rights of property owners and the fact they provide for significant habitat for wildlife in this state. We are trying to balance those two things and so has Representative Ferry."

The top brass at the DWR have been involved with crafting this abominable legislation. In so doing, they have thrown the average Utah angler under the bus. If this bill is what Mr. Karpowitz calls "representing the interests of the anglers" and "balancing those two things" then it is clear that he holds you and I the angler in very low regard. The actions of Rep. Ferry (the author of HB187)
are not unexpected. He is acting in the interest of his landowning constituents and his agricultural and developer patrons/meal tickets. The actions of the DWR however, is most disappointing. These guys were supposed to be on OUR side! Not so. Perhaps they figure they can squeeze out a couple more CWMU hunting units from this action.

I have been one of the biggest DWR supporters on this board. Sadly, this will now change, at least in regards to the top brass. (it does not apply to the biologists and others I have great respect for) I am finding it very difficult to donate any more money or time to them. I am finding it hard to even want to re-up on a license. (If Idaho was just closer) They can forget about the tax return check offs, I have sometimes used. I also have to think that new leadership at the division would be wise. If you feel similarly, please send Karpowitz and Donaldson an email and tell them about it. (Do it AFTER contacting your legislator though.) They may not answer, but they will know about your displeasure.

jimkarpowitz@utah.gov

waltdonaldson@utah.gov
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What would you expect from the establishment ? In the better intrest of all, as in rich.
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Wow that is pretty disappointing I too was a fan of the DWR thought they had made some pretty great improvements.

I guess the DWR was like old stream access To good to be true [:p][:p][:p]
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Great to see that Utah Rivers Council is engaged and ready to take on the battle on Capital Hill. Ted Wilson is a great guy and politically very experienced. My next step is to engage Duane Cardall of KSL to prompt an editorial to further raise consciousness of the public threat.

Time for a full court press.
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Just like I said before,
It's all in Washington , We the sportsman have no say,
And I'm afraid we are going to see a lot more of this
now ??
I did say you can make the books look how you want them to, And this is one good example of what I was meaning, They do what they want, They make use thing
one thing while they are doing something else?[crazy]
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I posted this quote on TS's thread yesterday.

I for one will not renew my UT fishing license until this matter is resolved. I have printed about 1/2 of a cartridge of the flyers and have begun to distribute them to everyone I know that fishes and several that do not.
We need to get the Kayakers and floaters involved in this as well.
It is also imperative that fishers from Rep Ferry's district be involved on our side of this. How can we find out who ran against him in the last election? Rep Ferry will continue his assualt on sportsman until he can be removed from office. This will require donations of money and time during his next election cycle and we need to be able to provide it.
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We need to be united as other groups are-
this is a rotten way of bringing us together but it is.
No matter what happens keep that or we will see it again and again .
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RE: "How can we find out who ran against him in the last election?"

I believe he ran unopposed.
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Don't you know.
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So what do we do? Do we pass out flyers do we get the news involved, do we protest on capital hill in our gear? How are we supposed to teach our children to fish and to provide for them selfs if we cannot even go any where to teach them? I am all for not buying a licence but then I run the risk of getting a ticket for poaching because I can not go with fishing! It is the only thing that I have left from my father and grandfather the only way that I can connect with them! This is just unbelievable!
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"Do we pass out flyers do we get the news involved, do we protest on capital hill in our gear?"

Yes, yes, and yes! When this bill goes to committee, we are going to organize at the capital. Our goal is 200 people at the committee meeting minimum! A couple of built in problems with this:

1- This will go to committee on very short notice. So please don't be upset that you were not made aware of this on more notice, you will know as soon as it's available to the public.

2- This will be on a weekday during work hours. It will be a sacrifice to be there, and I realize that many people just don't have the option to take a day, or even a couple hours off from work. But that is what we're dealing with, and keep in mind what we have to lose here.

These two issues will make it tough, and the backers of this bill are powerful folk. But we are the people, and we won't be silenced on this issue!

Keep the emails going to legislators. If there is a specific part of this bill that bothers you, point it out to them. But be clear, a compromise of ANY of our rights is unacceptable. We don't want them thinking that it is only 1 section that is bothersome to anglers, sportsmen, and the public at large. Next step is to call them and talk to them on the phone. And if available, go up to the Hill and talk to them face-to-face.
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So how do we find out where we can and cannot fish?
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this issue has absolutely exploded on a fly fishing website.

[#ff0000]Sorry, but links to competing forums is not allowed.
[/#ff0000]
they are taking action on facebook, emailing tourism sites, taking it to all levels of government, and planning strategy to protest the bill in House committee discussions (they're going to need to hold those in the Salt Palace) The key is to channel outrage into action.

They've produce another flyer (attached) which points folks to the Utah Water Guardian website. It is essential that we show outrage from all the angling community to Ferry's ridiculous and smug attitude that only 4000 fly fisherman will care.
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I am very disappointed in my representative. I wrote him an e-mail and was surprised and appreciative of him calling me at home. I was very disappointed when he started the conversation our on a very confrontational tone and acted as if all fishermen were redneck hicks with no respect for others. He made it sound like none of us care about the rights of private property owners.

My biggest concern is the big money backing the bill and the "high class" representatives following it. I hate feeling that the representatives are the people that make big money and are in government with big money in mind. The average fisherman does not have the big money that these private property owners usually have. I don't feel it's fair that because our representatives have big money they have to side with private property owners that have big money.

Just wanted to vent about my disappointment and realization about how big tof an influence the big dollar property owners have on our governement officials.
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I have not received a single response from 6 e-mails. Don't feel too bad.[pirate]
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[url "http://electionresults.utah.gov/xmlData/30116.html"]http://electionresults.utah.gov/xmlData/30116.html[/url]


Rep. Ferry was unopposed by the Democratic party, but did have a Constitutional party candidate run against him named Tom Edwards. Ferry got 82.09% of the vote. Does that work for you?
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I have had a good response from my representative.[] MY state senator has not bothered to respond to me or anyone else[frown]. Even if we live where our Rep. or Sen. is opposed to us, if enough people inform them of what we the people expect, and tell them our vote during the next election may hang in the balance, they will at least pay attention.
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I bet many of the representatives themselves are landowners and may have a conflict of interest in this.
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What district are you in?

We could flood their E-mail and start calling all day.

It works for Gayle and the Eagle Forum.

Where's that Don Perry guy on this?
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Brody,
I emailed both of the Roy area reps.

Representative Richard Greenwood said that even though he doesn't fish, he was on our side on this.
Senater Scott Jenkins said that he would fight the bill.

I emailed both of them a while ago.
I would hope that they have been overwhelmed with emails and that could be why you haven't heard back from them yet.
At least I hope that is why.
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