NDG&F Budget / Land Acquisition

FIshermen need to pay attention here also.  These purchases are not just for Wildlife Management Areas.  At least one involves land that will allow a boating access site in the Pelican Lake area of Devils Lake.  We need to get involved and tell our legislators to let G&F manage G&F.

Dick Monson Said:
I think the amount of ground in WMAs is about 2/10 of 1% in North Dakota. Doesn't seem like an extreme amount. To most people.

About the last hope to reinstate the land acquisition portion of the budget is an amendment from the Senate floor. For that to happen sportmen have to contact their Senators now. Nobody else will do it.

Regarding the CRP situation last summer, the North Dakota Wildlife Federation did not participate in the NWF lawsuit to block haying. The NDWF did not condone the suit and told National that haying could in fact be good for the wildlife habitat of CRP. The ND Stockman's Asc. was very explicit explaining to the public that NDWF was not a part of that lawsuit.
 
The 1 million acre drop in CRP is by the end of '09, not in '09. ND had apx. 3 million acres at the height of the signup.


Dick is this some of ND Stockman being very explicit?

Hunters could feel chill this fall LOADING Sep 07, 2008 - 04:05:23 CDT Bismarck Tribune (This is the first in a two-part series on the Conservation Reserve Program. Today's story looks at the issue of releasing CRP acres for haying. Monday's story looks at why farmers and ranchers are leaving the program.) By LAUREN DONOVAN RURAL TAYLOR - Marc Fridley rolled up hay the texture of stale shredded breakfast cereal. Dry and crunchy, baled in the high heat of mid-August, it'll take the edge off his cows' appetite when it gets cold outside. It won't offer much nutrition. The bloom is long off the alfalfa by now. Fridley wishes he hadn't had to wait until August to make 500 or so hay bales on Conservation Reserve Program acres, belonging to a landowner on the south side of the Heart River. He's grateful to get it, don't get him wrong. But he's frustrated that the government opened up emergency haying Aug. 2, weeks after prime hay time, which ideally starts back in June. Fridley said he'll be thinking of that dried-up hay when hunters come to his rural Taylor farm this fall. A lawsuit filed by the National Wildlife Federation prevented the USDA from opening up millions of CRP acres for haying in a proposed critical use program to help livestock producers deal with the drought and high feed costs. "Anybody who shows up from those hunting organizations that supported this lawsuit, I'll turn them down," he said. Fridley said he's already sold off 50 cow-calf pairs and hopes he can scrounge up enough feed to keep his remaining 250 cows through the winter. The North Dakota chapter of the National Wildlife Federation did not join the lawsuit, which argued that the USDA needed an environmental assessment before making such a sweeping change to reserve acres and wildlife habitat. The USDA wanted to let landowners apply for critical need use, rather than limit haying to acres already in a hay management program. A separate lawsuit by the National Wildlife Federation in 2006 resulted in more restrictive rules for CRP hay management. Now, on new contracts, hay can only be cut once every 10 years, rather than every three years. Even without the latest lawsuit, it's not likely North Dakota would have been opened for haying any earlier. Jay Hochhalter is the CRP specialist for USDA's Fargo statewide office. He said about half of the county Farm Service Agency committees requested that the USDA open haying earlier than Aug. 2 in North Dakota. But that date is considered the end of the primary nesting season for game birds. It's a long-established date set by the state office, which partners on that issue with a number of agencies and groups, including North Dakota Game and Fish Department, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and others. Hochhalter said CRP hay - like any hay - does lose quality after July 1. The intent of the program is to conserve land, protect water quality and thus provide habitat for wildlife. "This is not a hay-management program," Hochhalter said. "The terms (for haying) are set out, and if people want to use it, fine; if not, that's their decision. Those partners have looked favorably on emergency haying and hopefully people understand that the North Dakota chapter was not in favor of the lawsuit." Jay Elkin farms north of Taylor and serves on the statewide FSA committee. It's his impression that despite many requests made to and by county FSA committees, any talk of opening haying before Aug. 2 was pre-empted by the lawsuit. He said that date is too late - "impractically late" - in any case. He suggests the state's congressional delegation would have to be involved in a permanent change. "This is about the National Wildlife Federation wanting to control haying for their own needs," Elkin said. "The nesting season is pretty well over by July 15, especially this year, when it's been so dry. We're cutting our own hay in June and by early July, the birds have already hatched out." Tom France, attorney and a member of the National Wildlife Federation resource staff, said it's not right - and the court agreed - for the USDA to "walk around the law," when Congress intended the program to enhance soil conservation, wildlife and water quality. He said the Aug. 2 date when haying is allowed on CRP in North Dakota has been in place for going on 15 years. "It does reflect the biological realities out there," France said. "It's probably the right date. I know the science hasn't changed in 15 years." Elkin said he thinks many producers are soured by the lawsuit intervention, for whatever difference it may or may not have made in North Dakota. He, too, believes hunters may feel more than autumn's chill in the air when they look for hunting access this fall. "They (producers) don't believe a lot of these wildlife interests are seeing the importance of the producer on the land," Elkin said. "They're more concerned about wildlife than human life."[/quote]

You are incorrect, the Game and Fish Department is a stand alone entity, at least as far as the ND taxpayer is concerned. The department is entirely funded by license dollars from hunters, angler, trappers, etc, as well as their share of federal excise taxes on the gear and equipment those hunters and anglers purchase. Not a single dollar of state tax revenue goes to the Game and Fish budget.
 

That brings up the question: Why should the legislature have budget oversight in the first place?