Commissioners need support

The current, and very public, flap over the reappointment of Idaho Fish and Wildlife commissioners Will Naillon and Mark Doerr cannot go without comment. I do not personally know either of these gentlemen, but by all accounts, they have both done an admirable job of fulfilling the requirements of the 1938 initiative to manage the wildlife of the state of Idaho for the people of the state. They appear to have wide support from both the sporting and conservation communities.

Gov. Butch Otter has apparently decided not to reappoint them, a decision likely made in retribution for the commission’s stance against legislative proposals to allow large landowners to resell the big game tags they receive as “Land Owner Appreciation Tags” and to allow wealthy hunters to buy hard-to-get controlled hunt tags at high-priced auctions.

This move to intimidate the members of the commission and to force regulations that would reward the wealthy at the expense of the Idaho hunter flies in the face of the intent of the 1938 Citizens Initiative and 77 years of managing Idaho’s wildlife for the benefit of all Idahoans, not just the wealthy.

Keith Carlson

Lewiston