Hunters push
for expansion of restrictions on
off-road vehicles
"I’ve been on the commission
for about eight years, and this is probably the year with less
high-profile concerns than most," Wood said. "But the problems we have
identified are here."
— FRED WOOD, Magic Valley
Region Fish and Game commissioner
By GREG STAHL
Express Staff Writer
Local residents said Wednesday
that restrictions on off-road vehicles during hunting seasons should be
expanded.
The majority of local residents at
an open house meeting of the Jerome Region of the Idaho Department of
Fish and Game overwhelmingly supported an expansion of the department’s
motorized restrictions for hunting units throughout the region.
"About 75 percent of people were
in favor of adding units 45 and 52 (both in the Bennett Hills area south
of Fairfield) to the motorized restrictions," said Kelton Hatch, the
region’s conservation educator. "A lot of people said that all units
should be included."
Fish and Game Commissioner Fred
Wood. Express
photo by David N. Seelig
The meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 11,
was the first of three the department is hosting this week throughout
the region. Each winter, the region solicits input from residents and
hunters on big game management adjustments that are proposed. The region
forms recommendations based on the input they collect and forward those
proposals to the Fish and Game Commission.
Two years ago, the department
implemented off-road vehicle restrictions in Unit 47 in the South Hills
south of Twin Falls and expanded the restrictions to units 48 and 49,
which surround the Wood River Valley, last year.
"Everybody loved it," Hatch said.
"We’re at over 70 percent in favor of it, and a lot of them want it
expanded."
The regulations restrict hunting
from off-road vehicles to designated roads only.
The Magic Valley Region’s Fish and
Game Commissioner, Fred Wood, said there were probably fewer
high-profile issues on the region’s plate this year than in previous
years. It showed in the meeting’s attendance.
Only 17 hunters attended, compared
with 123 last winter.
"I’ve been on the commission for
about eight years, and this is probably the year with less high-profile
concerns than most," Wood said. "But the problems we have identified are
here."
Idaho Department of Fish and
Game Regional Conservation Educator Kelton Hatch, left, said meeting
attendance at this winter’s Fish and Game open house in Hailey was poor
compared with previous years.
Express photo by David N. Seelig
Wood said deer counts throughout
the region have shown healthy populations, except for in the southeast
part of the state. Deer numbers throughout Southeast Idaho have been
slipping for several years, he said.
He said elk populations are also
doing well.
Hatch said that, though attendance
was poor, the department personnel are looking forward to gleaning more
information at hearings in Burley and Twin Falls this week.
"We would have liked to have had a
better turnout. These public meetings are very crucial for us," he said.
"We can’t make any changes until we have a consensus among the
sportsmen."