IDAHOMAN: It seems like the big issue here would be that if waterfowl outfitting were legal, it would tie up a lot of private ground access by the outfitters, making hunting access difficult for the average Joe who doesn't have the money to hire an outfitter. Do I have that right - is that the primary problem that IWA has with this motion?
Answer IWA: As the IWA stated in the first part of this series, the issue of outfitting/guiding for waterfowl is not strictly being considered on private lands in Idaho, which makes this more than a private land issue. Outfitting/guiding for waterfowl has and still is being considered to be allowed on public lands. The OGLB has discussed this issue before and is still discussing the issue. See motion made by IOGLB board member Chris Korell in IOGLB minutes from May, 2011, page 6. (http://oglb.idaho.gov/pdf/minutes/MAY%20FINAL%20MINUTES_20111205114239.PDF)
Public and private land for waterfowl hunting in Idaho is limited. The best measure the Advisory Group could come up with to measure public land suitable for waterfowl hunting was to take all bodies of water larger than ½ acre and rivers. This gives 374,716 acres in Idaho, or 0.7% of the state. Keep in mind that numerous large bodies counted here are closed for hunting or only huntable for a portion of the season.
To determine private land for waterfowl hunting IDFG compiled a land survey. The results of this survey, 2010 Ag Stats by County, are here, (Web Discussion on Waterfowl Guiding in Idaho). This survey shows that the majority of the private land suitable for waterfowl hunting is near the public waterways and concentrated. This would put outfitters and non-outfitted hunters in the same areas and competing for access. It also included a map, (Web Discussion on Waterfowl Guiding in Idaho), that showed where this land is located. (Water Fowl_1LandUse map.pdf)
The “average Joe” you speak of may not be able to afford an outfitter/guide, but they also may not want to have to pay one or hunt in the manner the guide chooses. Due to no outfitting and guiding for waterfowl in Idaho most of the resident hunters are freelance and prefer to do it themselves. During the IWA waterfowl guiding petition we had numerous non-resident hunters from Utah contact us on how to help this fight strictly because in their home state if they wanted to get good access for waterfowl they had to pay a guide and hunt how the guide chooses.
The hunters who do not want to pay a guide are not going away. There will always be those that get together and lease private ground for access. The combination of outfitters and private clubs will lead to less ground available to the “average Joe” who makes a solid relationship with a landowner and hunts private ground.
You do have a right to lease private ground or access. This lies in fundamental private property rights and trespass. You do not have a right to hire an outfitter or guide. The IDFG and OGLB MOU specifically states, “the IDFG and IOGLB recognize that the fish and wildlife resources of Idaho are owned and sustained by the people of Idaho and that commercial outfitting enterprise is a regulated privilege; where outfitters who provide hunting and fishing opportunities using Idaho fish and wildlife resources are licensed by IOGLB for benefit of the public at large;”
Hiring an outfitter or being an outfitter is a regulated privilege. In the case of waterfowl, and due to the high non-outfitted demand and limited access, the IWA believes there is not a benefit for the public at large or common Joe as you describe it.
The Idaho Outfitters and Guides Licensing Board’s statute (IC 36-2101) clearly states: “…nor is it the intent of this legislation to interfere in any way with the right of the general public to enjoy the recreational value of Idaho’s deserts, mountains, rivers, streams, lakes, reservoirs, and other natural resources when the services of commercial outfitters and guides are not utilized…”
IWA believes again, that in the case of waterfowl, due to the high non-outfitted demand and limited access, it is impossible for outfitted waterfowl hunting to not interfere with non-outfitted hunting.
During the Advisory Group meetings the outfitter representatives also insisted that if outfitting was only allowed on private land that this would include the public waterway either surrounded or bordered by the private land. This would impact public waterway hunters significantly and is unacceptable to the IWA.
As one can see, the impacts to the general public, or Average Joe goes on and on and the IWA, other agencies, and sportsmen’s groups feel that the negatives outweigh any benefit of allowing guiding for waterfowl.
One item that needs to be cleared up and apparently is causing some confusion is that there currently are four (4) grandfathered licensed outfitters for waterfowl in the State. All four of those outfitters are in East Idaho. Only one of those outfitters is permitted to guide for waterfowl on Public Lands/water. The others are only permitted to guide for waterfowl on private land/water. The permitted outfitters for waterfowl are:
Black Dog Outfitter, INC.
Henry’s Fork Anglers LLC
Teton Valley Lodge, INC
Three Rivers Ranch
IDAHOMAN: I can see some landowners push back on your stance, as they might argue that they want all the options available to them to do what they want with their land, including profiting from waterfowl outfitting. What would be your response? And do you hear this argument from landowners?
Answer IWA: This is one of the biggest responses to the issue of guiding for waterfowl on private lands. Some individuals that are pro-guiding say that denying outfitting/guiding for waterfowl on private lands takes away a person’s private property rights. One has to remember that waterfowl are migratory birds and are governed under the Migratory Bird Treaty and the Idaho Fish and Game has responsibility to manage these species. Also, one has to remember, that under the OGLB’s own rules and regulations, Outfitting and Guiding are a privilege. This is discussed in the response to the question above. The OGLB and IDFG both agree that this is a privilege and not a right, as described in their joint MOU in the question above.
Due to the nature of waterfowl being migratory and having particular patterns there are issues that arise when guides and outfitters have access to private land. The incentive to make money causes outfitters to change traditional farming practices which changes bird feeding and flight patterns. This also causes waterfowl to congregate in large numbers where they normally would not and be more susceptible to disease. In an area like Idaho where the waterfowl habitat is concentrated and limited, this causes concern. Changed flight and feeding patterns have already been seen and caused by hunting clubs in Southern Idaho.
Once again, the IWA takes the stance that there is a myriad of options available for the private land owner to make money off of their private land. But, by tying up land that is/was once accessible to the general public by allowing an individual to use it only for outfitting and/or guiding takes it out of the availability base for the general public to use.
IWA also reminds the readers of this. The IWA continues to state that there has been ‘No Demonstrated” need by the public or existing outfitters for further expansion of the existing
outfitting/guiding activities in Idaho. In fact, the OGLB’s own policies for determining if a license to outfit or guide for a particular activity is warranted is based on a demonstrated need.
To quote the OGLB’s policies, “It is Board policy that 'public need' will be determined through quantitative and qualitative analysis of objective information. Ordinarily this information will be obtained from other agencies, industry representatives, the outfitted public and the public at large often through collaborative efforts.” (Web Discussion on Waterfowl Guiding in Idaho)
The IWA and other sportsmen’s groups continually ask for, and to date have not received, any information to show a public need as required by the OGLB’s own policies, let alone a quantitative or qualitative analysis of any such information provided by the OGLB.
As of the posting of this part of the series on guiding for waterfowl, we have not heard anything from any private land owners on this other than comments made during the Advisory Groups meetings from Wally Butler (Range Conservationist for the Idaho Farm Bureau) and Mike Reggear – (Clearwater Management Council), both of whom served on the Advisory Board. But, during these meetings, it was made clear by Wally Butler that none of the discussions about guiding for waterfowl had been discussed with any land owners, as he did not feel that there was enough information to provide to them. The same statement was made by the Outfitters Representative, Mike Lawson.
Now that the Idaho Farm Bureau, OGLB, and the F&G have sent out and received comments and results back from the private land owner’s survey, the IWA, and we are sure other groups and individuals are anxious to see what those results will be. The one problem with the survey, if it was sent out as recommended by the OGLB, and as documented in their August 25-26 Board Meeting, they only targeted private land owners who can target guiding for waterfowl and turkey in prime hunting areas ( http://oglb.idaho.gov/pdf/minutes/2011-08%20MINUTES%20FINAL_12-5-2011%201205083554.pdf), instead of the 20,000+ private land owner base that the Idaho Farm Bureau has. The OGLB hoped to get a return of at least 350 responses. How many they received is unknown as of this posting.
The IWA’s initial feeling on this is that the survey is biased towards land owners who already lease out their property for waterfowl hunting and it skews the reliability of the survey, but the final results will have to be seen first before the IWA has a formal position on this survey.
A copy of the private land owner survey can be found at: (http://www.surveymonkey.com/IdahoLandownerSurvey)
