(Raine also served a 2010/11 term as Chairman of the
Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners.)
Press
Release AP 2009
Eurekan Scott Raine elected Vice Chairman of the Nevada Board of
Wildlife Commissioners
The
nine-member Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners held their
yearly elections of officers on 14 August 2009 at a regularly
scheduled meeting in Elko Nevada. Gerald Lent of Reno was
re-elected as Chairman of the Commission, and Scott Raine of
Eureka was elected as Vice-Chairman, replacing former Las Vegas
mayor Ron Lurie.
The
nine-member, governor-appointed Nevada Board of Wildlife
Commissioners is responsible for establishing broad policy,
setting annual and permanent regulations, reviewing budgets, and
receiving input on wildlife and boating matters from entities
such as the seventeen county wildlife management advisory
boards.
Prior to 1969,
each County had one representative on what was then a 17-member
Commission. In 1969, the legislature changed the makeup of
the Commission from 17 to 9 members. In following years, the
Commission changed from 9 to 7, then in 1989 changed back to its
current nine members.
Until
Vice-Chairman Scott Raine, was appointed to the commission in
2007, Eureka County had no members on the Nevada Board of
Wildlife Commissioners during the 40 years since the elimination
of the 'one Commissioner per county' rule.
"Changing the
status quo is a very difficult thing," said Vice Chairman Raine,
"however, despite resistance from a few individuals within the
Department and several very vocal members of the public with
political agendas hostile to the wildlife of Nevada, we have
made dramatic progress in making NDOW a far more public-friendly
organization."
Raine cited
several changes in regulations with that focus that have been
made over the past 2 years:
-
The return
of a tag for any reason, which eliminated NDOW's role as the
'excuse police' and now allows hunters to return tags up to
a generous deadline after the tag draw without stating a
reason while treating applicants with respect to bonus
points as if the applicant had been unsuccessful in the
draw. This regulation was first put into effect in the 2009
hunting season.
-
At the
August 2009 meeting, we passed a very hunter-friendly
regulation that will allow tag applicants to withdraw
erroneous applications and re-submit them if sent
electronically. It will also allow for the withdrawal of
electronic applications up to 7 days after the application
deadline, and allow for 'bonus-point-only' applications up
to 7 days after the regular application deadline. Hunt
applicants are valued customers, and must be treated
accordingly. In the past strict rules were punitive to our
customers, and did not serve any valid purpose.
-
The
Commission recently passed a regulation explicitly defining
the minimum requirements for harvesting meat from a carcass
replacing past rules that gave wide latitude to law
enforcement and led to the confusion of sportsmen.
-
One of the
most sportsman-friendly of recent regulation changes was the
implementation of the '48 hour' rule in 2009, which mandates
that the tentative results of the big game tag draw be
published on NDOW's website within 48 hours of the draw’s
taking place.
The one thing
that we have been unsuccessful in, but are increasing our focus
on, is the plummeting Mule Deer population in Nevada. The
Nevada Wildlife Action Plan states that the management concerns
for mule deer are:
Loss of wintering habitat in areas that are near burgeoning
urban areas. Cattle grazing results in loss of hiding cover for
fawns, possibly may increase rate of loss of fawns to predation
(Loft et al. 1987). On summer range in the Sierra Nevada in CA,
cattle evidently competed with deer, particularly at high
stocking rates and during a year of below-average precipitation;
adverse effects could be reduced by reducing or eliminating
cattle grazing during early summer on all or part of a grazing
allotment
"This is the
entire list of management concerns listed under the Nevada
Wildlife Action Plan, and this pack of outright
politically-motivated disinformation and disconnection with
reality basically summarizes why we have a mule deer population
problem in Nevada," states Raine. "While NDOW has many fine
biologists and personnel, the reason we have had a dramatic mule
deer decline in this State is because certain key elements in
the NDOW leadership truly believe the Action Plan and plans like
it. I have gone on record as stating many of these ‘plans’ are
'pseudoscientific trash'."
"NDOW needs
to come back to reality and focus on the management of the Mule
Deer as they truly are, not as the world of the 'politically
correct' (AKA people with no sense of reality) wants them to
be."
"The reality
of what is causing our mule deer decline is quite the opposite
of what the Action Plan states. The majority of Nevada's urban
growth is in Clark County, most of which is not Mule
Deer country. About 50% of our deer herd is in Elko County,
Nevada. If we do continue to reduce grazing, our range
conditions will continue to decrease to a point from which
our mule deer population will likely not recover to former
levels."
"What
do mule deer need to increase their population?
-
- Reduced
risk of getting their throat torn out by everything with
sharp teeth, AKA predation control.
-
Reduction
in wildfire intensity and damage to key forage through a
dramatic increase in well-managed, high intensity,
short-duration grazing on all public lands.
-
Broad
latitude to be given to ranchers for the maintenance of all
springs and seeps.
-
Elimination of doe hunting in all areas until dramatic
population growth occurs."
"I
ask all Nevadan's to stand with me and compel our bureaucracy to
back these changes for the betterment of all wildlife in
Nevada."