Advisory Committee refuses Indiana DNR

[jackrabbit]

Most of you already know the results of Thursday April 22nd's Joint advisory committee meeting. for those of you who havent heard the committee resoundingly sent the dog training issue back to IDNR and refused to advance it on to the Natural Resource Commission. The reasons for not advancing the issue were many, but seemed to focus on the fact that our dog training areas already make up less than 3% of our state lands, and that no other user is denied access to the areas we use.
Lack of scientific data was a large factor, as was the need for our youth to have access to state land when school is out. This is all good news for us, but dont think for a moment its the end of it. Our IDNR's division of Fish and Wildlife seems bound and determined to make these changes. You can plan on other meetings and somewhere, maybe soon, IDNR could advance the dog training issue to the NRC without the committee's recommendation. Its the hope of the Alliance that we have proven strong enough to ward off further attemps, and that Fish and Wildlife will hobble away licking its wounds having learned that the sportsmen and women of Indiana know how to organize and how to get their facts across. As could be expected our favorite IDHA member was there to support IDNR position of closing our dog training areas. He seems to think that because we were not talking about the needs of the resource that we are not concerned about them, or should i maybe state this a little diffeerant here. He felt that I was only pushing our greedy needs and didnt care about the needs of the resource. Thankfully the committee was listening to the beagler and the supporters.I will be in touch with Fish and Wildlife, and Deputy Director John Davis in the next few days. The tone of my conversations will be "Gee guys dont you think its time to leave the beagle/dog training issue alone"

Fish and Wildlife seems to be concerned with the fellows at Atterbury not getting out of their trucks while the dogs are lose and working. and though i probably dont see the problem....... I would ask you fellows at Attterbury to at least follow the dogs into the field. Heck guys, take a lawn chair if you need to get out of sight of the road. And before you say its not their business where you sit or stand, just remember if we dont police ourselves IDNR will do it for us. When IDNR does it none of us will like it.

IDNR wants to make dog training areas on the state lands that we do not have running restrictions on now such as Reservoirs, State forrests, Parks, and other areas. I know this is a sticky subject also. Again if we dont find some places to be flexible, our interferring with other hunting seasons will take precadence over our dog training which is considered a secondary use by even the feds. We may need to swallow some of our pride and accept some changes in order not to lose it all. i am asking at this point that you just keep an open mind and lets keep our other hunting seasons in mind also.

jack.