California Fish and Game Commission President Daniel Richards holds the puma he killed in Idaho
Posted on 03/01/2012 1:20:03 PM PST by SmithL
Democratic lawmakers may attempt to oust California Fish and Game Commission President Daniel Richards as early as next week following outrage over his legal killing of a mountain lion on a recent Idaho hunting trip.
Assembly Democrats on Wednesday were looking into the possibility of a legislative resolution that would remove him from the board, one day after Richards sent a letter to the Legislature, the governor and other state officials defiantly defending the killing, mocking critics for their outrage and saying that - contrary to beliefs that the shooting was purely a trophy kill - he did, in fact, eat mountain lion.
"Do you really think a California commissioner is actually obligated to follow California laws across these United States? Really?" Richards wrote on Fish and Game letterhead in a two-page correspondence. "Did I try to change California's laws subversively? Did I encourage anyone to circumvent our rules and regulations? ... While I respect our Fish and Game rules and regulations, my 100 percent legal activity outside California, or anyone else's for that matter, is none of your business."
Richards, a commercial Realtor and developer from Upland (San Bernardino County) who has been on the commission since then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed him in 2008, came under fire after a blog posted a photograph of him grinning as he holds up the dead mountain lion. The website, Western Outdoor News, quoted him saying, "I'm glad it's legal in Idaho."
Through a spokeswoman, he declined to comment Wednesday.
It is permissible to hunt the big cats in Idaho, but California has banned the practice since 1971, and voters have twice renewed the restriction in the years since. Richards told the blog that he shot the cougar with a .45-caliber rifle in January after spending eight hours on a $7,000 hunt...
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Dayum - nice kittie!
Can anybody make sense of the title of this post?
Article read of headline sense cougar none
What a load of crap. If he had been caught poaching its one thing but this is a ridiculous attempt to remove the man for a completely legal activity.
The simple fact is that hunters and sportsmen are the best possible people to have in these positions.
Ashton Kutcher ping...
I’m planning a black bear hunt in Maine next year. After that, it’s a cougar hunt. The state fish and game officers know their game populations and issue permits in a responsible and sustainable manner. There’s nothing wrong with filling those tags. Poaching of any kind but especially of endangered species, that’s another issue entirely of course but that is clearly not the case here. This is just another example of looney liberalism run amok in California.
Here is what all this is about.
“Escalating a battle between hunters and animal welfare groups — a conflict that could result in major changes to California’s endangered species and hunting policies — 40 Democratic state Assembly members Friday sent a letter to Dan Richards, president of the California Fish and Game Commission, demanding that he resign.”
(snip)
The controversy has prompted an outpouring of support for Richards from hunting and fishing groups, many of which see Richards as the most reliable vote for their issues.
(snip)
The stakes are high. The five-member commission not only decides which species to list as endangered, it also sets policies on everything from hunting to California’s new system of “marine protected areas,” which ban fishing in areas off the coast.
If Richards, who was appointed to the five-member commission by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, resigns or is removed from the panel, his replacement would be named by Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown. And that’s a move that for the first time could give the commission a majority of members who tend to support the priorities of environmental groups.
(snip)
“There’s a lot at stake,” said Jennifer Fearing, state director of the Humane Society of the United States.
Gaines, the hunting advocate, agreed.
“We’re very well aware that this is a key seat, as are the animal rights groups,” he said. “There’s only five votes, so if you get three, you win.”
http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_20041625?source=pkg
Some of the libtards are claiming that it was a “hunt of a ‘released’ cougar in a confined area.”
Anybody heard anything reliable on that?
The problem (well, a problem) with the Left is that they cannot allow you to escape their totalitarian grip on your throat by moving to another jursidiction.
US tax code on Americans working outside our borders seems to be analogous.
Just what part of legal killing do they not get?...........
There is a poll at the link, it badly needs Freeping.
The Libtards of Kalifornia think all of their inane laws are divine and must be adhered to in ALL states as they know better than the the citizens what is good for us.
According to these whacko’s we should just let them dictate all activities nationwide.
I got more information out of the article that was posted several days ago........
Folks we can easily turn this poll on it’s head. There’s only 2500 or so votes so far, and we’re trailing by 58 to 42%.
Lets defend this guy. It appears this is a move to remove him for political reasons.
Lets no let that happen.
No, it's BS
California has become a bigger lunatic asylum than New Jersey.
He shot it legally. So WHAT????
Demcorats are a public health menace. Don’t kill anything - regardless of its use to you as food or a threat to your personal safety AND live in the dark, the cold, the heat, without modern conveniences, exterminate the very young and the very old.
They are insane.
Maybe the end product of species mental development is species suicide and Democrats are a means to that end. The brain evolves only so far, then it implodes.
Democrats balance not killing predators with being comfortable with killing infants. Which seems more immoral, a cougar hunt or a partial birth abortion?
I am so sick and tired of anyone associated with government, fish and game oversight, or land management, that I made some unfortunate comments on the thread yesterday concerning this guy. If he was operating within the law, his critics should stuff it. I was wrong to criticize him.
Understanding that he may be the tipping point on his commission, it’s important he be supported.
Your initial take on things was much better than mine.
BTTT - Best description of what’s at stake.
I know what you mean about anyone associated with the government. They all are immediately suspect but not all are typical.
When it comes to fish and wildlife, they used to be pretty good folks for the most part but there has been a definite change. In Michigan it was when the DNR (Department of natural resources) began morphing into the DEQ (Department of environmental quality)
Lots of times I park outside the DEQ field office when I wander on the state land. One day I parked and started walking away when I heard another vehicle pull in. It was one of the older guys working out of that office. He never even looked at my truck. After he went in the building another much younger guy pulled in. He went right on over looked in the windows of my truck and even wrote down my license plate number.
LOL!
I read it and I agree. Thanks for the ping. I appreciate it.
Thanks for the comments. Doesn’t that frost you, what a person would do something like that.
I agree with your comments, and appreciate hearing what you had to say.
As the article states, the guy compared his hunt to those in California who go to Nevada to gamble. It would be interesting to see a “resolution” demanding removal of any California politician who has gone to Reno or Las Vegas. After all, it’s illegal in California to gamble and they are held to a higher standard (that’s what they are pushing so it’s time to push it right back).
Seems like a waste of a beautiful animal, but I understand the need to control the population.
I am not impressed with people who kill ONLY for the fun of it. Hunting for meat, I have no problem with that.
Do you eat beef?
Chicken?
Do you have a leather chair, belt or jacket? What about shoes?
I can go on....
Punctuation is our friend.
Nice car...
LOL!!!
Tell that to the Indian Tribes...!!!
That sums it all up.
And we will shoot a dog chasing cattle...if we don't know the dog. We know our neighbors..and they know us. We ALL know...if you have a dog that chases livestock...it's probably going to get shot eventually.
I actually go hunting coyotes, bobcats for fun. I'm not out to impress you, or anyone else.
Chicken & beef are meat. Wipe off your glasses.
I have no problem with a sustainable harvest of animals for productive purposes, not to include stuffed animals & cat’s paw ashtrays.
It’s the killing purely for fun that I have a problem with.
I do not object to killing neighborhood varmints of any species. I’ve done it myself, but take no pleasure in it.
I hunted as a young man, but 2 things ended my hunting:
1. Drunk hunters.
2. I decided the animal’s life is worth more than my entertainment.
I'm so glad you have no problems with "a sustainable harvest" of animals that you think are "for productive purposes". Shall I salute you comrade?
I decided to help the overall environment in my part of the country....
Too many coyotes, too many predators....over all....Decimating the quail, song bird, rabbit, prairie chicken, turkey, deer population.
Saving some prey animal's life...from a predator is worth it to me. I guess it's all how you look at things........
Here is how the typical deer hunt went 30 years ago:
Several hunters (all men, of course) gathered at the hunting camp the night before the hunt. We play poker all night & get drunk. Maybe 2 hours of sleep (stupor) before getting up long before dawn.
We walk (stagger) down a pitch dark dirt road to our shooting positions about 100 yards apart. Miles away, somebody lets loose the dogs. We wait, cold & hung over. Something moves in the bushes in front of us, & it sounds like World War III.
Everybody misses the deer, & curses. We load up in the truck to go home. But somebody fails to unload the Mauser, & it goes off in the truck, blowing a hole in the transmission. The walk is long & cold.
That was my last deer hunt. I don't think I ever saw a sober hunter. Not to disparage hunters, but that's the way they did it back in the day in my rural town. Everybody from the mayor to the police chief to the preacher hunted that way - drunk.
From Michigan, huh?
Nobody I know...hunts like that.
Oh we might have a beer after the hunt...but nothing and never like you have described.
My friends and I are sportsmen, and true hunters.
I've guided women and some young men on wild turkey hunts...with good success. No drinking happened.
I'm sorry to hear of your experiences....
Oh, dear - the guy in charge of hunting went hunting.
What’s next - the guy in charge of mass transit takes a bus ride?
Oh, the humanity!
I’ve never met anyone who hunts like that. Not one. You describe some liberal caricature of what they think hunters are. Apparently we have you and your friends to thank for that.
What’s happening in this case— with regard to the CA DFW— is something that I’ve seen happening here in WA, and in AZ too. It used to be that the people who got into hunting and fishing enforcement did so because they were -sportsmen- themselves. They loved the outdoors. They hunted and fished and wanted to preserve the resource and the stock of game for future generations to enjoy.
But now, starting even a couple of decades ago, the people getting jobs in game enforcement are anti-hunting, anti-fishing, animals rights activist types. Not only do they not hunt or fish but they don’t think -anyone- should be hunting or fishing.
Does not bode well.
Meant as sarcasm but not marked properly?
Hunting with hounds is a long and respected American tradition, it is hardly a “Canned Hunt”!
Do not allow yourself to fall prey to the lies and distortions of the PETA-tards!
A genuine “Canned Hunt” (A term invented by anti-hunters) would have only taken eight minutes.
He had Cougar steak for dinner, I wish he would send me some!
I’ve never had it.
I am told it’s pretty good eating, it should be, the big cats eat several deer a month.
He will need several more hides if he wants to make a coat.
He will probably put the hide on the wall, at $7K per hunt he probably is not wealthy enough to make a coat.
He should hunt them in Nevada, much less expensive and a shorter drive.
The truth is neither liberal nor conservative.
It is hard to believe you have NEVER witnessed a hunter drinking.
I am NOT AT ALL suggesting all hunters are drunk. I'm just saying that is the way it was in my home town 30 years ago, & I didn't care to be shot by a drunken fool.
I am NOT against hunting. Though I no longer hunt, I support your right to do so & I support the conservation methods of hunters.
The difference between me & a liberal is that I believe people have a right to do potentially dangerous things if they choose to. It is their business, not mine or the gubmint’s business. Whether I choose to participate is my own business.
Again, the animal's life is just worth more than my entertainment.
You can't eat cougar, can you? Nobody eats cats??? Recycled venison doesn't seem appetizing.
Seriously, the way this Obama economy is going, I may need this info badly in a few months. The neighbor has a large, well fed tabby that would fit purr-fectly on my grill.
A cougar skin coat brings to mind Willie Nelson or Elton John.
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