Letter: Candidates: Be specific on hunting, conservation

By Jack D. Jones - 09/10/2008

The campaigns have been quiet on the role gun owners and fishermen play in wildlife conservation efforts. The Pittman-Robertson and Dingell-Johnson acts permit the collection of funds through federal excise taxes on hunting and fishing equipment. These funds are passed on to states to be used for on-the-ground fish and wildlife restoration projects.

Federal funding under PR pays for up to 75 percent of project costs with the states putting up at least 25 percent. The PR Act was signed into law Sept. 2, 1937, and in more than 50 years since it began, more than $2 billion in federal excise taxes have been matched by more than $500 million in state funds.

Numerous species have rebuilt their populations and extended their ranges beyond what they were in the 1930s in Montana including elk, wild sheep, pronghorn antelope, Canada geese, wood ducks, wild turkey and predatory birds. More than 62 percent of these funds are used to buy, develop and maintain wildlife management areas and for wildlife/fisheries research and surveys. The funding was extended in the early 1970s to include handguns and archery equipment.

These earmarked funds are administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and can be used only for the specific purpose described in the laws. Violations on the use of PR/DJ funds by the fish and wildlife service resulted in public outcry and a Congressional investigation in 1999. Funds earmarked were being used for slush accounts, bonuses, foreign travel and alcohol.

As a result bipartisan legislation with H.R. 3671 was introduced on Feb. 16, 2000, to amend the PR/DJ acts so that the abuses uncovered then cannot happen in the future.

Hunting, fishing and other recrea-tional pursuits such as sport shooting using firearms are American traditions. Politicians running for office must be more specific on their support for firearm and ammunition purchases and need to expand hunting opportunities.

I wonder if these same politicians are familiar with these laws and the benefits achieved. I prefer that these same politicians are sportspeople engaged in these activities. It's important that we ask these candidates what specifically they will do to assure the purchase of firearms and ammunition continues with no unnecessary hurdles. A simple answer, "I support gun ownership," won't do it.

Jack D. Jones 3014 Irene St.

Butte