Not only is the Idaho Senate Minority Leader, Clint Stennett, spreading poor information that has no scientific or accountable fact but he is also hypocritical in statements he made in a letter sent to his constituency. On March 27, 2007, state senator Clint Stennett mailed a letter addressed to “Friends and Neighbors”. This is how the letter began. (You can download and read the entire letter by clicking this link – pdf)

As the 2007 session ends, I would like to thank those of you who have contacted me throughout the session. I
continue to learn from your advice, support and criticism- all crucial to represent you well here in the Senate. This session marks my 17th year in the legislature. Throughout my service, I have seen tremendous growth in Idaho – not all positive. Take a look around our communities. It is happening right under our noses: Life as we know it in Idaho is slowly eroding away.
Our wide open spaces, clean air and water threatened. Traditional Idaho families that once could live on one income are now struggling to keep their heads above water even with both parents working. I see an economic trend in our government policies that are lining the pockets of multi-national corporations with no regard for how those policies may cut holes in the pockets of average Idahoans. At times, I witness public officials completely disregard the voices of their constituency and listen to only those with the largest checkbook. Hence, I am always guided by three principles: protect Idaho’s way of life, stand up for the middle class and create more responsive and responsible government. With this in mind, I would like to take this opportunity to update you on some of the key issues we addressed this session.

What a wonderful opening statement. The problem is he doesn’t mean what he just said. If he did, he wouldn’t have continued by telling his friends and neighbors about legislation that he voted for and/or sponsored that would force Idaho residents out of their homes and businesses. Read more of what a great job he’s telling everyone he’s doing.

I supported legislation this year to help protect our wild elk herds and hunting heritage. When elk are penned up
and fed like cattle, the risk of contracting diseases such as chronic wasting disease (CWD), brucellosis, tuberculosis or giant
liver fluke, increases dramatically. When farm-raised elk escape into the wild, our wild herd is then threatened with these
diseases. Further, some elk farms permit people to pay thousands of dollars to walk into a fenced area and shoot the bull of
their choice. This is not hunting; it is a guaranteed and glorified kill. Senate Bill 1073 would have outlawed “shooter-bull”
operations. Senate Bill 1072 would have required double fencing to prevent escape. Senate Blll 1007 would have placed a 5-
year moratorium on additional elk farms to help reduce the threat. A strong industry lobby helped defeat these bills. Passed by
the Senate but defeated in the House, Senate Bill l074 would have created stricter penalties and required licensing of these
facilities. Some sportsmen groups are very upset with this legislative inaction, and there is talk about a citizens initiative to
regulate this relatively new industry.

The legislation that Sen. Stennett supported this session would not have protected the wild herds nor does it have anything to do with hunting heritage. The wild elk herds do not need protecting from a clean industry that has never had any of the above diseases he mentions. The wild elk herd needs protecting from the spread of these diseases from neighboring states, yet Stennett and others are doing relatively nothing to ward that off. Instead, he and others want to focus their attention on stripping Idaho residents from their rights as Americans to prosper. How is that looking out for the citizens of Idaho?

Stennett speaks of seeing the traditional way of life eroding in front of his nose, that’s because he is the one eroding it. He doesn’t support the traditional way of life in Idaho. If he did, he would be doing all that he could to ensure that these people who are trying to make a living, get the proper tools and support. This industry is beneficial to the state of Idaho. The reality is that this industry faces the biggest threat, outside that of humans, from contracting diseases from wild animals. The state does very little testing and today aren’t 100% sure there is no CWD in Idaho. The elk industry can say that it is.

During my recent trip to Idaho, I learned that the majority of these elk ranchers are raising elk to supplement their incomes. Stennet speaks of seeing Idahoans have to take second jobs in order to make ends meet. What, he doesn’t consider raising elk a second job? Or is it that he finds no social worth from people who would raise elk?

Stennett doesn’t support the traditional Idahoan. If he did, he wouldn’t be talking about forcing elk ranchers to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to put up unnecessary double fencing. This fencing, I learned, costs anywhere from $20,000 – $50,000 a mile, depending on terrain and choice of materials. Some ranches easily exceed 10 miles of fencing. I believe Stennett knows this and also realizes a requirement of double fencing would force most ranchers out of business – his ultimate goal. He’s not for Idaho traditional families and values.

Stennett boasts that his sponsorship of bills would have protected hunting heritage. This is not true. There is absolutely nothing in any of these bills that addresses hunting heritage. He thinks it does because he believes he can legislate an individual’s ethics. He says that when a person goes onto an elk ranch and harvests an elk, it isn’t hunting. That’s fine. He can call it whatever he choses to call it but the truth is he knows nothing about the rights of individuals or the greater good that many of these ranchers are doing in providing more opportunities for people to be able to buy meat and feed their families. I doubt he knows anything about handicap people being able to participate in a hunt where other opportunities are impossible. I’m curious to know if he knows how cattle are processed before he eats it for dinner?

It is the right of a landowner and business owner to harvest and process his animals as he sees fit within the law. If an elk rancher wants to offer his customers the chance to kill their own meat, like they do with cattle, then he should be able to do that. I won’t call it hunting in the traditional sense, nor would Mr. Stennett but does that mean we need to outlaw it?

If Stennett were truly interested in hunting heritage, he would be working against such groups as PETA, HSUS, Defenders of Wildlife and Friends of Animals, that all want hunting stopped completely, not just in shooter-bull operations. What legislation has he sponsored that would protect hunting as a right of Idahoans? If he were interested in hunting heritage, he would be sponsoring legislation that would further reduce the influence of wolves that threaten our investments in game management like deer, elk and moose. Legislation for improving habitat for wildlife, finding better winter supplemental feeding programs and seeking to find ways of generating interest in hunting for our younger people, would help preserve hunting heritage. That’s the future of our hunting heritage not harassing a handful of hard working ranchers, who run a disease-free business and are only trying to better themselves.

If Stennett is concerned about the image of hunting, what is he doing about poaching, hunting and alcohol/drugs and land trespass issues? These are legitimate issues that put a blithe on the image of hunting not the innocent elk rancher, who is a traditional Idahoan in which Stennett refers to.

He tells his people that “some sportsmen” are upset about this “inaction”. He wants to make sure that he emphasizes some because it is very few. The only real sportsmen who are opposed to the elk industry, including hunting on ranches, are the special interest groups who believe they have the right to legislate ethics. Scattered within these small groups are individuals hiding under the title of sportsmen, when in actuality they have done nothing for sportsmen and everything against them. They are far and few between.

Stennett’s hypocrisy needs to be revealed. He is attempting to convince his constituency that he is fighting for the traditional lifestyle of Idaho citizens yet reveals in his own words in his own letter, that he is not interested in these same values. He speaks of other politicians more focused on who has the fattest checkbook. What’s his focus? Getting reelected? Promoting his personal agendas or actually protecting Idaho residents?

I would challenge Mr. Stennett to take heed of his own words; words he say are his creed.

protect Idaho’s way of life, stand up for the middle class and create more responsive and responsible government.

He can protect Idaho’s way of life by working to help the elk ranchers and not teaming up with anti-American, anti-Idaho groups that have no interest in Idaho, its economics or its people. I would have to ask under what class elk ranchers would fall under in his estimation?

The best way to provide for a more responsive and responsible government is to work to help the industry and its people, stop spreading misinformation born of ignorance and bias to the people. That should be the first step toward responsible government.

Tom Remington

Related Posts