One of the difficulties for voters in dealing with a voter initiative is they are bombarded with lies. It makes the job of the voter that much more difficult in trying to make an assessment based upon information forced down their throats that’s misguided at best and intentional lying at worst.
There’s presently two groups that seem bent on destroying the elk industry in Idaho. What has never been clear is whether or not the general membership of these two groups share the same position as the small number that seem to be making the most noise. These two groups are the Idaho Wildlife Federation and the Idaho Sportsman Caucus Advisory Council.
Both these organizations, either directly or indirectly, initiated anti-elk ranching bills before the Idaho Legislature this last session. All of those bills were rejected in one way or another by the legislature with all but one getting shot down in committee. Even before the bills were presented to committee, both these groups were threatening a citizen’s initiative that would let the voters decide whether or not elk ranching and/or hunting on elk ranches should be allowed or not.
There has been some talk. Recently, Kent Marlor president of the Idaho Wildlife Federation, said in an interview that the ISCAC was planning an initiative and that IWF was listening to what they had to say to see if they were going to join in. There has been no official word as to whether an initiative has been or is being written. If so, any group or individual would have until next April to secure approximately 60,000 legal signatures on a petition.
But this hasn’t stopped the war of words. In today’s Idaho Mountain Express, an editorial there is encouraging an initiative. What is unfortunate is the editorial is filled with bad information, scare tactics and outright lies.
The opening statement is bizarre and very insulting to members of the senate committee who sat and listened to testimony and collected information to make their decisions. It is also a direct slap in the face to those who worked tirelessly to put together scientific information.
Once again, an issue that begged for courage and wisdom of the Idaho Legislature was ducked by lawmakers whose reasoning is poisoned by narrow special interests at a cost to the public good.
In actuality, the public should be thanking their legislators for making decisions that were derived from gathering facts and getting to the truth in this debate about elk ranching. Those that oppose elk ranching have only one leg to stand on and that is to try everything they can to scare the public into believing their lives and the welfare of Idaho’s wildlife are in peril should elk ranching continue. None of their arguments stand up under the scrutiny of science and facts.
What the legislature did was intelligently put aside the unfounded scare tactics used and realized all of the bills put before them were bogus.
The editorialist resorts to further scare tactics. Notice the subtle use of words that while inaccurate, can sway a reader to believe something other than truth.
The issue is not frivolous. Last August, 160 penned elk escaped from a so-called “shooter bull†operation in eastern Idaho, spreading fear that some of the animals may be diseased or genetic hybrids that could contaminate Idaho’s wild herds. Then-Gov. Jim Risch ordered an immediate shoot-to-kill hunt. Some 43 were killed; some were captured; others fled.
The truth is, we don’t know how many elk actually got out of Rex Rammell’s ranch near Rexburg last August. Some reports said “as many as 160″ and others had it as few as 60. The slaughter that was lead by Gov. Jim Risch and the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, was done in an attempt to scare the citizens of Idaho into believing that elk ranching is some evil, dangerous practice that threatens them and will destroy wild elk.
Why doesn’t the author tell the complete story? Why don’t they tell their readers that none of the escaped elk that were illegally shot and killed tested positive to any disease? Why didn’t the writer tell the readers that there never has been any domestic elk in Idaho that has tested positive to disease? Why didn’t the writer tell the readers that the Idaho Department of Fish and Game doesn’t test their elk nor can they tell us that wild ungulates there are disease free?
Why didn’t the writer tell the readers that none of the tested elk showed any genetic impurities? Why didn’t the writer tell the readers how the elk the ranchers own are bought and sold and where they come from? All these questions deserve an answer but you won’t get it from editorials like this one because their not after the truth. These editorials are prompted by either personal agendas or selling copies.
The editor then tells of who is behind this initiative (IWF and ISCAC) and adds this little tidbit at the end of the paragraph.
groups that know something of hunting and the peril of elk ranches
I have no idea how much any of the individuals who are waging this senseless battle know about hunting which is really quite irrelevant in this issue. The only aspect of this issue that involves hunting is the one of ethics. ISCAC claims to have nearly 20,000 members from numerous outdoor and sporting organizations under their umbrella. We know that figure is inaccurate because many of the members belong to more than one sporting group. But if there were 20,000 members, I guarantee there would be 20,000 different views on hunting ethics. That’s because it is an individual thing. It’s not something that can or should be regulated by law. Once you start drawing lines of hunting ethics, where do you stop and more importantly, who gets to decided where to draw the line?
What these people know about hunting, I don’t know but I can tell you they know nothing about the “peril of elk ranches” as the writer states.
The writer laments of the Idaho Elk Breeders Association’s assertion that this is an infringement on their property rights claiming it to be:
a wearisome old red herring to fend off legislative remedies—that their property rights were more important than reining in the threat of disease occurring in their herds.
What doesn’t this person not understand? There is NO disease in the domestic elk herds. Is there any in the wild ones?
Finally, the author makes one more attempt at driving home fear into the readers.
The possibility that diseased animals could cause an epidemic in wild elk herds as well as other animals is a far more compelling reason for action to shut down or rigorously regulate elk farms.
This is so ridiculous. We have listened to this lame argument for months now from individuals representing groups and from the IDFG and some politicians, yet they have no interest in focusing their attention on where any real threat might come from. Many people fear chronic wasting disease. We are all familiar with it and what it can do to our wildlife and related economics. The disease is present in some states surrounding Idaho.
What are these people and organizations doing to help stop the disease from getting into the state by crossing the boarders naturally? What can be done to stop that? Isn’t this where chronic wasting disease will come from?
What is also an interesting and inaccurate bit of information that is spread throughout the media and through groups like IWF and ISCAC and IDFG is that chronic wasting disease begins and is spread through penned up animals like elk. The truth is we don’t know for sure from where it starts. Consensus says that when animals congregate in numbers, they can spread any contagious disease more easily. This makes elk a bit more susceptible because they are a herding breed.
The chances of the disease showing up first on an elk ranch somewhere in Idaho is far greater than finding it in the wild but not for the reasons most people think. Look at the logic here. All Idaho elk ranches are regularly inspected and tested. All elk that are slaughtered are tested for disease, including chronic wasting disease. IDFG doesn’t not test wild elk on a regular basis. It’s not clear if they do at all and if so how much. For this simple reason alone, don’t you think disease would be found where it was tested for?
Presently, elk behind fences are the safest animals from contracting disease that there are in Idaho, yet these groups are fighting it. While scientists continue their work to try to better understand chronic wasting disease, we all have to be responsible and deal in facts backed by science and cease with trying to scare the hell out of people in order to further personal agendas.
Tom Remington
