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05-14-2003, 05:31 AM
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Good Fences: A bill pending in the Legislature would dramatically loosen the limits on how landowners who have high-fenced their land can manage whitetail deer on their land. A typical 8-foot deer-proof fence like this costs $12,000 a mile to build.
Deer 'privatization' bill still being considered in committee
By LEE LESCHPER
lleschper@amarillonet.com
A Texas bill still in Senate committee would create dramatically more lenient deer management rules for landowners with high-fenced land.
Senate Bill 3 and its companion bill in the House, HB 3599, would authorize Texas Parks & Wildlife Department to issue deer permits allowing different management activities and different levels of permits.
The original bill specifically listed high-fenced property as the mechanism and definition for qualifying for what amounts to an exemption from any state deer regulations, including seasons and bag limits.
The newest version of the bill no longer specifies fencing, but says that landowners receiving more freedom in managing deer on their land must prevent their management practices from affecting their neighbors.
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Hunting Trophies: Big whitetail bucks like these are worth big bucks in the hunting economy, driving support from landowners for more liberal rules for high-fenced ranches.
Courtesy Photo
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That is, prevent deer from traveling back and forth between adjoining properties.
Short of a deep moat, I don't know of another tool for preventing deer movement besides a tall fence.
Opponents say the bill would change the status of whitetail deer from game animals to livestock.
SB 3 ends with "...the general laws and regulations of this state applicable to white-tailed deer do not apply to deer on the acreage covered by this permit."
That would seem to be the legal jump to privatization - turning public deer into private property.
High-fence advocates, led by the Texas Deer Association, want to eliminate all Texas Parks and Wildlife involvement with wildlife management, or more specifically, deer management behind high fences.
The department's long-standing trend of more flexible seasons and bag limits for landowners has come with a caveat, that the landowner have a habitat management program approved by a TPW biologist.
And it seems a fair exchange - get a lot more liberal regulations than the average consumer, in exchange for getting TPW approval for a formal management plan. If you've got a good plan, what's the problem?
Well, some landowners don't want government, any government, even in the form of a state biologist, telling them what to do.
And this independent outlook is especially manifested among deer ranchers.
Some "deer farms," have hundreds of whitetails crammed into relatively small enclosures, maintained only by supplemental feeding. A feedlot is a feedlot, whether it's cows or whitetails inside the fence.
The bill would take TPW out of the process, except for approving the applications.
Then any certified biologist would approve the plan, but there would be no specifics on what the plan must include, or not include. Habitat management is not included anywhere in the language of the bill.
This harkens back to the age-old issue of how you manage a public resource - wildlife including whitetail deer - on private land. And does that require creating a different standard of care - as this bill would do - for those with high fences.
Because the bill keeps being reworked, the final language is hard to pin down. But among additional items being discussed are elimination of the requirement to tag harvested deer; elimination of any closed season on high-fenced property; unrestricted transplanting of deer; and stripping TPW of any authority to regulate deer harvest on high-fenced property.
Now TPW isn't perfect by any stretch. But they are the guardians of natural resources in Texas. And that includes wild resources like whitetail deer, even if those deer live behind a fence.
The bill was to have been voted out of committee last Tuesday. But there was so much heated debate, which ran into the wee hours and apparently took the senators aback, that the vote was postponed until this Tuesday May 12.
Now most legislation never makes it out of committee, which is probably the salvation of our state.
But there's a strong and organized lobby working to push this bill through.
If you believe that all Texas landowners and hunters should play by the same rules, tell your elected officials you're opposed to this legislation.
You can find the phone numbers for your senator and state representative online at www.capitol.state.tx.us.
You can also contact the committee chairmen:
n The Honorable Ken Armbrister, Chairman, Senate Natural Resources Committee, Texas Senate
e-mail: kenneth.armbrister@senate.state.tx.us
Phone: (512) 463-0118
Fax: (512) 475-3736
n The Honorable Edmund Kuempel, Texas House of Representatives
e-mail: edmund.kuempel@house.state.tx.us
Phone: (512) 463-0602
Fax: (512) 463-5896
n The Honorable Harvey Hilderbran, Chairman, State Cultural and Recreational Resources Committee, Texas House of Representatives
e-mail: harvey.hilderbran@house.state.tx.us
Phone: (512) 463-0536
Fax: (512) 463-1449
Lee Leschper is an Amarillo outdoor writer, outdoor editor of the Amarillo Globe-News and executive director of the Texas Outdoor Writers Association.
Good Fences: A bill pending in the Legislature would dramatically loosen the limits on how landowners who have high-fenced their land can manage whitetail deer on their land. A typical 8-foot deer-proof fence like this costs $12,000 a mile to build.
Deer 'privatization' bill still being considered in committee
By LEE LESCHPER
lleschper@amarillonet.com
A Texas bill still in Senate committee would create dramatically more lenient deer management rules for landowners with high-fenced land.
Senate Bill 3 and its companion bill in the House, HB 3599, would authorize Texas Parks & Wildlife Department to issue deer permits allowing different management activities and different levels of permits.
The original bill specifically listed high-fenced property as the mechanism and definition for qualifying for what amounts to an exemption from any state deer regulations, including seasons and bag limits.
The newest version of the bill no longer specifies fencing, but says that landowners receiving more freedom in managing deer on their land must prevent their management practices from affecting their neighbors.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hunting Trophies: Big whitetail bucks like these are worth big bucks in the hunting economy, driving support from landowners for more liberal rules for high-fenced ranches.
Courtesy Photo
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That is, prevent deer from traveling back and forth between adjoining properties.
Short of a deep moat, I don't know of another tool for preventing deer movement besides a tall fence.
Opponents say the bill would change the status of whitetail deer from game animals to livestock.
SB 3 ends with "...the general laws and regulations of this state applicable to white-tailed deer do not apply to deer on the acreage covered by this permit."
That would seem to be the legal jump to privatization - turning public deer into private property.
High-fence advocates, led by the Texas Deer Association, want to eliminate all Texas Parks and Wildlife involvement with wildlife management, or more specifically, deer management behind high fences.
The department's long-standing trend of more flexible seasons and bag limits for landowners has come with a caveat, that the landowner have a habitat management program approved by a TPW biologist.
And it seems a fair exchange - get a lot more liberal regulations than the average consumer, in exchange for getting TPW approval for a formal management plan. If you've got a good plan, what's the problem?
Well, some landowners don't want government, any government, even in the form of a state biologist, telling them what to do.
And this independent outlook is especially manifested among deer ranchers.
Some "deer farms," have hundreds of whitetails crammed into relatively small enclosures, maintained only by supplemental feeding. A feedlot is a feedlot, whether it's cows or whitetails inside the fence.
The bill would take TPW out of the process, except for approving the applications.
Then any certified biologist would approve the plan, but there would be no specifics on what the plan must include, or not include. Habitat management is not included anywhere in the language of the bill.
This harkens back to the age-old issue of how you manage a public resource - wildlife including whitetail deer - on private land. And does that require creating a different standard of care - as this bill would do - for those with high fences.
Because the bill keeps being reworked, the final language is hard to pin down. But among additional items being discussed are elimination of the requirement to tag harvested deer; elimination of any closed season on high-fenced property; unrestricted transplanting of deer; and stripping TPW of any authority to regulate deer harvest on high-fenced property.
Now TPW isn't perfect by any stretch. But they are the guardians of natural resources in Texas. And that includes wild resources like whitetail deer, even if those deer live behind a fence.
The bill was to have been voted out of committee last Tuesday. But there was so much heated debate, which ran into the wee hours and apparently took the senators aback, that the vote was postponed until this Tuesday May 12.
Now most legislation never makes it out of committee, which is probably the salvation of our state.
But there's a strong and organized lobby working to push this bill through.
If you believe that all Texas landowners and hunters should play by the same rules, tell your elected officials you're opposed to this legislation.
You can find the phone numbers for your senator and state representative online at www.capitol.state.tx.us.
You can also contact the committee chairmen:
n The Honorable Ken Armbrister, Chairman, Senate Natural Resources Committee, Texas Senate
e-mail: kenneth.armbrister@senate.state.tx.us
Phone: (512) 463-0118
Fax: (512) 475-3736
n The Honorable Edmund Kuempel, Texas House of Representatives
e-mail: edmund.kuempel@house.state.tx.us
Phone: (512) 463-0602
Fax: (512) 463-5896
n The Honorable Harvey Hilderbran, Chairman, State Cultural and Recreational Resources Committee, Texas House of Representatives
e-mail: harvey.hilderbran@house.state.tx.us
Phone: (512) 463-0536
Fax: (512) 463-1449
Lee Leschper is an Amarillo outdoor writer, outdoor editor of the Amarillo Globe-News and executive director of the Texas Outdoor Writers Association.