There's a new non-profit in Minnesota, duly registered with the Minnesota Secretary of State's office: Hunters for Hunters. I've been curious about its sudden rise--and now, whether it's connected to a mid-March story in the Salt Lake Tribune, Lawmakers spend $500,000 to recruit out-of-state hunters for Utah’s war on wolves; Hunter Nation, based in Kansas, to get $500,000 to rally Midwestern hunters to the delisting cause.
Brian Maffly reported:
Before you roll your eyes at the specter of the Utah Legislature dolling out more money to campaign against wolves, Keith Mark wants you to give him a chance.
The founder and president of the Kansas-based Hunter Nation Inc. will soon be spending $500,000 of Utah taxpayer money to educate Midwestern hunters on the alleged evils of protecting the gray wolf under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
“There’s some people that believe that if you just do nothing, that [wild] animals somehow miraculously manage themselves,” Mark, who describes himself as a lifelong Democrat, said in a recent phone interview. “There’s nothing magical about how wolves manage themselves. They kill and they breed. And if we don’t manage them, they’re going to kill more, continue to breed and then there will be no elk, no moose, no bighorn [sheep].”
Mark said his group will use Utah’s money to rally hunters in Wisconsin, Minnesota and other Midwestern states where wolves still roam wild to get more politically engaged, especially on the issue of “predator management.” The ultimate goal is to convince Congress to, yet again, pass legislation delisting wolves nationwide.
Thanks to the successful wolf reintroduction in the Yellowstone region, the gray wolf is no longer listed in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, where they can be lawfully hunted. . . .
Jeepers. The Utah state legislature did end up funding Hunter Outreach, This funding provides $500,000 one-time for Hunter Nation, according to its website.
The Salt Lake Tribune article turned up in a Google search when I grew curious after watching this video on Hunters For Hunters Facebook page:
Sharing the video on his deer farm's Facebook page, Hunters for Hunters board member Steve Porter led with this headnote:
Don Peay, MN Senator Nathan Wesenberg, and the board of H4H just had an awesome one hour meeting on how Don and his team were able to get the wolves delisted out west. We now have friends in high places who do have a blueprint.
In the video, Peay mentions Hunter Nation and Keith Mark as models.
Peay and Mark both appear down column in the Salt Lake Tribune's Lawmakers spend $500,000 to recruit out-of-state hunters for Utah’s war on wolves; Hunter Nation, based in Kansas, to get $500,000 to rally Midwestern hunters to the delisting cause:
Appearing before a legislative committee on behalf of Hunter Nation last month was none other than conservative political activist Don Peay, Utah’s leading advocate for big game hunting.
Peay cofounded the two Utah groups that received previous anti-wolf appropriations, first to Sportsman for Fish and Wildlife, then later to a spinoff political outfit called Big Game Forever (BGF). Over these years, the gray wolf has teeter-tottered on and off the endangered list, depending on which party was in control of the levers of power. . . .
Peay’s latest remedy is to recruit Midwestern hunters to support congressional action delisting wolves. Such legislation has been introduced by Wisconsin Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D) and Ron Johnson (R), but the bill targets only the upper Midwestern states for delisting.
“If we can convince the Wisconsin hunters to ask [Baldwin] it’s all the West or no deal, then she can help put Utah on that,” Peay said. “This money will help us go into Wisconsin to get the hunters to make sure that their senators know that Utah’s gotta be a part of the deal.”
Hunter Nation is registered as a 501(c)4 nonprofit, which is allowed to engage in political activity.
While Peay claimed to “represent” Hunter Nation at the Legislature, Mark emphasized that he is no longer an officer with his group.
“Don is one of the most knowledgeable people in the country when it comes to wildlife conservation, especially predator management,” Mark said in an email. “His expertise has been quite valuable to Hunter Nation in the past.”
He promised Utah’s money won’t be wasted and he will be transparent with how it’s spent. In contrast, Big Game Forever has never disclosed how it spends its state grants and is litigating a long-running fight against Utah journalist Eric Peterson to keep him from obtaining key financial information. . . .
While Peay isn't a current board member of Hunter Nation, is he representing Porter et al's friends in high places? Are those friends in high places spending Utah taxpayers' money?
The mission sure seems parallel.
Hunters for Hunters has been gaining a lot of publicity as Northeastern deer hunters speak out for opening a season on wolves after a meager hunt, though Minnesota Reformer's data journalist Christopher Ingraham reported on November 22 that Wolves aren’t to blame for a disappointing deer hunt, data show. Itasca County hunter and journalist Aaron Brown provided another explanation in Where the wild deer are.
These seem to be minority voices. And other media coverage suggests that the group is a spontaneous, grassroots effort.
Reporting for the Duluth Tribune, John Myers wrote in New Minnesota deer hunting group to hold meetings on woles:
. . .“We’re a grassroots group of passionate hunters and landowners who see our tradition of deer hunting being destroyed because of wolves,” Lake Bronson resident Steve Porter, a member of the group, told the Duluth News Tribune.
At the Star Tribune, Tony Kennedy reported in A new Minnesota deer hunters group wants to shake up the politics o wolf control:
In a revolt against what it says is an overabundance of wolves in the North Woods, a group of deer hunters concerned about the scarcity of whitetails has formed a new hunters rights group eager to rock the boat on the politics of wolf management.
Still in its infancy, Hunters For Hunters will rally next week to build its membership with open-invitation meetings in International Falls, Carlton, Aurora and Coleraine. Subsequent meetings are scheduled in Bagley and Detroit Lakes. The group's recent "wolf control'' meeting in Squaw Lake — announced only eight days in advance — drew a crowd estimated at more than 200 people, including three state senators.
"The chairs were full, and the people were standing all around the sides,'' said Sen. Steve Green, a Second District Republican who attended the meeting in Squaw Lake. "The interest is pretty obvious. There's a lot of frustration. A lot of frustration.''
Steve Porter of Lake Bronson, Minn., a Hunters For Hunters board member, said in an interview this week that the group has been swamped with a frenzy of interest and offers from hunters to act as volunteers. Additional meetings are being organized, he said.
"There's just too many wolves,'' Porter said. "People are livid, and they are just searching for how can we fix this problem and how can we have a voice.'' . . .
Peay opens by saying hunters are rugged and independent folks who usually fail--but he's says: " Minnesota, we're going to link you up with a bunch of hunter groups and individual hunters in other Western and other Midwestern states...."
Will the group be linked to Utah's taxpayer money, funneled for that purpose by Hunter Nation? Is there a point where Minnesota's lobbying and campaign finance regulations require the group to register and disclose? Will Minnesotans have to look to disclosure statement in Utah to answer questions?
Or will answers be as hard to find as a whitetail on opening day after a snowy winter?
Photo: A wolf. Source: Associated Press, via Star Tribune.
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