Let's keep hunters off island

There is now before our lawmakers SB187, a bill that would allow hunters to pursue mule deer and California bighorn sheep on Antelope Island.

There is also a proposal to cut the budget of the Utah Division of Parks and Recreation, guardians of the island, by 10 percent, or $300,000.

Both measures were approved and passed out of the Natural Resources Committee. The Senate approved the hunting bill 18-11 Tuesday, and it now heads to the House.

It would seem on the surface the two have no connection. Then again, hidden under the shroud of political manipulating, there's talk on the Hill that they are.

There have been attempts for nearly a decade to open up hunting on the island. The state does allow five hunters each year to shoot a buffalo. That practice dates back to when the DPR first took control of the island, in the early 1980s, and is something former park director Courtland Nelson said the island could easily do without.

There has never been strong support for hunting on Antelope Island, and there never will be, not if the public ever gets to vote on the issue. The island is a park, not a hunting preserve. That's the way people want it.

It has been suggested within political circles that the proposed budget cut is a warning shot at park staff to keep quiet on the hunting issue. That or the message "Lose this and more funding in the future."

Sen. Thomas Hatch, R-Panguitch, requested the cuts in the park's budget and wants an island hunt. Sen. Bill Hickman, R-St. George, presented the hunting bill and says he's presenting the bill because he's a hunter.

Yet, not even hunters support hunting on the island.

There are in Utah five Regional Advisory Councils, which are made up of hunters who review all hunting proposals. Three of the five RACs voted against island hunts, and in the northern region, where the island is located, the vote was 11-1 against.

The island-hunt bill will do nothing but give a few very wealthy sportsmen a shot at an exotic hunt.

I find it interesting that Hickman admitted, prior to submitting his bill, he had not talked with state park or wildlife officials. Simple common sense, now, would suggest a reasonable person would go to the source before proposing such a bill.

Then he says: "We're finding we're getting an overpopulation on Antelope Island of some species."

So just who are the we's? Special interest groups?