Hunters join debate over oil exploration

[Judi Lynn]

Aug. 6, 2006, 12:50AM
Hunters join debate over oil exploration
They're latest group to question drilling access on public lands

By JULIET EILPERIN
Washington Post

VALLE VIDAL, N.M. — The natural beauty of this area of the lush Carson National Forest, known as Valle Vidal, remained largely unblemished in the last century when the 101,000 acres were a sporting playground for Hollywood stars and moguls, and later for oil company executives, before the land was donated to the government in 1982 by Pennzoil Corp. and opened to the public.

Now, Valle Vidal has become a battleground in the drive to expand energy exploration on public land, attracting the attention of a growing coalition of hunters, anglers, environmentalists, ranchers, homeowners and politicians across the ideological spectrum.

Here and elsewhere in the Western United States, this coalition is starting to resist the push for energy exploration in some of the nation's most prized wilderness areas.

Although it remains unclear how successful they will be, these new activists — including many who treasure Valle Vidal as a place to fish for cutthroat trout, hunt for elk and ride horses across its wide expanses — have brought a new dynamic to the public debate over energy development in the West.
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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/4096286.html

[Nikki Stone 1]

1. Could hunters be the newest converts?

Looks promising.

[Toots]

3. Locking up the land for oil companies is a way of taking away their guns

Only on that particular piece of land of course but still it denies them their "right" to kill things and shoot off their guns. The more commonplace this becomes the more restricted these gun people will be. They will not be happy about that. Things seem slow to mind for these folks but eventually they will get a glimmer that they vote against their own interests every time they vote Republican..

[Nikki Stone 1]

5. That's exactly right

I am beginning to think we need a "Bill of Rights" Party, complete with 2nd ammendment supporters. It might be the only way to get us all supporting our traditional rights that are slowly being totally trashed.

[benEzra]

6. If Feinstein et al will lay off the ban-more-guns thing, then likely yes..

Could hunters be the newest converts?

If Feinstein et al will lay off the ban-more-guns thing, then likely yes...though do keep in mind that only 1 in 5 gun owners is a hunter.

Dems and the Gun Issue - Now What?

[drm604]

12. I've felt for a while now

that hunters should be our natural allies on environmental issues.

[slackmaster]

2. This is not new - Haven't you heard of DU?

No, I don't mean depleted uranium.

Ducks Unlimited

[kineneb]

4. actually a good bunch

for the most part. I don't object to hunting, as long as the hunter eats the results (venison is tasty, wild duck is a bit chewy). Ducks Unlimited has saved lots of wetlands from destruction, and probably saved lots of wildlife in the process. Real hunters are also conservationists. They don't want species or environments to be destroyed, by over-hunting or by development.

[IA_Seth]

7. Thank you!

You just don't know how refreshing it is to hear a fellow Dem speak about hunting and hunters with understanding.

Real hunters, the kind that I grew up admiring, know they share the land with the animals and care as much about preserving the species they hunt and the land they live on as they do about the harvesting of those animals. Real hunter are real conservationists, and if we could get the majority of the party to understand that I think we'd do a lot of stealing of Republican votes in rural areas (in states like mine, Iowa, anyway).

Because of hunters we've seen the resurgence of countless species throughout the United States. The Turkey and Deer of Iowa were nearly extinct (in the Turkeys case I believe they WERE) in Iowa but because of hunters we now have a healthy population and an active hunting season.

[stepnw1f]

8. Well Then... Here's another One

I too don't have an issue with hunting or hunters, just as long as they eat what they kill or catch. What type of hunting do I object too...? Cheney canned quail hunting.

[IA_Seth]

9. I'll agree with you there...

"Canned" hunts, or "exotic" hunts as some of the rich folks prefer to call them are pathetic. Shooting animals over feeders and troughs, or birds that have been shook and planted for flushing, is the type of thing that will ruin the hunting tradition I've been raised in. It's not hard for a non-hunter to despise hunting when they see or hear about things like this.

I also agree with eating what is hunted, why else would you want to kill it?

[RebelOne]

10. Many hunters just want to kill for a trophy to hang on their wall.

[stepnw1f]

11. We Agree...

Most people on the left I know, feel the same way. They may not personally like to hunt, but have no problem with it in general. We humans have been doing it for many many many years.

[kineneb]

13. my grandfather enjoyed hunting

it was a chance for him to get away from auto-body repair work, and we always ate what he shot. He had a real reverence for the animals and nature. He believed in a clean, accurate kill that would cause the least suffering. He never understood the whole "trophy hunting" thing: during the Depression, the game he shot was important to feeding the family. I really appreciate the lessons he taught me, simply by him being who he was.

Oh- he was a liberal Dem, a fan of FDR and a labor organizer for the IAMAW (International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers). And for a person born in 1898, amazingly tolerant and broad minded.