And now:Sonja Keohane <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
Two interesting, imo, excerpts from the same article: "Geringer
wants review of state land
payments to elk poacher"
<http://www.billingsgazette.com/wyomingframe.htm>
Note this rancher uses the same rationale for killing the elk as
MDOL does for slaughtering the YNP bison...
[Thomas struck a plea bargain last month in which he agreed to plead no
contest to nine counts of taking wildlife without a license. He was
sentenced to a $2,720 fine, a year of probation and two years without
hunting privileges.
Thomas maintains he shot the elk because they ate his cattle's winter feed
and risked infecting his cattle with brucellosis. He claims the state Game
and Fish Department failed to take responsibility for the elk herd.]
And this same rancher who LEASES public land is allowed to receive
these payments? Why do these payment not go to the owner of the land...the
taxpayer...? Another example of the "Cowboy welfare system".....just my
opinion...
[Last month Thomas received $1,584 from the Office of State Lands and
Investments as a share of fees paid by a company that conducted seismic
testing on state lands he leases.
Critics have assailed the practice of allowing ranchers to lease state land
for a few dollars per animal-unit-month, then receive sometimes thousands
of times more in surface damage payments. The practice is unique to Wyoming
and South Dakota. ]
