In the Crosshairs

As the economy changes our ideas of the 'haves' and 'have nots,' many issues will come under scrutiny. One that caught my eye were hunting licenses in Montana. In most states there is a fee disparity for licenses. For instance, when I fish in Idaho, I pay more for a license than a resident. The flip is true, an Idaho fly fisherman pays more for a Washington license than I do. Same thing has been true for hunting licenses.

However, in Montana, which restricts the numbers of hunting licenses, there are a number of hunting licenses reserved for nonresidents that are sold through guides and outfitters. These guides and outfitters frequently take their clients to private access areas to hunt, for instance large tracts of ranch land the guide leases from a rancher.

Hunters in Montana are fed up with this system, believing the rich out of state hunters get a better deal. On the ballot this fall will be an initiative to eliminate this system and increase the out of state license fees, much like what is done in many Western states. Of course, if this idea passes, the guides and outfitters claim they will be severely hurt. Private land owners who lease out their land (think Ted Turner) may not respond by allowing unaccompanied hunters onto their lands. Their sense is that hunters usually behave quite badly (think piles of beer cans left near a smoldering fire). It's a class war if there ever was one.

More interesting, however, I think is the backlash between the perceived economic disparity. In other words, part of this initiative is based on anger that "rich, out of state" hunters get better and different opportunities for natural resources. And as our economy continues to create a larger divide between the rich and everyone else, I suspect in many other areas we will begin to see these kinds of backlashes.