LETTER: State tradition in jeopardy?

To the Editor:

Watch out deer hunters -- Governor Walker’s deer czar, Texan Dr. James Kroll, is opposed to land being held by the public and managed by the Department of Natural Resources. He doesn’t think there should be public land for uses like hunting. Rather it should be privately owned, with hunters having to pay private owners for the privilege of hunting on their land.

The long-standing tradition of Wisconsin men and boys hunting together on public land and, yes, some private land too, may be in for a big change. Because of the deer czar’s track record in Texas of turning privately held land into high-fenced game farms and his belief that publicly owned land is wrong, we may be headed for yet another assault on more of the rights we have in our beautiful state.

Under the system he implemented in Texas at the urging of the high-fence deer ranching industry, hunters have to pay a fee to a private land owner to hunt. The average hunter can be priced right out of the hunting activity by those very fees.

Wisconsin is not Texas. We value our traditions of hunting and fishing. We value the fact that, many who wish to, are able to participate in such activities because of the public trust.

Barb Arnst

New Richmond

Tags: letters to the editor, opinion