After being barraged by comments from citizens opposed to their proposed changes in hunting regulations and fees, the Missouri Department of Conservation withdrew most proposals and postponed implementation of another Friday.
The department said they received some 17,000 responses during a 30-day comment period ending last week. The four-person commission, which directs the department’s actions, yielded to the public opposition on most of the proposals.
Many objected to the proposal that called for increasing the number of acres owned from 5 to 80 to qualify for a no-cost permit for landowners and a requirement that those wanting a no cost permit register their property with the department. The larger acreage requirement was dropped but the registration requirement was only postponed until January 2010 by the commission.
Among those voicing strong opposition to the department was the Ozarks Property Right Congress, which sent a letter to department director John Hoskins stating its intention to not buy deer or turkey hunting tags and allow no hunting on their property by tag holders. They also vowed not to register their property with the department as proposed to qualify for a no cost hunting permit to hunt on their own property.
“This shows that public outcry can cause state agencies and public employees to take notice of what the taxpayers think. The commission responded quickly but has left the property registration proposal intact. They softened the explanation and postponed implementation by six months but have the same intent as originally proposed,” said Russell Wood of the OPRC. ” This whole episode shows how out of touch both the conservation commission and the conservation department are to propose regulations that are so far from acceptable to the people out here on the land and the people of Missouri, the people they are supposed to be serving.”