Bonander Exchange voted down

I just got word that the Bonander Exchange isn't going to happen. The WY state lands board voted against it today.

Good news!

No doubt in my mind this would have been pushed through without the backlash from Sportsmen. Congratulations all around.

Beat me to the punch!

I gave public testimony today in front of the land board, along with several other people.

There are a lot of people to thank for how this went today...lots of people.

The Wyoming Sportsmen Alliance, which is an alliance of 8 sportsmens groups here in Wyoming, deserve a big thank you. All 8 groups, Wyoming Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, Wyoming Sheep foundation, Federation of Union Sportsmen, Wyoming Wildllife Federation, Yellowstone Country Bear Hunters, Bow Hunters of Wyoming, Wyoming Backcountry Horsemen, and Muley Fanatics...all stepped up to oppose this land exchange.

The Land Board Commission also deserve a thank you. They have a tough job of making these important decisions, and they got it right today. They greatly appreciated the help and the input that was provided, including the comments sent by some from this board. An over-whelming majority of the comments they received were in opposition. Governor Mead, Secretary of State Murray, Treasurer Gordon, Auditor Cloud, and Superintendent Balow all deserve a thank you. Some of the testimony and comments they made today, truly hit the mark on their commitment to Wyomings Public lands, Hunting, Fishing, and outdoor recreation. Probably wouldn't be a bad thing to drop them a line and thank them.

Also, the advocacy of the individual sportsmen that commented on this via email, phone calls, letters, signing the petition, etc...very big thank you.

The only "negative" if there is one, is that Governor Mead made a request of the people that testified today to touch on how we all conduct ourselves in these matters related to our public comments. He asked that we stay on point regarding the issue, rather than use the issues to level personal attacks on each other. This happened in a couple cases in this exchange, its counter-productive and, IMO, a personal attack really hurt the proponent of this transfer. He chose to publically call out sportsmen, and in particular a board member of WYBHA, in his public comments...not a good move. There were also some similar things done by individual hunters toward the proponent as well...please know that your comments need to stay on point to be effective.

I know this is probably preaching to the choir to most on this board, but a good reminder for all of us to try to remain professional. I've learned the hard way a couple times on this myself, its tough at times when we're passionate about public lands, hunting, wildlife, etc. and in particular when someone or something threatens same...very tough.

But, Wyoming Sportsmen, and those Sportsmen that come here to hunt as NR's were rewarded today for their efforts.

Oh, and thank you to the Wyoming BHA board and all our members across the State, you guys/gals are the best.

Time for a beer...

Great news!

Glad to hear it. Congrats to all those directly involved and kudos to those of you who signed the BHA petition or any other petitions.

Yippee!

Good guys win one. Thanks for all your work to all.

Well said Buzz, great post!

Now it's time to comment on the proposed exchange Nick Kennedy has pending. 5 1/2 state section for 1 1/2 he owns. He wants at least 2 sections that highway 34 goes right through and others that have public access. It is a well known rumor he has contacted the lease holders to sell them the sections after the exchange so they will not oppose it.

wytex said:

Now it's time to comment on the proposed exchange Nick Kennedy has pending. 5 1/2 state section for 1 1/2 he owns. He wants at least 2 sections that highway 34 goes right through and others that have public access. It is a well known rumor he has contacted the lease holders to sell them the sections after the exchange so they will not oppose it.

Click to expand...

He should flat be told to go jump in the ocean if those 5 1/2 sections are as you stated!

wytex said:

Now it's time to comment on the proposed exchange Nick Kennedy has pending. 5 1/2 state section for 1 1/2 he owns. He wants at least 2 sections that highway 34 goes right through and others that have public access. It is a well known rumor he has contacted the lease holders to sell them the sections after the exchange so they will not oppose it.

Click to expand...

wytex,

Couple things that may be worth noting on this exchange and others.

First off, it troubled me on the Bonander exchange and also this one, that there is about a 4-1 "trade" in favor of the private landowners in both of these exchanges. I wondered why that was, and IMO, there is some serious cooking of the books in regard to the assessed value.

But, I also found out in testimony given by Governor Mead at the land board meeting that the State right now has about 12,500 acres more state land than they are legislatively supposed to have. I am speculating that many of the landowners proposing exchanges know this, and why we are seeing these lop-sided proposals.

This further begs the question, what would the State of Wyoming do if all the federal lands are turned over to them? I would guess they would have to repeal the existing law that caps the number of acres the state is allowed to control. Or they would have to do what we all know they would do with newly acquired state lands and that is to start selling them off.

Even further, I would guess that I would likely have to give up hunting altogether if the State acquired what are now federal lands, as I would be so busy dealing with land disposals and exchanges, there simply would be no time to hunt.

I did talk to Jason Crowder about this exchange as well as the Staple 3 proposal and he said both are not high priority. What that means???? I don't know, but we should stay diligent on where these 2 in particular start heading.

I also got the feeling that Director Hill left the room on the Bonander exchange in the most unpleasant of moods that the board failed to adopt her proposal of moving forward with the exchange. I don't think any Director should take these decisions personally, and I'm hoping my observations/feelings are incorrect, but the mood was not subtle.

I would hope, and expect, that there is more thought given to local economies, recreation, etc. before any other exchanges are considered.

For the record, I have also looked closely at the application Kennedy submitted...some pretty flawed information in there IMO.

I guess its wait and see if they OSLI moves to detailed analysis or lets this one die...lets stay vigilant either way.

Thanks. We'll stay on it. Perhaps an email to Director Hill thanking her for the decision would be appropriate.

wytex said:

Thanks. We'll stay on it. Perhaps an email to Director Hill thanking her for the decision would be appropriate.

Click to expand...

Her recommendation was to approve the Bonander exchange...not thanking her for that. I would have thanked her if her recommendation was to NOT approve it.

The Land Board, that she isn't part of, went against her recommendation and didn't approve it. Probably why the sour grapes.

Keep fighting the good fight Buzz. BHA just received a Christmas donation from me.