BuzzH
Well-known member
Cabelas better start rethinking their real-estate dealings in MT. A friend of mine who works for a surveying company in Missoula brought the Weaver ranch sub-division to my attention. He's spent a couple months surveying the property that Cabelas is subdividing...selling out MT and squeezing out the very people that have made their HUNTING and FISHING business a success.
Another good friend of mine, very active in many Hunting and Fishing groups in MT sent a letter to Cabelas out-lining their MT sell-out along with his Cabelas credit card cut into about 50 pieces. Cabelas may regret their decisions to become greedy.
Letter from the MWF to Cabelas:
May 30, 2007
Mr. Dennis Highby, President & CEO
Cabela's
1 Cabela Drive
Sidney, NE 69160
Dear Mr. Highby:
The first words on the website of CABELA'S TROPHY PROPERTIES, under the
question: What is Cabela's Trophy Properties? Read: "For over 46 years,
sportsmen have trusted Cabela's."
Regrettably, we now come to the conclusion that we sportsmen of Montana
can trust Cabela's no longer.
Montana Wildlife Federation (MWF), Montana's oldest and largest
organization of 7,000 hunters, anglers and outdoor enthusiasts, and with
23 affiliate sportsmen groups from throughout the state, have a
substantial stake in the future of our diverse natural wealth: diverse landscapes, diverse wildlife, diverse waters, diverse fisheries, and
diverse outdoor recreation opportunities. Our natural wealth has made
Montana a wildlife, hunting and fishing paradise that we have fought long
and hard to maintain.
The MWF Executive Board find that Cabela's is trading on its trusted
reputation as a merchant of sporting goods to engage in a real estate
marketing activity that is calculated to subvert and destroy the very
system of North American wildlife conservation that has provided Cabela's
with the hunter-and-angler markets that gave your company life in the
first place.
Many MWF members have come to live in Montana precisely to escape the
results in other states of such "recreational land marketing" that
squeezes out hunters and anglers of ordinary means from access to publicly
owned wildlife that is located on private lands. Please be informed that
many thousands of Montana hunters and anglers are dedicated and committed to preserving our heritage of democratic public hunting and fishing. Virtually all of us have purchased sporting goods from Cabela's at one
time or another. You cannot expect us to continue as your patrons if at
the same time we are financing the loss of our hunting and angling opportunities.
Access to hunting opportunities is an issue of vigorous public debate in
Montana and has been for many years. You cannot expect to escape the glare of public scrutiny and possible public policy change that will logically
result from your campaign of marketing "trophy hunting properties."
We recommend a substantive discussion of this matter between the
management of Cabela's and the leadership of Montana Wildlife Federation.
We recognize that previous experience in marketing real estate as hunting
properties may have left you uninformed of how strongly this practice is
opposed by hunters and anglers in Montana. We still respect the great
merchandising service that Cabela's has provided. We would hope that a
discussion could be respectful and constructive.
In the absence of a discussion, however, this issue will not lie unattended.
The history of controversy over management of public wildlife on private
land in Montana is too extensive and complex to fully relate in this
letter. We will provide knowledgeable people to discuss this with you at
your request. In brief, however, we in Montana have not surrendered rights
of equitable opportunity to hunt wildlife on private lands as have the
hunters and anglers of many other states.
We certainly continue to respect the private property rights of
landowners and recognize many contribution's they make to habitat and
hunting management. For these reasons we have engaged in extensive efforts to help financially and legally with managing the interface of hunters,
game animals and private property.
The management scheme you facilitated for the 29,000-acre Weaver Ranch in Petroleum County, Montana is completely destructive of everything we have tried to accomplish in landowner - sportsman relations in this state. The North American Fish and Wildlife Conservation Model cannot survive this
kind of management scheme.
We await your response. In the meantime we will proceed to protect our
Montana heritage of democratic public hunting and angling.
Craig Sharpe
Executive Director
Montana Wildlife Federation
(800)517-7256
(406) 458-0227
Another good friend of mine, very active in many Hunting and Fishing groups in MT sent a letter to Cabelas out-lining their MT sell-out along with his Cabelas credit card cut into about 50 pieces. Cabelas may regret their decisions to become greedy.
Letter from the MWF to Cabelas:
May 30, 2007
Mr. Dennis Highby, President & CEO
Cabela's
1 Cabela Drive
Sidney, NE 69160
Dear Mr. Highby:
The first words on the website of CABELA'S TROPHY PROPERTIES, under the
question: What is Cabela's Trophy Properties? Read: "For over 46 years,
sportsmen have trusted Cabela's."
Regrettably, we now come to the conclusion that we sportsmen of Montana
can trust Cabela's no longer.
Montana Wildlife Federation (MWF), Montana's oldest and largest
organization of 7,000 hunters, anglers and outdoor enthusiasts, and with
23 affiliate sportsmen groups from throughout the state, have a
substantial stake in the future of our diverse natural wealth: diverse landscapes, diverse wildlife, diverse waters, diverse fisheries, and
diverse outdoor recreation opportunities. Our natural wealth has made
Montana a wildlife, hunting and fishing paradise that we have fought long
and hard to maintain.
The MWF Executive Board find that Cabela's is trading on its trusted
reputation as a merchant of sporting goods to engage in a real estate
marketing activity that is calculated to subvert and destroy the very
system of North American wildlife conservation that has provided Cabela's
with the hunter-and-angler markets that gave your company life in the
first place.
Many MWF members have come to live in Montana precisely to escape the
results in other states of such "recreational land marketing" that
squeezes out hunters and anglers of ordinary means from access to publicly
owned wildlife that is located on private lands. Please be informed that
many thousands of Montana hunters and anglers are dedicated and committed to preserving our heritage of democratic public hunting and fishing. Virtually all of us have purchased sporting goods from Cabela's at one
time or another. You cannot expect us to continue as your patrons if at
the same time we are financing the loss of our hunting and angling opportunities.
Access to hunting opportunities is an issue of vigorous public debate in
Montana and has been for many years. You cannot expect to escape the glare of public scrutiny and possible public policy change that will logically
result from your campaign of marketing "trophy hunting properties."
We recommend a substantive discussion of this matter between the
management of Cabela's and the leadership of Montana Wildlife Federation.
We recognize that previous experience in marketing real estate as hunting
properties may have left you uninformed of how strongly this practice is
opposed by hunters and anglers in Montana. We still respect the great
merchandising service that Cabela's has provided. We would hope that a
discussion could be respectful and constructive.
In the absence of a discussion, however, this issue will not lie unattended.
The history of controversy over management of public wildlife on private
land in Montana is too extensive and complex to fully relate in this
letter. We will provide knowledgeable people to discuss this with you at
your request. In brief, however, we in Montana have not surrendered rights
of equitable opportunity to hunt wildlife on private lands as have the
hunters and anglers of many other states.
We certainly continue to respect the private property rights of
landowners and recognize many contribution's they make to habitat and
hunting management. For these reasons we have engaged in extensive efforts to help financially and legally with managing the interface of hunters,
game animals and private property.
The management scheme you facilitated for the 29,000-acre Weaver Ranch in Petroleum County, Montana is completely destructive of everything we have tried to accomplish in landowner - sportsman relations in this state. The North American Fish and Wildlife Conservation Model cannot survive this
kind of management scheme.
We await your response. In the meantime we will proceed to protect our
Montana heritage of democratic public hunting and angling.
Craig Sharpe
Executive Director
Montana Wildlife Federation
(800)517-7256
(406) 458-0227
