Commission Meets October 3-4

The Idaho Fish and Game Commission will meet in Pocatello October 3-4 with a public hearing and open house set for 7 p.m. October 3. The session will be held at the Holiday Inn beginning at 8 a.m. October 3. The first item will be a report on the status of big game by wildlife bureau chief Jim Unsworth. Other subjects on the Commission agenda include a briefing on a recent decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in a case involving an Arizona rule that restricted nonresident hunters to 10 percent participation in some big game hunts. The Arizona rule was held to be unconstitutional. Commissioners will hear what the implications of this ruling is for Idaho's rules restricting nonresidents to 10 percent in controlled hunts. The Commission will also be presented with an action plan for dealing with chronic wasting disease. Nonresident deer and elk tag quotas and outfitter setasides are also on the agenda along with proposals for implementing the new law allowing 10-year-olds to take hunter education courses and hunt small game. An addition to the Coeur d'Alene Wildlife Management Area through a gift to Fish and Game will be presented to the Commission. Also, representatives of the Fish and Game Advisory Committee will ask for the release of special hunt tags to be used to raise funds for a program to increase hunter access to private lands.