Fish and Game Sets Big Game Public Meetings for Southeast Region

With the official first day of spring still two months away, it is hard to imagine that it is already time to plan big game regulations for the 2011 hunting season. However, that is exactly what Fish and Game will be doing over the next few months, and we need your input. Please join Fish and Game at a series of big game scoping meetings to be held throughout the southeast region: February 7: Preston - Larsen-Sant Library, 109 South 1st East. February 8: Malad City - Malad Senior Citizens Center, 26 North Main Street. February 9: Soda Springs - Soda Springs Senior Center, 60 South Main Street. February 10: Blackfoot - City Hall Council Chambers, 157 North Broadway. February 15: Montpelier - Nat.l Oregon/California Trail Center, 320 N 4th St. February 16: Pocatello - ISU Student Union, Little Wood River Room. All meetings will start at 6 p.m. Fish and Game staff will present fall 2010 check station data and present other information relevant to big game hunting and management issues in this part of the state. Public comment is necessary at these meetings, and is an important part of managing wildlife resources in southeastern Idaho. Fish and Game will use public input to help prepare proposals for hunting deer, elk, pronghorn, black bear and mountain lion, and then present those proposals to the public again later in March. "The public uses the resource, and so we want to understand how the public wants it managed," says Jennifer Jackson, regional conservation educator, for the southeast region of Fish and Game. "That doesn't mean we can make all hunters happy all the time, but we try our best to mesh what hunters want with what's best for the resource." Individuals with disabilities may request meeting accommodations by contacting Toby Boudreau at the Idaho Department of Fish & Game at 232-4703 or through the Idaho Relay Service at 1-800-377-3529 (TDD). Individuals not able to attend, but wishing to provide comments may do so via e-mail at toby.boudreau@idfg.idaho.gov or by regular mail to IDFG, 1345 Barton Road, Pocatello, Idaho 83204.