“It will be hunting for friends and family only,” declared Don Brown.
The Denver Post picked up on the Yuma Pioneer story about local landowners pledging to boycott all Colorado Division of Wildlife programs because of its participation on a lawsuit that would shut down irrigation wells. The landowners in the boycott would ban pheasant hunters and other DOW activities on their land.
In a swelling protest against Colorado Division of Wildlife participation in a lawsuit that pits rights to surface water against irrigation wells, hundreds of farmers have joined in what amounts to a boycott of the 2008 pheasant season.
Landowners in Yuma County, center of the protest, pledged 340,000 acres to the boycott. Supporters in Kit Carson, Washington and Phillips counties have contributed lesser amounts in what has become a literal groundswell of remonstration. Wildlife managers fear the lockout will spread to other parts of pheasant country.
“We feel betrayed. For years we’ve fed the birds, fed the deer, planted the trees and grasses DOW wanted,” Brown said. “Now they file this action, and, if they win, they’ll bankrupt Yuma County. There’ll be nothing left. We can’t pay for our schools and hospitals.”
Filed under: Republican River Compact, Water in the West
[...] Paul Hickey wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptThe landowners in the boycott would ban pheasant hunters and other DOW activities on their land. In a swelling protest against Colorado Division of Wildlife participation in a lawsuit that pits rights to surface water against irrigation … [...]