Bias alleged in way state issues hunting permits

Thursday, Oct. 21, 2004 | 9:48 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Ninety-two percent of the big game hunting permits issued by the state Department of Wildlife went to Nevada residents this year.

A suit in federal court in Reno challenges the hunting tag distribution system as unfair to nonresidents and says non-Nevadans "suffer discrimination in access to hunting opportunities in Nevada through the imposition of quotas for each species."

The state Commission on Wildlife will consider the issue at its Nov. 6 meeting in Reno. Chris MacKenzie of Carson City said he and the other commissioners will listen to suggestions at the November meeting and probably take action at the December meeting.

"Every Nevada hunter is going to be offended by this," MacKenzie said.

The controversy arises out of several other court rulings.

Last July the federal district court in Arizona ruled that the system of issuing tags in that state is flawed because it discriminates against nonresidents. Nevada has a similar system.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal had ruled that states must justify that limits on nonresidents are the least discriminatory way to protect the valid interests of a state. The federal court in Arizona ruled that the state did not meet that appeals court standard.

Arizona, reacting to the court judgment, then issued an additional 714 tags to nonresidents and 105 to residents.

In Nevada this year, the wildlife department said 19,800 tags were issued for big game such as elk, deer and antelope, and 18,255 of those went to residents. Wildlife department employee Chris Healy said there were an estimated 112,000 applications for the tags.

MacKenzie said some possible changes in the regulations including stopping Internet applications for tags or determining if the opportunity for a nonresident hunter to get a resident tag is greater in his home state.

The suit filed against the wildlife commission and department was brought July 20 by United States Outfitters Inc., a New Mexico company, and several nonresidents.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., introduced a bill Oct. 11 to allow the states to manage their own fish and wildlife programs.

Reid, referring to the recent 9th Circuit ruling, said, it "is a threat to the conservation of wildlife resources in Nevada and a threat to Nevada's ability to provide recreational opportunities for its own citizens."

The legislation was co-sponsored by Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev. who said the states should "maintain the rights on deciding fishing and hunting regulations."