Hunters group sues over Nevada licensing

Jace Radke

Friday, March 25, 2005 | 9:09 a.m.

With big-game hunting season in Nevada a little more than four months away the Nevada Wildlife Commission is scheduled to meet this weekend to discuss licensing policies in the wake of a federal discrimination lawsuit.

The original version of the lawsuit was filed in 2004, but an amended version was filed Monday at U.S. District Court in Las Vegas. The lawsuit alleges that the commission's practice of limiting the availability of licenses for out-of-state hunters is unconstitutional.

The suit states that the plaintiffs, a group of New Mexico-based hunters and guides, have been deprived of their rights under the commerce clause of the constitution.

State officials "have discriminated against and are continuing to discriminate against the plaintiffs and all nonresidents who seek access to the hunting of Nevada wildlife... denying the plaintiffs hunting opportunities enjoyed by Nevada residents," the lawsuit states.

The members of the commission and Wildlife Department Director Terry Crawforth are named as defendants in the case. The lawsuit asks a judge to rule that the quota system is unconstitutional.

Last year there were approximately 18,000 hunting licenses given out for mule deer, elk, antelope, mountain goat and bighorn sheep, department spokesman Geoffrey Schneider said.

Those licenses were disbursed through a computerized draw, with nonresidents only receiving five to 10 percent of the licenses or tags. This year there are again expected to be about 18,000 tags avaliable, Schneider said.

Bow hunting begins in Nevada in August, and the other big game hunting seasons continue on throughout the fall, Schneider said.

The plaintiffs in the case pending before U.S. District Court Judge Kent Dawson, have already won a similar case in Arizona that was appealed to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Arizona was unable to justify it's nonresident license quotas last year and the appeals court ruled in the 2002 Arizona case, Conservation Force Inc. v. Manning, that hunting is limited by the commerce clause of the constitution.

The commission is scheduled to meet Friday and Saturday at the Nevada Department of Wildlife office at 1100 Valley Road in Reno. The commission is scheduled to take public comment and discuss the licensing issue on Saturday beginning at 8:30 a.m.

Those who want more information about the meeting can go to www.ndow.org