LA: Dog deer hunters considering filing suit against federal government

Dog deer hunters considering filing suit against federal government

By Tammy Sharp
Leesville Daily Leader
Posted Jan 08, 2011 @ 09:00 AM

Kisatchie —Local dog deer hunters are considering filing suit against the federal government to block a decision by USDA Forest Service officials last month that prohibits the use of dogs to hunt deer on the Kisatchie National Forest.

The decision to prohibit dog deer hunting was announced in mid-December by Liz Agpaoa, regional forester for the Southern Region, which, along with Kisatchie National Forest, conducted an environmental analysis and reviewed more than 1,200 public comments before issuing the decision. On Tuesday, local hunters, along with State Representative James Armes, talked with Agpaoa, who is located in Atlanta, in a conference call from Armes' Leesville office.

"What I have seen is an increase in the number of violations and confrontations" involving dog deer hunters Agpaoa told the group of eight men who were listening to her speak from a telephone in Armes' office.
Hunters, including former Leesville chief of police Buck Massey, contend that the number of violations recorded during the dog deer hunting season is inflated and a result of selective enforcement.

Though Agpaoa said she disagreed, she could not provide the number of law enforcement officers who worked in Kisatchie during still deer hunting or dog deer hunting.

She added that initial numbers from the 2010 season indicated that the Forest Service wrote more than 80 violations during the eight days of dog deer hunting and issued another 80 warnings which do not include any violations written by state fish and wildlife agents. Agpaoa said she'd been looking at the matter for the last two years.

Her primary reason for prohibiting dog deer hunting had to do with safety, she said, before going on to cite a case in which some dog deer hunters had killed and stashed a large number of deer near a creek bank. In 2008, she said, dog deer hunters inadvertently began shooting around some boy scouts who had been camping. In 2009, a bicyclist dove to the ground from his bike when a tree limb cracked above his head and dog deer hunters descended on him, thinking he was their dead deer.

"That's just unacceptable," Agpaoa said.

Some of the hunters listening indicated that the close calls occurred because of a lack of clear scheduling concerning forest usage as well as a lack of designated areas, such as for biking.
Agpaoa said that anyone who objected to her decision has until Jan. 31 to file an appeal. Review of any appeals can take up to 160 days.
Of the 13 states in the southern region, Agpaoa said some have dog deer hunting and some don't.

"Those that remain are still there because they're still there," she said. In effect, no one has pushed to have dog deer hunting removed in those states. The process for the prohibition of dog deer hunting in Kisatchie began under Agpaoa's predecessor at the forest supervisor level, she said.
"It is done on a forest by forest basis," she added.
Prior to last year, Agpaoa said, her office had access to the types and number of violations ticketed by state fish and game agents. However, that has changed she said.

"For some reason when we tried to get them (this year), we were were told we couldn't have them," she said. "It was like someone did not want us to see them ... I think it's really interesting because prior to that the state was giving us that information."

Kisatchie National Forest was the only public land within Louisiana with a wildlife management mandate where dog-deer hunting was allowed.
Other forms of hunting, including deer hunting without dogs and using dogs to hunt other wildlife will continue as a primary activity on the forest.
For more information about this decision, please visit the Kisatchie National Forest website at Kisatchie National Forest.

Dog deer hunters considering filing suit against federal government - Leesville, LA - Leesville Daily Leader