All of the alleged 'conservation organizations' which raise millions of dollars yet not only do NOTHING for conservation, but who are more often than not, enemies of science based conservation.
Organizations that do projects like this are the real deal. Need to have more visibility to the general public and government so they realize who really cares about wildlife.
Very nice work, its a great feeling to know I belong to such a conservation minded organization. I look forward to upgrading my membership to a life membership once these holiday bills are paid off.
For starters, it's on a highly secure military base. In addition, the herd there is pretty small. Hopefully the addition of this drinker will help change that.
OTOH, they seem to have some interest in having a hunt at some point. One thing that's been suggested would be to have a hunt for a Wounded Warrior on the base. You can bet the farm the active duty guys and gals on the base would be lining up to help that hunter in any way possible.
Having personally hunted on Ft Sill, West Point, Ft Bliss, Quantico, and having spent plenty of time out there in 29 Palms I don’t see why it isn’t an option if the sheep population is there. Besides the bases previously mentioned I know there is hunting at Hill AFB, Vandenberg AFB, Camp Pendleton, Cherry Point MCAS, Camp Lejeune, Eileson AFB...and the list goes on. So the whole military base argument I can’t buy. A pro hunting Base Commander can make a lot of things happen. My personal level of friendships with my buddies who are still on Active Duty stop at the Colonel level, and 1 Brig Gen select aka...Colonel. As I found throughout my time in the Corps, it is a very small world. If you guys want to start the conversation on a season and need a guy who might know a guy hit me up. I would be happy to help and bet I know a guy who knows a guy at least. A Marine Colonel has more pull on a base than you can imagine, and with so many things in life it is often who you know that can make things happen.
If you want a full look at what the WSF does get a copy of their annual report thet just came out. Amazing the amounts that are spent on conservation! Just upped mine to a life membership and headed to Reno. Also a life member of and the president of the WY chapter of WSF. We raise our own funds and decide where to spend them with an all volunteer board. Check out our website at http://www.wyomingwildsheep.org/. The GIA section outlines where we fund projects and work with other chapters and national on big projects. Buy a few Sheep hunt Raffle tickets in the store and help the cause. We have a booth in Reno stop by and say hello.
There are also hunts on two military properties in NV.
Without question, the military is far easier to deal with re. wildlife management than are the USFS, NPS or the BLM. But remember, military bases often have significantly different missions from one base to another. One may be a gunnery and bombing range, which is the case here in NV with the Fallon NAS and Nellis AFB, while another base may be primarily an admin base or a refueling base.
In CA, the Navy operates the China Lake Naval Weapons Center, which brings in airmen from countries all over the world so they can blow stuff up from the air. Bases like those are going to be far more secure than bases with missions which are less sensitive and much smaller in territory.
At Twenty-Nine Palms, we have to work with the Marine Corps on scheduling of work projects, are restricted to specific roads and must be accompanied my military personnel.
In 2006, we did a translocation of sheep we captured in the Mojave then released them on the China Lake Naval Weapons property. The Base Commander from China Lake came to the Old Dads and was working 'bagging crew' duties during the capture, which was pretty cool of him. We released the sheep on the China Lake base the next day and simply getting through the gate was a major deal. even though they knew we were coming and had an escort for us. As I recall, we even had to get security clearances in advance.
I spent a few years out there too. I think Hunting would be tricky, but if the CG could make it happen that would be awesome. There is lots of training going on in that desert.
