Monday, May 21, 2012

Walker's new deer czar thinks hunting on public lands is communism

Deer hunting is only for the 1% in Scott Walker's world. 

We're not kidding.

Frequent liar Job-killer Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has hired James Kroll, a Texan, as his new white-tailed deer trustee. In that job, Kroll will analyze and recommended changes to Wisconsin’s deer management program.

Kroll doesn't believe in public lands. Apparently he doesn't believe ordinary citizens should be able to hunt deer, either.

According to the Lodi Valley News, Kroll said,
...people who call for more public hunting opportunities are “pining for socialism.” He further states, “(Public) Game management is the last bastion of communism."
The Badger Democracy blog had some biting words for the deer czar:
The public lands Kroll despises include the state parks, state and national forests, and other publicly held property that hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites—particularly in the northern part of the state—rely on for deer hunting. Hunters on public land may be surprised to discover that Walker regards their annual trek into a state forest as a radical left wing activity akin to marching in a May Day parade in Red Square. But so it is. 
If Kroll gets his way, public land hunters will get the shaft. The deer herd no longer would be managed as a public resource, but as the private property of wealthy landowners. Wisconsin will become like Europe, where hunting is the privilege of the wealthy. 
Kroll’s view fit in nicely with those of DNR secretary Cathy Stepp, a Walker appointee who already has suggested that public lands be sold
What this means for hunters is that the management of the state’s deer herd could be sold or contracted to management corporations like Johnson Timber, who already owns Summit Lake Game Farm on the southern edge of the Lac Courte Oreilles Reservation, and vast tracts of timber land. Joe Hunter would have to buy his hunting tag (and perhaps make a bid on it) from a private game management firm for his deer, grouse, turkey, wolf, berry picking permits, etc....
Sounds like Koch-funded wingnuttery to us.