Private Timberlands Charging for Access. What's next? What can we do?

[skidynastar33]

I have been reading and commenting on the Weyco topic and only get more and more irritated the more I read. I am out of a hunting spot that my family spent the last 7 years hunting learning ect. Now we are back to square one. This should be all settling in as fact now and it's time to start doing something about it. Last year port Blakely was going to lease 10,000 acres up Winston creek but because of us that didn't happen. We can't just keep bending over for them!

So the question is what can we do? Who can we contact? What can we change?

Here are my  thoughts but need help from others putting together  an action list and going about it in the best way.

1. Wdfw - who an we email? Call? Ect? We need names and numbers and thousands of people calling and complaining.

2. Weyco- who can we email? Call? Ect? They also need  thousand of peopling calling and complaining.

3. Legislation - same thing who are people we can contact.

4 . One thought I had but don't know how to go about it is if we contact Wdfw and try to get something in motion that states that Wdfw will not help or give out any landowners permits/ damage hunts to those commercial company's or and owner for that matter that does not give out free public access. It pisses me of when they have to go out and do these things and help landowner get elk out of the fields ect that don't allow public hunting. That's why there there in the first place! It's safe!

5. Another thought is changing tax breaks for these company's that we are paying for! As a tax paying I am paying for Weyco to get these tax breaks only to turn around and charge us for access.

6. One other thing is to put more pressure on Weyco about spraying and hoof rot, if they are no longer a friend of the sportsman / hunter they are now considered an enemy and should put legal pressure on them to expose them.

We can produce change if a lot of us take action! I don't know how to take the ness necessary action but I know there are people on here that do and I want your ideas and let's start making a list of things we can do!

[snowpack]

Would WDFW really oppose this?  With timber farms charging and limiting access, it makes the Discover Pass that much more attractive to the displaced.  WDFW gets 8% of Discover Pass sales.  Would have to show how the gain in DP money is less than the loss of license sales and special permit money. 

[bobcat]

Like I just posted in another thread, I don't really have a problem with Weyerhaeuser charging for access. Other timber companies have been doing it for years. I just wish they would continue to allow free non-motorized access.

I do believe if  they're charging for access to hunt, they should let their paying customers take care of the excessive bear problem, rather than contract hunters.

They should also take more care in preserving, and even creating, better wildlife habitat. What if they stopped spraying herbicides on their clearcuts and this resulted in an increase in deer, elk, grouse, and other wildlife? I'd be much more willing to pay a fee to hunt if there were more animals to hunt. Maybe the fact that they will now be making millions of dollars by selling access permits to hunters, will give them an incentive to actually work to increase wildlife numbers on their tree farms.

[buckfvr]

Deer and especially elk are detrimental to seedling survival and thats why you wont see enhancement for herd purposes.  Probably the number one reason elk arent prolific in the n.e. 

They spray to rid the forest floor of everything that competes with the seedlings they plant some time after they spray...........

[washelkhunter]

We could stage a massive protest up headquarters road. Close the gate and chain ourselves to it. Big media show. If you are'nt aware of it Weyerhauser is a publicly traded REIT. I say screw em. A thousand rigs should pour into the St. Helens farm on opening day. What are they going to do?

[bigtex]

Maybe the fact that they will now be making millions of dollars by selling access permits to hunters, will give them an incentive to actually work to increase wildlife numbers on their tree farms.

Millions? Not in one year.

I don't hunt WeyCo because they have no land in my area, my area the WeyCo lands are now Hancock and I know their operation pretty well.

Lets look at the math. The Snoqualmie Tree Farm puts out a max of 1,000 permits per year at I believe $250, maybe $275. Since they upped the permit # to 1,000 they have yet to sell out and I believe least year they only sold about 800. But for the sake of argument let's say they sell out all 1,000 at $250. That's $250,000 per year for just the Snoqualmie Farm. Now there is at least one Hancock Security person working the Snoqualmie Farm, lets say he's making $15 an hour, that's $28,800 in just salary, not including benefits, the truck he must use to drive around and fuel/maintenance for the vehicle. Now, Hancock also pays WDFW for patrols on Hancock lands for about 600 hours of patrol time between I believe May-December on the Kapowsin, Eatonville, and Snoqualmie Forests, WDFW can go there anytime, but Hancock funds the 600 hours of patrols in that time. I don't know the charging rate WDFW uses for such contracts but it usually consists of a combined rate of officer hours, benefits, and fuel, but lets just say it's $50 an hour which may be low. 600 x $50 = $30,000. So just one Hancock security person's wages and a WDFW LE contract takes away at least 23% of the money Hancock made.

My point is, from the outside I think it looks like a big money grab for these timber companies, but in my opinion at the costs we are seeing, it's not. These companies aren't getting rich selling 800 permits at $250 a pop when you consider the staffing numbers they spend on it. For all those years they weren't charging access they had to pay for all of those things out of their company coffers.

Are they making some money off of it? Sure, but I don't think it's to the extent that some people think it is.

[bigtex]

We could stage a massive protest up headquarters road. Close the gate and chain ourselves to it. Big media show.

Maybe get Bundy's militiamen to come up?

We had access to it for free for decades, it should always be that way right? This is AMERICA!

 

[bobcat]

15,000 St Helens permits at $150 each. Isn't that over 2 million dollars?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bigtex]

15,000 St Helens permits at $150 each. Isn't that over 2 million dollars?

Had no idea they were putting out 15,000 permits 

[bobcat]

We could stage a massive protest up headquarters road. Close the gate and chain ourselves to it. Big media show. If you are'nt aware of it Weyerhauser is a publicly traded REIT. I say screw em. A thousand rigs should pour into the St. Helens farm on opening day. What are they going to do?

I guess they would have to call the sheriff out to charge everyone with trespassing. 

[BULLBLASTER]

I dont think that comparing weyco charging access to iep is apple and apple. Because of the opportunity involved weyco will allow access for 6 months... iep allows access all year long. You can ride atv and motorcycles also. You can cut 2 cords of firewood and a christmas tree... I have never seen iep close for so called for danger... all this for $40 a year. Pretty reasonable to me... not so much with weyco and their $150 for driving access with no firewood or atv or Christmas tree. And who knows wjat about sept access and claims fore danger... just my opinion...

[Blacktail Sniper]

Sorry about being out of the loop, but who and where are/is IEP?

[bobcat]

IEP is in the Spokane area.

Oh, and Weyerhaeuser is allowing a couple cords of firewood with the Pe Ell permit this year.

But either way, if the fee is too high, that should be obvious if permits don't sell out.

[Disturbed1]

All of pe ell being locked up this year....i hunt with disabled vets so 672 was my go to area for archery...guess i'll be searching for new spots this summer http://www.weyerhaeuser.com/Businesses/RecreationalAccess/Washington

[Blacktail Sniper]

IEP is in the Spokane area.

Oh, and Weyerhaeuser is allowing a couple cords of firewood with the Pe Ell permit this year.

But either way, if the fee is too high, that should be obvious if permits don't sell out.

Thanks