Important Meeting Nov. 1 Circle B Bar Reserve, Polk Cty.

[N. Cook]

Circle B Bar Reserve is located on Rt. 540 between Lakeland and Winter Haven just west of Lake Hancock. Entrance is on south side of road.

Saturday Nov. 1 am

UW-F will have a display table at the Grand Opening of the Nature Center. There will be a public meeting on the recreation to be made available on the marsh. There is strong opposition to returning duck hunting as an activity.

A large turnout of waterfowlers is needed to represent our sport.

There will be a large number of anti-hunters on hand. There has been a petition to ban hunting on the property circulating.......There will probably be a number of Polk County politicians and SWFWMD staff that need to be lobbied for hunting.

10 am is the start of the display, meeting about 11 am.

Here is a chance for everyone in Central Florida to be the VOICE!

Lets fill the chairs.

[SSPhone]

Gates open at 8:30 am. We need to have the table setup by 9am and it has to stay up until 3pm. Also I am looking for a popup type canopy if someone has one that we can use for the day that would be great.

[N. Cook]

Thanks to the many members who came out in both UW-F and DU garb to speak for hunting on the Circle B Bar Reserve and other Polk County and SWFWMD public land. The UW-F large display was the best of the many at the event, with attractions for the mostly non-hunting crowd that suprised many, especially the great photos by Hitch, the decoys and the duck boat brought over by Johnny.

The public meeting went very well with the UW-F/DU group so large the usual domination by those opposing hunting was over whelmed....Two Polk County Coimmissioners and one candidate were there and favorably impressed by the comments made. The Polk County Commission makes the final decisions on the use of a lot of public land including the Circle B Bar.

Now we must help Dennis and Bruce follow through at the Commission meetings and keep the lobbying effort in high gear. We also must find a way to get the County Commission to appoint one of "us" to the CLASAC and other stakeholder based land use committees.

We can have the same success to make hunting a major recreation at SWFWMD as we currently have (after several years of hard work) with the SFWMD and SJRWMD if the Tampa area members will join together as one VOICE.

[N. Cook]

Here is a letter to Gaye Sharpe:

Ms. Gaye Sharpe
Polk County Natural Areas Manager
4177 Ben Durrance Road
Bartow, FL 33830

Dear Gaye,

What a wonderful day!....and what a beautiful place.

Your hard work for several years was evident in every aspect of the event. The fact the staff was able to adjust for the suprise of a much larger crowd than expected indicates the care taken in the planning. Dennis has always commented on how good the land programs are in Polk County and it was obvious he is correct.

Thank you for handling the difficult situation at the meeting in such a fair way. I believe the "hunting" issue hot button was presented with respect for all opinions. The fact that DUCKS UNLIMITED added their comments was unexpected as they rarely take such positions. UW-F is definitely an advocacy group, but we have a mantra: " We will be strong advocates for our positions but never an advesary to any agency or staff". This has served us well all across Florida with the Water Management Districts, local, state and federal agencies.

We will be sending in comments and speaking at meetings to the issue of hunting on the marsh and calling for a reasonable program. This year the goal is just get started and get a good operation procedure established for the hunts. We have extensive experience on similar marshes in Florida, helping the FWC and the USF&WS put together managed hunt programs on locations such as Orange Creek, Ocklawaha Prairie, Emeralda Marsh and Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. These are all hunts with limited open days each week of the season, morning hunts only in some cases.

I note in some of the prior writings a feeling that hunting precludes other activities on a property. This is not the case except in very rare instances. Very little of the Circle B Bar property will be impacted by hunting as it will be limited to the marsh and only during morning hours. There should be no reason any day should not be available to other groups enjoying the facility.

Thanks again for a great experience. UW-F looks forward to working with you and your staff.

Sincerely,

Newton E. Cook
Executive Director UW-F

[Straygator]

Great letter, Great comments, Great turnout

I agree for once we had the Anti's on the ropes

now lets all get behind this and get it passed...Lobby the commissioners, write letters, lets get a hunter petition going

[duckmanJR]

And just as important is to go fill out the membership application and HELP THOSE THAT ARE OUT THERE HELPING YOU! :)

[Dennis]

If you would like to make additional comments OR did not attend and thus made no comments you can send them by mail :

Comments must be titled :

Circle B Bar Reserve
Comments for Public Record:


Polk County Environmental Lands
Environmental Resources Dept.
Natural Resource Division
4177 Ben Durrance Road
Bartow, FL 33830-8433


Or you can hand deliver them to the office, Make sure you include YOUR name address, Phone # and e-mail address in the signature.

Send Fax's : attention Gaye Sharpe, Circle B Bar Reserve, public comments.

Fax # 863-534-7374


Do this before November 15th.

If you have any additional comments such as: I don't want a "tram'' ride around the place.... I think tram rides would chase off more ( wildlife ) ducks than a few hunters

Or if you believe that wildlife populations should be controlled by public hunting ( hog hunting and gator hunting ) Not by trappers paid with your tax dollars to rob YOU of opportunities to hunt, then add that to your comments.

Managed duck hunts will not greatly conflict with other users, and UW-Fl will work with staff to see that these hunts are successful recreational opportunities for those who are able to secure a permit.

I know this is a pain in the rear, but this is how its' done. Don't worry the ''other'' side has had a head start and is working just as hard to kick you off of your property as they can !


ALSO : We need to get into a Volunteer training class to help set of area markers or do any work for these hunts, I am sure it is not a big deal just familiarity with the area and some rules that we have to understand. The more guys we can get on the Volunteer list the more ''inside'' we get. If we want to be there for the long haul we'll need to have some leaders emerge. Now is a good time.

Send GayeSharpe@polk-county.net a one liner about learning to become a volunteer.

Thanks

Dennis

PS, Doesn't hurt to spread the L-O-V-E . Send the BoCC your thoughts also !!

bobenglish@polk-county.net
jackmyers@polk-county.net
samjohnson@polk-county.net
jeanreed@polk-county.net
randywilkinson@polk-county.net


__________________
If you don't use a trained retriever your missing half the enjoyment of the hunt!

''MY JOB DOESN'T STOP AT 10 O'CLOCK''

Dennis D. Dutcher
Central Regional Director

[Duckaholic Doug]

When are the open hunting days for this Area?

[duckmanJR]

Not yet established... Don't worry..It will be posted over on the members side when it is known. :laughing1:laughing1:laughing1:laughing1