Indiana Wildlife Federation Names New Director

John Goss??

Ain't he the one that would NEVER stand up to the fenced deer hunting perserve owners when he was director of IDNR?

HOPEFULLY he has had a change of heart!

I think he "officially" resigned from the IDNR.

I met Mr. Goss on two occasions......he is a heck of a nice fella. I get the impression that would be just about anybodys take on him. He had ZERO natural resource experiance, prior to being APPOINTED to the IDNR directors job. He was not even a hunter or fisherman.....In fact, prior to his IDNR appointment he had a job in the tourisim (Wonder Indiana) department, where his goal was to fill hotel rooms with visitors to this state.

I will be sending an E-Mail to the IWF asking them to explain this appointment, considering Mr. Goss's history with the high fence industry.

Goss has been on the board of directors of IWF since he left the IDNR. He was a member long before then. He worked closely with Paula Yeager against the high fencers. This has always been a political issue (Goss was a Democratic appointment, Hupfer a Republican). Watch closely in the next few weeks as this issue either starts up again or dies the death it deserves.

Jack

P.S. By the way the raid on Bellar happened on Goss' watch if you are at all interested.

On Bellar... the IDNR started the investigation under LTC Wells and brought the feds in due to the interstate shipment of wildlife by-products (heads, hides, meat) that was taken in violation of state law and then shipped out of state, which triggered the Lacey Act violations. The feds had the money to prosecute, and federal law provides stiffer penalties than he would have received for the state violations. Goss was director at that time.

On penned hunting... this issue was looked at while John was director, but it was my understanding that when IDNR legal asked the Indiana Attorney General's office (republican) for a legal opinion on it when considering legal action to close them, the AG indicated that the current law (GBL's) was "vague" and that any court action would be a tossup as to which way the courts would go. Goss was working on possible legislative alternatives when the 2004 election came up and we had the changing of the guard in the gov and IDNR director. I met John at a 2003 DAC meeting when Paula first brought the CWD and canned hunting issues to DAC for input, and Goss was most definitely not a supporter of canned hunting.

Kyle's legal background and a different team's review of current law has led him/IDNR to believe that canned hunting ops are illegal, and Rodney's case will certainly put that question to the test shortly. A future legislation which would specifically address the issue may or may not eliminate current operations, depending on how the bill is written. Bottom line is that if prior IDNR administrations had felt the law was that clearcut, they would have taken action a long time ago.

My personal view is that canned hunting for pay went beyond the original intent of the game breeders license program, which was developed to allow propagation and release of game animals to enhance hunting opportunities. The canned hunt operators basically went beyond that original intent and used GBL's to establish pay-for-shoot businesses. I think the legal waters have been pretty murky on this issue from the start, and in a sense, all Kyle's done so far (and don't get me wrong, I'm glad he did) is light the fuse that will bring the issue to a head once and for all. That doesn't mean that the guys who sat in that seat before didn't want to fire up their BIC's too...

KD

Different times and different politics.

Even the director can only do what is allowed by law.