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Here’s what’s worth reading today, Friday, August 14, 2020:
Texas dove hunters burn through shotgun shells with the best of them
Texas hunting, fishing licenses go on sale Aug. 15
With the start of a new hunting season fast approaching, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is reminding hunters and anglers that current year Texas hunting and fishing licenses (except the Year-from-Purchase All-Water Package) will expire at the end of August.
New licenses for the 2020-21 season go on sale Saturday, Aug. 15.
Annually, Texans purchase more than 2.4 million hunting and fishing licenses and directly fund a multitude of conservation efforts and recreational opportunities, helping make Texas one of the best places in the country to hunt and fish. Projects funded in part by license sales include fish stocking, wildlife management, habitat restoration, public hunting leases, river fishing access and Texas Game Wardens, just to name a few.
Outdoorsmen and women can purchase a variety of licenses online through the TPWD website, by phone or in person at more than 1,700 retailers across the state. Anyone planning to buy their license from a TPWD Law Enforcement office or Austin Headquarters are reminded to make an advance appointment. Walk-ins are not currently accepted.
2 indicted after hunting dispute in West Virginia left 2 people dead
A grand jury in West Virginia returned indictments against two people after a dispute over a hunting lease led to the fatal shooting of two people in November.
Terri Lynn Storer, 46, of Charleston, was charged with two counts of murder, while Randy Lee Barnhart, 50, was charged with two counts of accessory after the fact to murder.
According to the indictments, Storer “willfully, maliciously, and deliberately killed Jeremiah Russell Thomas, 33, and Jennifer Faye Thomas, 34, on Nov. 29, 2019, WCHS reported. Barnhart, meanwhile, aided Storer to “avoid or escape” arrest, trial or punishment, the television station reported.
According to a release from the West Virginia State Police, an argument broke out between Stoner and Barnhart, who are members of the Madison Hunting Club, and the Thomases, WDVM reported. The couple was traveling on a dirt road located Williamsburg, the television station reported. Deputies said the argument escalated, and that Storer fatally shot the Thomases, WDVM reported. The couple was pronounced dead at the scene, the television station reported.
Bighorn sheep lottery tag raised a record $185,000 to help wild sheep conservation in Idaho
For one Meridian man, Aaron Neilson, he drew the hunt of a lifetime when his name was called for the 29th Annual Bighorn Sheep tag. 1,500 hunters bought a record 19,000 entries for the tag, but Neilson is not the only one that benefits.
“We grossed just over $212,000,” said the President of the Idaho Wild Sheep Foundation, Jim Warner.
That means nearly $185,000 in funding goes toward wild sheep conservation in Idaho.
“It’s been exciting, just to see those numbers and the continued increase, each day on the reports back and to be able to look at the Fish and Game Director and say, ‘We’re going to be able to make a difference,'” said Warner.
The money helps save and monitor diseases within the wild sheep populations to keep them booming now and for years to come.
National Parks chief exit sparks concerns over replacement
Acting National Park Service Director David Vela is retiring, leaving the job amid a lawsuit challenging the legality of his tenure in the post. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt announced Margaret Everson, a former Ducks Unlimited lobbyist who also worked at Interior under the George W. Bush administration, will take over Vela’s role after a stint advising Interior on Fish and Wildlife Service issues.
Vela is leaving in September after 30 years of service with NPS. The first Latino to rise to the highest ranks of NPS, he was well-liked by some conservation groups because of his experience within the department.
But after initially being nominated by President Trump to serve as NPS director, his nomination languished and he was never confirmed.
Vela has served as acting director of NPS through a series of temporary orders — the same method Bernhardt used to place Everson in the role — which is being challenged in a lawsuit.
“I’m a little surprised there’s been a change and concerned too that we no longer have a career National Park Service employee in place to represent the men and women of National Park Service and its values,” said Phil Francis, chair of the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks who himself worked for NPS for 41 years before retiring.
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