114 



Hearing Statement 



William K. Boe 



to U.S. House Committee on Resources 



May 15, 1996 



Page 3 



a 10 day period of time, the hunter is guilty! The hunter is responsible for knowing the 

 condition of the entire field the day of the hunt and for ten consecutive days. This, of 

 course, is impractical and a physical impossibility! 



The current "baiting law", as enforced, is impossible to comply with. No one can inspect 

 for ten consecutive days an undefined area! Any hunter, in any state, no matter how 

 conscientious, can be a victim of this law. Basically, you are guilty for being at an alleged 

 "crime scene" even though, to the best of your knowledge and intentions, you were not a 

 participant in the crime. 



In my opinion, the mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife agents October 13, 1995, was to 

 collect maximum penalties in fines, not to protect wildlife or help hunters comply with a law 

 they had no intention of violating. One of the agents could have told hunters prior to 

 entering the field that the field had been determined inappropriate for use, and hunters risked 

 citations. We would have then hunted in a different field or journeyed to nearby Fanning 

 Springs, and have been totally content to fish for "red bellies" and catfish in the Suwannee 

 River. 



The outcome of the massive citations has increased suspicion of the motives and methods of 

 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife by the citizens of North Central Florida, and lessened respect for 

 that agency. Wildlife was not protected and the "raid" occurred only after the hunt had 

 proceeded several hours, obviously to maximize individual fines. Combat attire by agents 

 was intimidating and confrontational. A volatile environment was created needlessly. The 

 incident is referred to as "Little Ruby Ridge," "Dixie County's WACO," and "Feds and 

 Feathers '95." 



The current "baiting law" is flawed. There need not be an adversarial relationship between 

 agents of the U.S. Government and its citizens. Laws should be specific enough to enable 

 compliance by persons wishing to be responsible citizens. The "baiting law" should be 

 revised to state: hunters are responsible for knowledge of the condition of the field only 

 during the day they use the field to hunt; and, the size of the field requiring knowledge of 

 condition should be restricted to two acres. "Baiting" should not apply to any crop planted 

 by owners of the field. Additionally, the role of U.S. Fish & Wildlife should be to protect 

 wildlife, not to allow hunters to unknowingly violate a law just so the agency can issue 

 citations/fines. I consider this law, as enforced, an example of a federally created 

 adversarial relationship that can only alienate the government from the people it serves. 



