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Deadline to send written comments to SDGFP Commission June 2024 Meeting – Act to Protect Raccoons

June 2 @ 10:50 pm - 10:59 pm

Midnight CT is the deadline to send written comments to SDGFP Commission June 2024 Meeting – Act to Protect Raccoons

Sunday June 2nd at just before Midnight CT is the deadline to send written comments in to SDGFP for inclusion in the public record of the meeting. If comments are late they go into the public record for the next meeting (July).

Go to June 6th–7th Commission meeting announcement for more more details and instructions on how to submit comments or testify (at hybrid Commission meetings). https://phas-wsd.org/event/sd-game-fish-and-parks-commission-june-meeting/

or

Written comments to SDGFP Commission can be submitted at https://gfp.sd.gov/forms/positions/. To be included in the public record of the next meeting, comments must include your complete name and city of residence and meet the submission deadline of seventy–two hours before the meeting (not including the day of the meeting) (Usually Sunday night before midnight CT or MT depending on time zone of physical meeting)  If you miss that deadline it goes to record of the next meeting .
You can testify at GFP meetings which are held in person and by Zoom, generally at 2 pm on the Thursday of the meeting, in time zone of the meeting. If there is rule finalization(s) you get 3 minutes per each rule you want to testify on. During the Open Forum, you get 3 minutes to testify on anything.

Unless you want to communicate directly with each Commissioner  (those comments will not be in the public record)–  https://gfp.sd.gov/commission/members/  (no deadline). You can see phones and home address at this link.  Here are likely e-mails for them.

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For  the June meeting we ask people to write or testify against the rule proposal/finalization to allow for out-of-state hunters to use hounds to hunt raccoons.  You would be objecting to the rule proposal for raccoons.  This proposal came about, due  to petition for rule making by hound hunter in fall 2023.

The two goals expressed by hound hunters were to allow hound hunting friends from out-of-state to hound hunt with locals and the other goal was to help facilitate large raccoon hound hunting events. We want people to testify against collective hound hunting of small animals as a recreational event or a form of recreational sport that hunters in SD have a right to expect the Commission to facilitate.

Here is a link to the rule proposal (that you should oppose): https://phas-wsd.org/wp-content/uploads/Raccoons.Hound_HuntRule.June23Commission.pdf

We also ask for people to also write in opposition to hound hunting of mt. lions in the Black Hills, which has been asked for by hound hunters and is currently being considered/thought about by the Commission/Staff, but no formal proposal is before them yet.  We expect the changes to mountain lion hunting season (if any) and the new 2024 mt lion management Action Plan  to be offered at the July meeting, with finalization (vote) in September.  We expect the staff to propose to expand hound hunting of cougars  in the Black Hills.

So we are also asking people to be writing against hound hunting of SD wildlife generally and getting your friend to do so also.

In SD, all wildlife can be hound  hunted unless specifically prohibited.  Big game can’t be hunted with hounds , with the exception that GFP allows mt. lions to be hunted by hounds,  in Custer State Park and on the Prairie Unit.  Bobcats, whose pelts are worth a lot of money, can be hound hunted.  Currently raccoons can’t be hound hunted by out-of-staters.

Oglala Sioux Tribe allows hound hunting of lions within their jurisdiction by tribal and non-tribal members.  Rosebud Sioux Tribe might be allowing it in the future for their lions, by tribal members. Nebraska allows hound hunting of lions, but limits it to after the “boot hunt”if the “boot  hunt” fails to reach the harvest limit.. Wyoming allows hound hunting of lions and I think non-lethal pursuit (which means hound hunters can chase and tree lions without killing them).  Non-lethal pursuit has also been proposed by hound hunters for SD (but not approved) and people should write in opposition to that also. .

Also visit our web pages on protecting raccoons in SD,

https://phas-wsd.org/protect-sd-raccoons/

our mountain lion/cougar web page

https://phas-wsd.org/cougar-alert/.

and our nest predator bounty program web page.

https://phas-wsd.org/sd-nest-predator-bounty-program/

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PHAS November 2023 meeting on Raccoons – watch this for inspiration!

November 29th, 2023
There are two recordings of this meeting (for two speakers).  Discussion of event’s topics/speakers can be found at this link: https://phas-wsd.org/event/likely-date-phass-november-members-meeting-topic-raccoons/
The first half of the meeting, was about raccoons.  The initial recording was accidentally cut off towards the end of Q&A on the raccoon presentation. Recording of meeting starts again in the next recording  where the end of first speaker’s  presentation precedes the second speakers presentation.  Nancy Hilding’s presentation is on SD Game, Fish and Park’s policy with respect to meso-carnivores – especially the Nest Predator Bounty Program and hound hunting of raccoons.
Links to part 1 and part 2
Part 1 Katherine’s presentation on raccoons: https://vimeo.com/890441992/e8cdc3f64f
Part 2 – The end of Katherine’s & all of Nancy’s presentation:  https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/890467767/5713cb96ae

 

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eadline to send written comments to SDGFP Commission June Meeting

Details

Date:
June 2
Time:
10:50 pm - 10:59 pm