Taxpayers paying for “High Fence Operations”:

[popgun]

Taxpayers paying for “High Fence Operations”:
If this post belongs in a different room, please feel free to move it.
I talked to an old friend today.
His son-in-law owns a lot of land near Provo, Utah, and farms alfalfa.
I’m talking about thousands of acres of alfalfa.
For those who don’t already know, alfalfa is sometimes called Purple Medic, Lucecne, or Trefoil.
Either he knows all the right people, or knows none of the right people.
You can be the judge.
He had hundreds and hundreds of elk and deer eating his alfalfa crops, and doing thousands of dollars of damage to his fences every year.
We taxpayers were paying to repair his fences, but somehow in the government’s infinite wisdom, the government said they were no longer going help to pay repair on his fences. They also would only issue him a couple of elk permits each year, which was not much help.
This is where the story gets interesting.
I had asked about hunting his property several years ago and was told that he hardly ever lets anyone hunt on his property.

Rather than the government helping to pay for fixing his fences, the government has decided to put up their own government fencing around the property.
Miles and miles of high fence that is attached to big steel posts set in concrete, at a cost of over 2.5 million bucks.
I have been told that my friend and his son-in-law watched, as the elk bounced off this new high fence. The elk cannot crash through, and the deer cannot jump over.
A few months ago, they had helicopters, men on four-wheelers, and men on horseback, (all paid by the government) herding all the animals off the property through the unfinished portion of the fence.
Now there are gates and cattle guards etc. to keep everything off the property.
I don’t know how valuable this alfalfa crop is to the government, but we sure used a lot of taxpayer money to protect it.
From what information I can gather, the government has no guarantees.
A year or two from now, the owner could pull some fence and attract the elk back onto the farm, and seal them back up in there, and sell high fenced hunts.
Alfalfa could be trucked in cheaper than what this operation cost.
I cannot imagine that this alfalfa farmer paid so much in taxes that the government was willing to protect his income with this kind of outlay of funds.
It looks to me like if you want to start a high fenced operation, you could just buy a lot of land and get the government to build the fencing for you.
I guess you would have to plant alfalfa first, and complain to the right people, but at any rate, I think we are getting ripped off.
I can’t see spending this kind of money to protect one farmer’s income or help him to start another high fenced hunting operation.
We can’t seem to keep the “Fence Fund” along our Mexican border financed, but our taxes are paying for this?
What are your thoughts?
….popgun

[stevebeilgard]

pretty stupid to put millions of dollars into a fence for one farmer. i'd rather see it on the border. and let's face it... you or i could have put up that same fence for 10% of what the feds paid

[Finn]

Sounds like just another "earmark"

[wtnhunt]

Kind of curious as to how this farmer was able to get the government to dump that kind of money into a fence?

[Texan_Til_I_Die]

As usual, government stupidity knows no limits.

[naterade81]

Where is Abe Lincoln when you need him.

[Leo]

Kind of curious as to how this farmer was able to get the government to dump that kind of money into a fence?

I agree. That's something every landowner I know would be interested to learn.

[Mathews XT Man]

First off, Alfalfa is NOT called Trefoil..although they are both legumes, two different plants totally. Trust me, I know.

Secondly;
Im doubting very much the Government footed the bill on this, more than likely, it was a cost share program where the farmer paid a higher percentage of the cost of the fence than the Governement. Thats the way it is set up normally for wildlife abatement.

remember the old adage;

beleive non of what you hear, and half of what you see.

[EKYhunter]

Seems to me these people had a golden oppurtunity to sell some hunts and make some extra cash! I mean, even if they were only alloted a few tags themselves, couldn't others buy tags OTC or through the states drawing system? I understand that the fence is now put up but it seems fishy to me. Who owned the land where the fence was put up? The Govt or the people you know?