A Great Day in the Valley

Had a great day today. It's a nice change to get out and do something fun with your kids instead of worrying about things. No Internet forums, no blogs, no letter writing, meetings or hard feelings!
Jack Rich, my good friend and mentor of the famous Rich Ranch http://www.richranch.com/ invited Alan and I to come along on one of their snowmobile tours. It was absolutely awesome. We traveled up the Swan and went past Morrell Falls to some slides way up in the hills... and had a barbecue. Now folks, that's livin'.

Anyway, I'm home now, and blissfully tired. Julie and Paige are returning from Spokane, WA. They went over to watch the national cross country championships. They're returning tonight so they can do a road race tomorrow. My girls love to run. Next week we're taking Paige down to Pocatello, Idaho so she can run in the famous Simplot Games held each year at Idaho State University.

Hope you all have a great weekend, and we'll talk to you soon. Go out and do something fun with someone you love. It'll change your life.
Greg

Good Morning, Montana!

Well, I think people are starting to realize that I -161 is out there, it's real, and it threatens a lot that we hold near and dear in Montana. I'm going to step back this morning and let an old friend/guest of our take the floor. She and her family have come to Montana many times to be with us. They are no longer clients- they are friends and family. She said it better than I can this morning. So, with that, have a great day, do what you do best, and we'll see you soon.
Greg

Beware of the Kurt Kephart Rhetoric:

As an out-of- stater I'd like to weigh in on this I-161 debacle.
I've been reading the arguements from both sides of the aisle; for and against.
Those against I-161 own the common sense and intelligent side of the issue.
The www.stop161.org put it all into perspective for me.
I'm for the outfitters!

Kephart's propaganda is loaded with statements such as "...the outfitting industry's selfish interests."..."...rob many Montana families of their cherished family values..."
In other articles he refers to those able to afford out of state licenses as "wealthy non residents". Yes, lets insert class envy shall we? Wealthy? The lion share of the people who buy these tags aren't wealthy but hard working individuals who save all year so they can go on a hunt.
Let's demonize both the out-of- stater as "wealthy" and the outfitters as "greedy"
In Kephart's world 'It just isn't fair' so he draws from the old 'bleeding heart' playbook.

Most of these outfitters are small business owners. Their life's blood depends on sponsored licenses.
Imagine what I-161 will do to their businesses? Proposing to kill the Outfitter Sponsored Licenses and jacking up the price of the B-10 and B-11 license is asinine. It's the same insanity that supports raising taxes to generate growth and revenue.
I have vactioned for years in Montana with my friends who are outfitters. These are hard working people who love and respect the land they draw their living from. They pay their taxes and contribute to their community.

I say put Kephart against an outfitter in a public debate and let the people see for themselves. I don't believe he can make it past 10 minutes. His thought is all emotion based, not fact based.

This is a classic case of someone wanting to pass 'feel good' legislation that will have 0 benefit on the state of Montana. Idaho mistakenly passed this same legislation and it's failed miserably resulting in over $1M in shortfalls. Imagine the impact this is having on their wildlife management and conservation.

Don't do it Montana.
How do you take down traditions, values and prosperity? ...one bite at a time and this I-161 is a mouthful.

LS
San Jose, CA

It's time to ramp up the volume! The gloves are off!

As I told you last night, I just returned from Great Falls. I went to the Great Rockies Sport Show to help man the MOGA booth. Our purpose there was to oppose I-161. Well, folks... we need to get our message out. I'm going to share some of my observations with you as a small business owner and a family man. I have a vested interest in this fight, and I cannot afford to lose this battle.

I actually spoke with Kurt Kephart. I started to get upset to the point that I had to just walk away. Kurt Kephart looked me right in the face and said "I don't really have a problem with you guys over in the wilderness on public land..." To which I replied "Don't you understand that you are NOT going to put the big, private land outfitters out of business, but this could put me under?" His reply? "Yes, I understand this could be hard on some of you." In other words, he apparently doesn't care if I go out of business, as long as he advances his agenda.

Kurt Kephart and his followers make no effort to disguise their intentions. They fully intend to cripple the outfitting industry, and Kurt cannot and WILL NOT imply that I-161 will do anything to improve landowner/hunter relations, or increase public access on private ground. There are many industry experts that feel this could actually widen that gap. They sell the petitions with partial truths, with assumptions, with distortions of the truth that encourage people to sign a petition that they normally would not consider signing. What if Kurts' banner said:
"Let's hurt Montana small family business because we can't shoot deer on private land!"
How many people would sign that?

Before I left Kurt's booth (I actually walked right over to his table to talk to him) I challenged him to defend his position to a man standing at the table. This was a Montana citizen considering whether or not to sign the petition. I asked Kurt to "Tell this man what good it will do HIM and the state of Montana if he signs that petition." That's it right there, folks. What GOOD will come of this? Because we know that it's going to cause a lot of hurt.
I actually said to him "This is your ten seconds of fame in front of me. Convince that man right there." Well, Kurt could not or would not answer that question. He literally just sat there, and the guy walked off. We wouldn't want the truth to get in the way now, would we?
Kurt intends to hurt me and my family, and I can't just sit by and let it happen. And he doesn't have the guts to admit that in front of my face. What the hell did I ever do to him? I never hurt his family, never damaged his future, and when he lost access to a place he used to hunt on, I'm sure that in did not imperil his family, business or future. That's what he's trying to do to me.

So, where do we go from here? I am going to ask everyone that ever met our family, that ever enjoyed the Bob Marshall or the Blackfoot Valley with us, or that's just a family friend, to get involved.

• Go to the new web site http://stop161.org/index.php Read through it and act now.
• Talk to your fellow hunters and friends, and make sure they understand what's going on. There is a LOT of misinformation being spread about I-161.
• Write letters- the web site has write-in links to all the major newspapers in Montana. Comment on blog sites and forums.
• We are going to need your help financially. We've spent a lot of money already to fight this, and it will cost a lot more. If this makes the November ballot, it could cost hundreds of thousands to fight.
• If you see a petition out there, don't sign it, and encourage others not to. Talk to them about why they think they should sign in support of I-161.

At the Great Falls show, Kurt's booth had a huge banner that said (and I may be wrong on the exact wording) something about 'Preserve your Montana hunting heritage (or tradition)'. Either way, you get the point- it's an emotional ploy. Hurting the Montana outfitter, hurting small business, hurting tourism... with no guarantee, no real intention of a positive outcome, is NOT a good way to do business in Montana. I-161 is not written to do anything GOOD for Montana. It's laser focused to hurt Montana citizens because of the anger and frustration of a few.

Please get involved. Call me, write me, write to MOGA... and stay in the loop.

That's all I have for now,

Greg

Well, here we go..

I just got back from Great Falls this evening. I spent the weekend at a sport show working in a MOGA booth. I met Kurt Kephart. Now, my resolve is complete. It's hard to meet someone face to face that wants to hurt me, my family, my life.
I'm not going to spend much time tonight... tired and need to go to bed. Here is the Missoulian article. Check in tomorrow morning, and find out how you can help.
Have a great evening.
Greg

http://www.missoulian.com/news/local/article_6c4c2022-13ac-11df-a860-001cc4c002e0.html

It's Friday Afternoon!

Howdy Folks!

Welcome back. I've been off doing stuff for a few days. I was also waiting for a few things to break on the I-161 front. I did an interview with the Missoulian on Wednesday. I'll post it when it comes out. It hasn't hit the newsstand yet, but... as you probably guessed, it's about I-161.

On another topic all together, bookings are steady this year, and it looks to be a real busy summer. We have several pack trips booked, but we have a lot of openings on those existing pack trips. Jump on-line and check out the schedule. If you have a need for the hills, give us a call and I'll get you in.

Hunting bookings are good also. We only have one hunt left to fill, so we're real encouraged my that. Jump on our hunting page and see what those dates are.

Looks like we could be heading down to our old stomping grounds of Pocatello, Idaho. Paige could be running in the Simplot Games, the huge, nationally recognized indoor high school track meet held each year at Idaho State University. She is running really well, and we look forward to the spring track season.

That's all I have for now. It's snowing outside and I'm getting cabin fever.

Huh... isn't that a song? As always, I encourage all of you that check out the Upsata Blog to comment. Share your thoughts on all things. And check out the Upsata store on-line.

Happy Trails,

Greg

Beating the drum on I-161

Good morning. Sorry I missed you. I had to take the hard drive into Missoula yesterday for one Gig of additional RAM... what is this new language we've created? But, it's supposed to make the computer much faster. I think it is... I'm still waiting to find out.

MOGA's Executive Director, Mac Minard, was interviewed on NPR last night, along with Kurt Kephart regarding Initiative 161. I encourage you to listen to it. The actual meat of the interview only lasts a few minutes. It gives Kephart's side of the story too. Here it is:

http://www.mtpr.net/program_info/2010-02-01-132

The Great Falls Tribune had a story about it yesterday. I want to keep telling all of you out there about this because we haven't faced a bigger threat to our industry in years. This single initiative threatens the very foundation of our outfitting industry. Indulge me long enough to make a few points:

• We need to know how many clients we will have in the fall to submit our itinerary to the Forest Service. Itineraries and fees are due in April. We can't wait for the draw, and it isn't practical to pay for a 'guess' at how much business we'll do.
• Preseason deposits help keep this business chugging in the winter. They help us maintain equipment, stock, and do some marketing for the upcoming season. We rely upon that, and I-161 takes away our ability to secure clients for the upcoming season.
• The Outfitter Sponsored License is not a subsidy or a guaranteed client. It's quite the opposite. It's the most expensive license in the West, and we have to sell it to our clients to help fund the state's hunter access program. It's a market based tag, designed by law to average 5500 per year. If we oversell, the price goes up; undersell and it comes down. At the '08 and '09 price of $1500, many outfitters, including me, were forced to freeze or lower the cost of our hunts to make the overall price affordable for our clients. I hardly think that's a state subsidy!
• The idea that taking away our Outfitter Sponsored Tags will create better public access on private ground is almost laughable. On the contrary, many landowners view this as an attack on private property rights. We simply CANNOT force private landowners to allow access onto their land.

That's enough out of me for now. I need to get the rest of the morning going. As always, I encourage you to comment on this blog, or search the web for more content and comment where applicable. Don't be afraid to tell them who you are and why you care! I'm off for now- I leave you with a great photo of some lovely ladies we took to the Bob Marshall last summer. They're coming back this year with more friends- it's going to be a great trip!

Happy Trails,

Greg Gilchrist