Sportsmen's group again seeks to change wildlife panel

     Associated Press
      CARSON CITY -- A persistent sportsmen's group opposed to the way the state manages its game fish and animals is at it again in an attempt to change the Nevada Wildlife Commission.
      Hunter's Alert, which has about 500 Nevada members, is the force behind SB127. The bill, set for a Wednesday hearing before the Senate Natural Resources Committee, would give county wildlife boards more say in appointments to the nine-member state commission.
      The group attempted similar legislation in 1995, and got some of it passed. One successful provision requires the commission to have five members who have held state fishing or hunting licenses for three of the past four years.
      But a significant portion of the 1995 measure was gutted, including a provision that would have reduced the number of Southern Nevadans on the commission from three to two.
      Even though that controversial provision isn't in the new bill, few lawmakers are rushing to the side of the hunters' group.
      "I'm open-minded to it," said state Sen. Dean Rhoads, R-Tuscarora, chairman of the Natural Resources Committee. "I believe the board of wildlife commissioners can be open for more input. But this is similar to the bill two years ago that didn't go anywhere. I imagine there will be a lot of opposition."
      Gov. Bob Miller and Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, both have reason to oppose the nonpartisan group headed by Cecil Fredi of Las Vegas.
      Fredi's group wants to weaken the governor's power to name his own commission appointees. Hunter's Alert has been critical of the way the Miller administration has run the Nevada Division of Wildlife.
      The hunters also accused Raggio of using a Wildlife Division helicopter for a personal hunting trip in 1991. But the Nevada Ethics Commission cleared Raggio, siding with the senator's argument that the overnight trip was to learn more about wildlife.