California wildlife officials setting up checkpoint
California Department of Fish and Wildlife offiicials will be conducting a wildlife checkpoint operation in the Eastern Sierra in late April to promote safety, education and compliance with laws and regulations.
CDFW wildlife officers will be conducting the inspection on westbound Highway 108, north of Bridgeport, on April 27 from 8am-4pm, weather permitting.
The wildlife checkpoint is being conducted to protect and conserve fish and wildlife, and to encourage safety and sportsmanship by promoting voluntary compliance with laws, rules and regulations through education, preventative patrol and enforcement.
All anglers and hunters will be required to stop and submit to an inspection. CDFW officers will also be providing informative literature about the invasive quagga mussel and New Zealand mudsnail.
Police state
Thanks to the Fish and Game people for protecting our common lands and waters from the piggish fanny apertures-legal and judicious hunting and fishing our precious wildlife is not a 1st come 1st served-I’ll get mine screw you contest
Doesn’t sound very voluntary if “all vehicles are required to stop and submit to an inspection”.
If you don’t like it don’t buy a license and agree to it.
Dogula – its a voluntary contract, nobody is forcing you to buy a hunting license.
I have always had a license and obeyed the laws so I have no problem with this. I see this as a way to get the LA types caught for poaching more than they can legally have. Any time they can keep LA people from coming up here is always a good thing.
Dog, you don’t get out much do you. If you want to visit some real police states around the world, I can send you some directions. Requiring people who have (or suppose to have) acquired a license to hunt or fish to stop and submit to an inspection to ensure they are in compliance with said permit or license, and providing education material as part of the process is not a police state, it is a measure of good stewardship, appropriate monitoring of the rules and an opportunity for positive interaction with CDFW.
Rick
It’s been years since I had a hunting or fishing license; do applicants sign a search consent when they apply?
I still prefer to call it like it is….not all political BS. It’s CDF and GAME. Game animals. I can bet it was Liberal non hunters, non fishermen who had nothing better to do so they decided they were offended by calling it GAME. What a pathetic state Cali-Lib-Mexico is.
@Copper: You roused my curiosity, about whether a hunter signed away his rights on receiving a license, and so far I haven’t been able to find anything that consents to a search.
This is the current license application and rules:
https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=46070&inline=1
Dog and others please see this response. Came from an official response on CDFWs website. http://californiaoutdoorsqas.com/2013/11/21/did-game-warden-have-the-right-to-search-my-car/
Whether an officer has the authority to conduct an inspection when consent is not given depends upon the specific circumstances of the contact. Wildlife officers have extensive inspection authorities that are unique to their jobs. For example, it is a crime to refuse to show an wildlife officer “… all licenses, tags, and the birds, mammals, fish, reptiles or amphibians taken or otherwise dealt with under this code, and any device or apparatus designed to be, and capable of being, used to take birds, mammals, fish, reptiles, or amphibians” (Fish and Game Code, section 2012). Also, wildlife officers are authorized to inspect all receptacles, except the clothing actually worn by a person at the time of inspection, where birds, mammals, fish, reptiles, or amphibians may be stored or placed (FGC, section 1006).
Gaspen, only about 11 state agencies have game in their title. http://fishwildlife.org/?section=member_list
In California 2/3 of the budget is for no-game expenses. Biodiversity programs, Endangered species, CEQA, Streambed Alteration Agreements, other permits, etc.
Rick
Dogula, we don’t sign away our rights. We agree to rules of sport that have been proven effective at management of wildlife populations for posterity and sport.
Back in my duck hunting days I got searched several times. They wanted to see the number of ducks was within the limits and to check my hunting license and to see if I was using steel shot, as lead shot had been banned for shooting ducks with the trusty old 12 gauge.
This all took place in Fallon Nevada years ago.
Miss you my old hunting buddies, Dan and Ray! I’ll be joining you in the happy hunting grounds in the sky one day and we can reminisce about our days wearing our waders,standing in the water waiting for the Mallards flying by or landing next to our decoys that we set in open water. Take care and happy hunting. OLS
Fish and Game have more power to search then any other law authority. With that ability comes great responsibility on their part not to abuse but to put it to good use. That is one agency you don’t hear about abusing their power. I hunt and fish and I follow the rules and bust me if I don’t because I am screwing it up for others.
Look at how many abalone divers they catch every year way over their limit. Not to mention the poachers of deer, bear and others.
The real question is, how do they determine to pull cars over? Is it only people who volunteer that they are hunters or fisherman? Or will they pull everyone over and ask? By what right? That’s what I have a problem with. There are border patrol and “Homeland Security” checkpoints all over the west far from the borders. Now they’re pulling citizens over under cover of F&G. Americans are being treated as guilty until proven innocent far too often and too easily these days.
And some of us are getting tired of it.
Whaaaaaaa
Im playing my little violin…..
Homeland security checkpoints? Dog, what now? Airports and border crossings are the only place I’ve seen them.