Re: Nonresident Landowners, check out this website
"Friends of Iowa" what a joke! The sad thing is too many people probably won't see the real intent of this group because of the thick layer of crap smeared on the cover ... and the constant waiving of the QDMA flag will likely give it more clout with some people. I wonder if QDMA realizes that Dr. Mickey is using their name and reputation to advance his private interests.
I also thought the "Board of Directors" was interesting ... I spoke with Cory Wiedel a few years ago and at that time he was buying Iowa hunting ground as an investment hoping for the nonresident rules to change and then cash in. Last year he posted on the QDMA forum asking opinions on how much Iowa land values would increase if the nonresident rules changed. He recently posted on Iowa Whitetails asking about how well it would work to set up snowfence in your timber to funnel deer to your stand. That's a less than impressive idea from a board member of an organization that really just cares about the health of Iowa's deer herd. Another board member, Mike Sorensen, works for Cory managing his properties so he likely has a financial stake involved with his concern for Iowa's deer herd. I would guess that a closer look at the other professional looking members of this organization would reveal some financial benefit they each will recieve by increasing nonresident hunting.
Dr. Tricky Mickey's group needs to be a wake up call for all of us. It's probably time to join the IBA if you haven't already and get involved. As Dr. Mickey told us last year in his post ... "the DNR needs to stop catering to the lowest common denominator of hunters" so if you aren't wealthy enough to own ground in Iowa, Dr. Mickey is going to try and make sure hunting in Iowa is not in your future.
Get involved, support the DNR sustainable funding legislation, and talk with your lawmakers about the real intentions of this group and the problems they will create for deer management in Iowa.
