Barely taller than the podium in front of the Arizona Game and Fish Commission, eight-year-old Ellie Grace reached up, pulled the microphone down to her level and confidently spoke into it, saying, “When I grow up, I want to trap, hunt and fish. Please don’t take away any of those things.”
The second grader (see photo to the right), who holds an active, certified Arizona trapping license, was among about two and a half dozen Arizonans of all ages and backgrounds who offered public comment against a petition filed by extremist groups to ban the use of dogs to hunt mountain lions and other species.
Many of the commenters did not hunt lions or bears with dogs, but are big game and bird hunters that recognize the petition as the latest attack on hunting methods and a larger attack on both scientific wildlife management and hunting in general.
“A clear message was sent that, like we were in Colorado, the hunting community is united and will oppose attacks on hunting as a commission petition, legislation or ballot measure,” said Ryan Bronson, director of government affairs at the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.
RMEF played an instrumental funding and public outreach role in helping defeat Proposition 127, a Colorado ballot initiative that looked to ban the hunting of mountain lions and bobcats.
Like Ellie Grace, RMEF strongly opposes the petition.
Arizona Game and Fish Commissioners did not debate the petition at this meeting but will take up the issue at a meeting in 2025.
(Photo credit: Arizona Department of Wildlife)