Idaho House Committee Debates Hunters Using ATVs

(AP) -Debate will continue today over whether the Idaho Department of Fish and Game should be able  to dictate where ATV-mounted hunters can pursue big game. The House Resources Committee is considering a bill that would strip the agency's authority to limit hunting from vehicles to established roads in designated areas. Fish and Game deputy director Sharon Kiefer says that power is an important wildlife management tool that helps prevent the overharvest of big game animals. Advocates of the bill challenge the scientific necessity of the limits. Idaho requires hunters on public land in a third of Idaho's 99 hunting units to stay clear of off-road vehicle or jeep trails,

which are reserved for unarmed ATV riders.