As Mississippi’s wildlife commission and the qualifications to become a commissioner continue to be a hot topic, a well-known outdoorsman is presenting his concerns to state leaders.
Will Primos, the founder of Primos Hunting, penned a letter on Sunday to members of the Senate Wildlife Committee, Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, and Gov. Tate Reeves. In it, he pleaded with decision-makers to rethink their decisions when it comes to choosing not to change the makeup of the Commission on Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks.
Primos points to three bills, two of which (House Bill 188 and Senate Bill 2460) would have expanded the commission from five members to nine with four additional members required to have a background in biological science. The other (Senate Bill 2290) would have limited the number of consecutive terms a commissioner could serve. All three died in committee last Tuesday.
The letter goes on to ask Senate leaders to block the upcoming confirmation of Wildlife Commissioner Leonard Bentz, citing allegations that Bentz has consistently made anti-science decisions and statements over chronic wasting disease (CWD) zones in Mississippi.
“Let’s get together again to benefit the public of Mississippi by NOT voting for the confirmation of Commissioner Leonard Bentz and let’s revisit the two bills that would have created an important conversation about the qualifications of commission members,” Primos wrote. “WE NEED SCIENCE-BASED DECISIONS if we are going to make a lasting difference for all Mississippi outdoorsmen and women for generations to come.”
The qualms over the commission’s current makeup in general, according to Primos, come from some of the members’ nonchalant attitudes over CWD and the disastrous ramifications it could reap on deer populations if not kept in check. Fearing that the commission could make a perceivably rash decision to allow white-tailed deer to be purchased and sold, elevating the chances of CWD spreading, the prominent Mississippi outdoorsman deems it necessary to have a presence of commissioners with scientific prowess making decisions on wildlife matters.
Frustrated with the legislature’s refusal to pass the bills and the governor’s unwillingness to back them due to an alleged desire to avoid increasing government in Mississippi, Primos joined Monday’s episode of SuperTalk Outdoors with Ricky Mathews to challenge Reeves to reach out to him so the two can discuss the importance of the state’s outdoor resources.
“I want to challenge Tate Reeves … I challenge him to call me because I want him to understand what it is to be a Mississippi outdoorsman — to live and breathe and wake up every day wanting to be there,” Primos said. “Tate Reeves, call me. This is too dad gum important to not understand what we’re dealing with. We need qualified, good people on that commission to make good decisions.”
Primos, and other experts in outdoors spheres, are also concerned that the commission having the capability to legalize buying and selling white-tailed deer would set hunting back hundreds of years when the king and his royalty owned the rights to the outdoors, not the public. The worry is that a few rich and politically connected individuals would transfer deer into high-fenced enclosures and have people pay to hunt on their land, which again, is believed to open Pandora’s box in terms of CWD spreading.
“I’m not against some guy wanting to grow a big buck, but I’m against what is evidently leading to more CWD — transferring and selling deer pin to pin. The deer belong to the people of Mississippi. They don’t belong to anyone individually,” Primos concluded.
