Over at Nothing but Love/golfblogger, we read that the cost of an annual pass to Glacier National Park has been increased to $50.

Now I have some opinions about this, excuse me very much.

I’ve always believed that public lands should be free to the public. Here in my neck of the woods, folks have been known to protest this very issue. And I think a state fishing license should be free for anyone in the state in which they live and pay taxes. I’m more than happy to pay as a guest in another state. My logic is self-evident, yes?

Hunting licenses shouldn’t be required at all. Hunting should be illegal, except for Native Americans, on Tribal lands. And don’t tell me it’s a sport. It’s a savage, pointless, stupid anachronism. It’s not a sport unless both sides know they’re in the game and have an equal chance to win.

Ooh, here’s a better idea: proxy hunters to play this “sport” for the animals. While the hunters are hunting for animals, an equal number of people are hunting the hunters, on behalf of the animals. So if I say, “I play for the bears,” you can take it literally. No, you can’t switch sides. And yes, points would be given to both sides for the quickest, most humane kill. That would be so very interesting, don’t you think? It’s made for television!

Reminds me of an old joke.

Two guys are hunting in the woods. They hunt all day, and don’t find any game. At dusk, they’re tired and having drifted a short distance apart, they’re crunching through the brush. In his exhaustion, one man accidentally shoots the other.

He rushes his buddy to the hosptial.

He sits in the waiting room, reading Field & Stream.

In a short time, the doctor comes out, looking grave.

“How’s my friend, doctor?”

“Well, he’s dead. But he might have made it. We might have saved him, if you hadn’t field dressed him and strapped him to the hood of your pickup.”