As federal budget negotiations heated up in Washington, local sportsmen and businesses were left in the cold with the December shutdown of the Crab Orchard Wildlife Refuge, according to area hunters and local business owners.

Dave Lienard, an avid refuge hunter from Highland, was one sportsman upset over the shutdown. Lienard said public hunting is designed for those who cannot afford to frequent local clubs.

Public hunting is aimed at the guy who wants to take his kids hunting, Lienard said. I like to hunt on public land and I think the shutdown was a real disservice to all sportsmen.

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I believe congress should start giving something back to the working class.

A total of 48 blinds exist within Crab Orchard’s controlled area, which several hunters can occupy on a daily basis at a cost of $20 per trip.

Lienard said the Dec. 19 to Jan. 5 shutdown came at a very bad time a time when many hunters take their vacations in order to go hunting.

It came during Christmas break and impacted a lot of hunters, Lienard said. It should never have happened.

Although the shutdown has left a sour taste in the mouths of many Southern Illinois hunters, John Mabery, a wildlife biologist at the refuge, said refuge officials had no way of preventing it.

It was beyond our control, Mabery said. Basically all federal agencies were shutdown at the time, including ours, the Fish and Wildlife Service.

There is no question that the shutdown took the opportunity away for hunters on the refuge, particularly the general public who do not have access to commercial hunting clubs.

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Larry Bowman, director of tourism for Williamson County, said area hunters were confused about why they could not exercise their right to hunt.

I can sympathize with the hunters, Bowman said. The shutdown is a prime example of how tightly interwoven our national government is into our local economy and daily lives.

Bowman said the Southern Illinois quota zone, comprised of Jackson, Williamson, Union and Alexander counties, benefits greatly from the revenue generated from each year’s goose season.

We hang our hat on the waterfowl hunting, Bowman said. The hunting season to us is just like an 89 day business that opens up, then closes.

The shutdown definitely caused a negative effect on our economic side.

Although it will be sometime before the exact amount of money lost can be determined, Bowman estimates Williamson County alone lost at least $30,000 a week during the shutdown. Bowman said Williamson county gained approximately $10 million dollars in revenue during last year’s season.

Unfortunately, Williamson County was not the only area hurt during the shutdown.

Officials at Carbondale’s Wildlife Refuge, a retail store specializing in hunting apparel, said the shutdown resulted in a decline in the store’s sales.

The shutdown did hurt us slightly, Wildlife Refuge assistant manager Carol Borst said. It definitely hurt our sales in hunting apparel.

Borst said many waterfowl hunters flock to the Wildlife Refuge to purchase hunting items and inquire about where the best areas to hunt are.

She said hunters were simply forced to cancel their trips because of the shutdown, resulting in a loss of business.

At this point we cannot provide exact figures, and its really hard to say if our decline in business was a direct cause of the shutdown, but anytime we have a bad year it hurts us, Borst said.

In addition to the Wildlife Refuge, Carbondale’s Mississippi Flyway, a popular restaurant retreat for area hunters, also witnessed a decline in business during the shutdown period.

We’ve seen a loss from the people who were unable to hunt at the refuge, Mississippi Flyway manager Frank Hiller said. We get business from quite a few people including one group of about 8 hunters who rent a hotel room for an entire month and come in here at least four times a week. But, because of the shutdown, they were forced to cancel their trip.

With only 12 days of hunting remaining, Bowman said there is no indication that the goose season will be extended. Unfortunately, there is no indication whether or not the federal budget debacle will be solved either.