Pheasant hunters are crying fowl over Gov. Rod Blagojevich's proposal to close three state-run pheasant hatcheries, including one in rural Lincoln, and halt pheasant hunting at 14 state parks and conservation areas.

In Central Illinois, pheasant hunting would stop at Moraine View State Park near LeRoy, the Mackinaw River State Fish and Wildlife Area in Tazewell County, Clinton Lake State Recreation Area in DeWitt County and at Edward Madigan State Park in Logan County.

Illinois Department of Natural Resources spokeswomen Paris Ervin said the agency would find other jobs for the 13 employees who work at the hatcheries.

Organizers for Pheasants Forever, an international conservation and hunting group, plan to ask allies in the General Assembly to introduce resolutions opposing the move. State Rep. Dan Reitz, D-Steeleville, who chairs the Legislative Sportsmen's Caucus, plans meetings this week to work out a plan to save the program. The caucus counts about two-thirds of both legislative chambers among its members.

The governor's Office of Management and Budget, which supports the closures, is squawking about dollars and cents.

"Raising pheasants at a financial loss, just so they can be killed, is not one of our top priorities, particularly when the state is facing a $750 million budget gap for FY08," said OMB spokeswoman Kelley Quinn.

But hunters say public land offers a chance to hunt for people who can't afford higher-priced game farms, the disabled and young people in a state where pheasants thrived before modern farming practices reduced available habitat.

"Put-and-take hunting is the last readily available land access for working family hunters," said Gerald Rodeen, a Paxton attorney on the national board of directors of Pheasants Forever, an international hunting and conservation organization.

Illinois currently runs three pheasant hatcheries: the Helfrich Game Propagation Center in rural Lincoln; the Des Plaines Game Propagation Center in Wilmington; and the Mount Vernon Game Propagation Center in Mount Vernon. The state's cost to produce about 60,000 birds is about $1.3 million annually, according to IDNR.

However, how much of the cost is recouped from hunters is in dispute. Reitz has heard about $450,000. If manpower costs are subtracted, the price tag to raise pheasants falls to about $375,000 a year, he said.

Hunters currently pay $15 for two birds. Quinn first said the cost to raise each bird was $87. She later said the $87 price tag covered two birds, or $43.50 each. When asked how that figure was reached, Ervin estimated the cost at about $20 a bird.

But, in 2004, Terry Musser, who oversees the pheasant program, estimated the cost of each bird at $8 when the Humane Society first criticized the program. Hunters were self-supporting at that time, Musser said. Ervin said she thinks Musser neglected to factor in some of the overhead, including manpower. Reitz pointed out personnel costs would continue under OMB's plan.

Musser and Ron Willmore, who operates the Lincoln hatchery, declined comment last week.

"We want to find out the real numbers," Reitz said. "We want to see exactly the real costs and figure out a way to make this profitable for the state of Illinois. We have an obligation to provide outdoor opportunities."

Reitz said one option is to hike hunting fees, which were last raised in 1991. He thinks the state-run operation could become a money maker. He also thinks critics are overlooking the secondary benefits the state derives from taxes on the sale of gear, licenses, food and gasoline.

"I think the bureau of the budget is making an ill-advised decision. We're going to try to put together a plan to make the program more economically feasible," he said.

Rodeen said ending public hunting would cause other fallout. When hunters lose access to places to hunt, they become discouraged and quit the sport. That, in turn, leads to a decline in the number of sportsmen and sportswomen who donate millions of dollars each year to conservation efforts nationwide through hunting licenses, direct contributions and spending on habitat projects. They also pay federal taxes on guns, ammunition and gear that are divided among states to support conservation agencies like IDNR, he said.

"What is so particularly disturbing about this proposal from OMB is that it is another wholesale failure to grasp the concept that the hunters of this country have been and will continue to be the most ardent conservationists," said Rodeen. "If you stifle or destroy hunting heritage, the money will be disappearing shortly thereafter. Hunters and fishermen have always paid their way."

Rodeen also is disturbed no one from Blagojevich's administration has discussed alternatives, including raising fees, which he would support.

"What's happening here is they're throwing the baby out with the bathwater. This is the typical way the government bean counters react. Instead of making the program a pay-as-you-go basis, the cost cutters slash the program and ignore the benefits," he said. "Obviously, we are very opposed to the closings and hopefully the saner members of the legislature will prevail."

Aaron Kuehl, field director for the Illinois chapters of Pheasants Forever, fears hunting acres Pheasant Forever owns and manages may suffer from too much hunting pressure if the state program ends. Pheasants Forever sponsors several ventures to improve pheasant numbers, including a program called Habitat Wheels. The group buys land and then works with surrounding landowners to improve habitat for wildlife.

"The few open areas we have couldn't bear the pressure without the (state) program," Kuehl said.

"These put-and-take programs are an important activity for getting youths involved in hunting," added Bruce Thomas, a spokesman for the McLean County chapter of Pheasants Forever. "It also gives many hunters a place to hunt and work their dogs who don't have access to private land. We all know that Illinois has one of the lowest number of acres of public hunting land per capita. These parks are already owned by the state and financed by the public so why not let the public have all the use of them that is possible?"

The Humane Society of the United States thinks put-and-take hunting constitutes a cruel practice and waste of tax dollars.

"Gov. Blagojevich's decision to veto funding for state-operated pheasant rearing facilities is a step in the right direction of eliminating a wasteful program," said Casey Pheiffer, HSUS hunting deputy campaign manager. "Stocking over 60,000-90,000 exotic pheasants (in Illinois) for put-and-take hunting is an affront to sustainable conservation and should not be the business of a state agency mandated to protect the state's natural wildlife."

Kuehl is concerned the pheasant program is just the first target for animal rights groups. IDNR also oversees hatcheries that produce several different kinds of fish for stocking in state-managed reservoirs, Lake Michigan and private ponds. Budget cuts already forced the closing of one fish hatchery in northern Illinois in recent years and staffing levels were cut at others.

"What's next? Anglers should be concerned about this deal," Kuehl said.

State Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington, who has hunted pheasants at Moraine View State Park, agreed a larger issue is at work, he said.

"You are potentially wearing blinders if you're not looking at the whole picture of what conservation has for generations to come," Brady said. "There is a much bigger picture that has to be examined than just saying, 'We'll trim down here or cut this.' …More than an anti-hunting agenda, it's an anti-conservation and anti-environmental agenda. Unfortunately on the surface, it's another example of people looking to dissect a program who don't see the benefits a program. They don't see the forest for the trees."

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On the chopping block

Pheasant hatcheries

• The Helfrich Game Propagation Center in Lincoln.

• The Des Plaines Game Propagation Center in Wilmington.

• The Mount Vernon Game Propagation Center in Mount Vernon.

They produce a total of about 60,000 birds.

Hunting would end at:

• Moraine View near LeRoy

• Mackinaw River in Tazewell County

• Clinton Lake near Clinton

• Edward Madigan in Logan County

• Green River Conservation Area in Lee County

• Johnson Sauk Trail State Park in Henry County

• Des Plaines Conservation Area in Will County

• Eldon Hazlet State Park in Clinton County

• Kankakee River State Park in Kankakee County

• Iroquois County Conservation Area in Iroquois County

• Sangchris Lake State Park in Christian & Sangamon Counties

• Sand Ridge State Park in Mason County

• Jim Edgar Panther Creek State Fish & Wildlife Area in Cass County

• Wayne Fitzgerrell State Park in Franklin & Jefferson counties

Hunting would continue for:

• One year under contract with vendors at four sites.