Anti-hunters Pushing Bear, Wolf Hunt Bans
Hunters in the Northeast and Midwest continually must be on guard against anti-hunting groups.
The two most-recent skirmishes surfaced in Michigan and Maine.
On July 2 in Michigan, animal-rightists started a petition to stop the state from controlling its wolf population. If anti-hunters get enough signatures, Michigan voters will decide November 4, 2014, whether to overturn Senate Bill 288, which granted authority to designate game species to the state's Natural Resources Commission.
An anti-hunting coalition, Keep Michigan Wolves Protected, is backed by the nation's most powerful animal-rights organization, the Humane Society of the United States.
The HSUS also has jumped into Maine to put on the ballot (for the second time) a petition to ban bear hunting with the use of dogs, bait or trapping.
Bear hunting is probably the most popular winter season in Maine. If not, it runs a close second to moose hunting. Maine has the largest black bear population in the continental United States. Bear numbers have continued to escalate (despite sanctioned bear seasons) and the animals have generated tons of nuisance complaints.
Bears are so plentiful that Maine voters shot down an identical measure financed by the HSUS in 2004. Earlier in 2013, a joint committee of the state legislature unanimously voted down HSUS-backed legislation (Bill 1474) submitted by a new group, Mainers for Fair Bear Hunting, that would have banned bear hunting with hounds and bear trapping.
The United States Sportsman's Alliance said the HSUS bear hunting ban "would politicize wildlife management and take this important tool out of the hands of the state's bear biologists, who have done an excellent job managing Maine's bear population."
However, HSUS-backed anti-hunting groups never seem to discern the will of the people or admit the state's wildlife agency knows more about managing timber wolves than they do.
The current Michigan wolf petition is the most-recent shot in a long war between the animal-rights lobby and the state.
This timeline shows what's happened with wolf management in Maine:
* January 1, 2012 — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removes the Western Great Lakes population of wolves from the Endangered Species list.
* December 28, 2012 – Michigan Governor Rick Snyder signs Senate Bill 1350, which adds wolves to the state's game animal list so they may be managed by the Natural Resources Commission.
* May 8, 2013 – Snyder signs Senate Bill 288, which counters an anti-hunting referendum by granting the Natural Resources Commission authority to designate game species. Previously only the legislature determined which animals to add to the game list.
* May 22, 2013 – The anti-hunting lobby qualifies a referendum for the November 4, 2014, ballot seeking to overturn Senate Bill 1350 and prevent a wolf hunting season.
* July 2, 2013 – Keep Michigan Wolves Protected and HSUS launch a signature drive to qualify a second referendum to overturn SB 288. The latest signature drive is intended to remove that new authority.
But HSUS must gather 161,305 signatures by March 2014 to place the issue before the voters. If the latest signature drive is successful, Michigan citizens will be deciding on two anti-hunting issues November 4, 2014 — the first to remove wolves from the game list and the second to strip the Natural Resources Commission's new authority to determine game species.
This is in addition to a federal lawsuit filed February 12, 2013, by HSUS to return all wolves in the Western Great Lakes region to the endangered species list.
"These efforts have little to do with the number of wolves in Michigan, which have vastly exceeded their recovery goals, and has everything to do with the potential for a wolf hunting season," said Nick Pinizzotto, USSA Alliance president/CEO. "The possibility of a hunting season is simply unacceptable to these anti-hunting groups."
In Maine the goal of MFFBH's ballot initiative is to ban bear hunting using hounds, bait and trapping. The group must gather 57,277 valid signatures by February 3, 2014, to place the issue before voters in the November 2014 election.
The two most-recent skirmishes surfaced in Michigan and Maine.
On July 2 in Michigan, animal-rightists started a petition to stop the state from controlling its wolf population. If anti-hunters get enough signatures, Michigan voters will decide November 4, 2014, whether to overturn Senate Bill 288, which granted authority to designate game species to the state's Natural Resources Commission.
An anti-hunting coalition, Keep Michigan Wolves Protected, is backed by the nation's most powerful animal-rights organization, the Humane Society of the United States.
The HSUS also has jumped into Maine to put on the ballot (for the second time) a petition to ban bear hunting with the use of dogs, bait or trapping.
Bear hunting is probably the most popular winter season in Maine. If not, it runs a close second to moose hunting. Maine has the largest black bear population in the continental United States. Bear numbers have continued to escalate (despite sanctioned bear seasons) and the animals have generated tons of nuisance complaints.
Bears are so plentiful that Maine voters shot down an identical measure financed by the HSUS in 2004. Earlier in 2013, a joint committee of the state legislature unanimously voted down HSUS-backed legislation (Bill 1474) submitted by a new group, Mainers for Fair Bear Hunting, that would have banned bear hunting with hounds and bear trapping.
The United States Sportsman's Alliance said the HSUS bear hunting ban "would politicize wildlife management and take this important tool out of the hands of the state's bear biologists, who have done an excellent job managing Maine's bear population."
However, HSUS-backed anti-hunting groups never seem to discern the will of the people or admit the state's wildlife agency knows more about managing timber wolves than they do.
The current Michigan wolf petition is the most-recent shot in a long war between the animal-rights lobby and the state.
This timeline shows what's happened with wolf management in Maine:
* January 1, 2012 — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removes the Western Great Lakes population of wolves from the Endangered Species list.
* December 28, 2012 – Michigan Governor Rick Snyder signs Senate Bill 1350, which adds wolves to the state's game animal list so they may be managed by the Natural Resources Commission.
* May 8, 2013 – Snyder signs Senate Bill 288, which counters an anti-hunting referendum by granting the Natural Resources Commission authority to designate game species. Previously only the legislature determined which animals to add to the game list.
* May 22, 2013 – The anti-hunting lobby qualifies a referendum for the November 4, 2014, ballot seeking to overturn Senate Bill 1350 and prevent a wolf hunting season.
* July 2, 2013 – Keep Michigan Wolves Protected and HSUS launch a signature drive to qualify a second referendum to overturn SB 288. The latest signature drive is intended to remove that new authority.
But HSUS must gather 161,305 signatures by March 2014 to place the issue before the voters. If the latest signature drive is successful, Michigan citizens will be deciding on two anti-hunting issues November 4, 2014 — the first to remove wolves from the game list and the second to strip the Natural Resources Commission's new authority to determine game species.
This is in addition to a federal lawsuit filed February 12, 2013, by HSUS to return all wolves in the Western Great Lakes region to the endangered species list.
"These efforts have little to do with the number of wolves in Michigan, which have vastly exceeded their recovery goals, and has everything to do with the potential for a wolf hunting season," said Nick Pinizzotto, USSA Alliance president/CEO. "The possibility of a hunting season is simply unacceptable to these anti-hunting groups."
In Maine the goal of MFFBH's ballot initiative is to ban bear hunting using hounds, bait and trapping. The group must gather 57,277 valid signatures by February 3, 2014, to place the issue before voters in the November 2014 election.
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