Analysis:  The Scientific Wildlife Management Package accomplishes a number of positive actions for conservation, hunting, fishing, trapping and fish and wildlife species in Michigan.

SB 288 and HB 4552 provide free licenses to members of the military. They also share the legislature’s current exclusive authority to designate a game animal with the Natural Resources Commission, which is mandated to use sound science in its wildlife management decisions. The legislature retains the exclusive authority to remove a game species. SB 288 and HB 4552 also grant the Natural Resources Commission the exclusive authority to make fisheries regulations, as it currently has for game species.

The Senate-passed substitute for SB 288 eliminates the original $1 million appropriation and excludes mourning doves from the NRC’s authority under the bill, since they were removed from the game list by referendum in 2006.

SB 289 and HB 4553 establish a right in Michigan to hunt, fish and trap and adds the protection of the rights to hunt, fish and trap as a purpose of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act.

Current Status: Signed into law as PA 21 & 22 of 2013.

MUCC Action: Supports the Scientific Wildlife Management Package. Joined with other conservation groups in organizing Camo at the Capitol, where citizens lobbied for passage of the bill. MUCC members and affiliates called legislators and Governor in support bill. 

Sponsors:  Sen. Tom Casperson (R – Escanaba), Rep. Jon Bumstead (R – Newago)

Co-Sponsors: Senators David Hildenbrand, Darwin Booher, Arlan Meekhof, Representativs Phil Potvin, Peter Pettalia, Ken Goike, Dan Lauwers, Joseph Graves, Terry L. Brown, Greg MacMaster, Paul Clemente, Tom Hooker, Dale W. Zorn, Rick Outman, Ken Yonker, Bruce R. Rendon, Roger Victory, Kenneth Kurtz, Amanda Price, Nancy Jenkins, Ben Glardon, Bradford C. Jacobsen, Rob VerHeulen, Bill Rogers, Cindy Denby, Tom McMillin, Kevin Cotter, Lisa Posthumus Lyons, Ed McBroom, Mike Shirkey, Kevin Daley, Ray Franz, Mike Callton, Klint Kesto,Joel Johnson, Gail Haines, Peter MacGregor, Kurt Heise, John Kivela, Al Pscholka, Eileen Kowall,Bill LaVoy, Charles M. Brunner, Joe Haveman

MUCC Policy Resolution(s):

AC310696 Seek to declare fish and wildlife of utmost importance and vest all authority in the Natural Resources Commission, remove fish and wildlife habitat management from political interference and give Natural Resources Commission adequate authority to carry on all essential phases of a broad conservation program. Assure the commission form of decisionmaking, public access and participation is present in natural resource decisions.

The post SB 288 & 289: Scientific Wildlife Management appeared first on Michigan United Conservation Clubs.

After passing the Senate last week, the Michigan House of Representatives passed the bills today by a vote of 72-38 with bipartisan support! The bills now head to Governor Snyder’s desk, and the anti-hunters are trying to get him to veto the legislation. Please call Governor Snyder’s office right now and ask him to sign SB 288 and 289 immediately!

Call Governor Snyder now at (517) 373-3400!

SB 288 and 289 allow the Natural Resources Commission to name game species and make fisheries orders under their mandate to use sound science, which over 68% of Michiganders voted for through 1996′s Proposal G. They also provide free hunting and fishing licenses to active-duty members of our military, and establish a right to hunt and fish in state law.

These bills also mean that out-of-state anti-hunters will no longer be able to restrict hunting rights using 30-second commercials and endless ballot referendums. Wildlife decisions will finally be made based on sound science, just as you voted for with Proposal G!

We’re almost there. Don’t let this opportunity slip away! Call Governor Snyder right now at (517) 373-3400 and ask him to sign SB 288 and 289 immediately!

Vote tally for SB 288 and 289

The post You Called, They Listened: Legislature Passes SB 288 and 289! appeared first on Michigan United Conservation Clubs.

The post ALERT: Protect Your Hunting Rights with SB 288 & 289! appeared first on Michigan United Conservation Clubs.

MUCC has provided background information and perspective on the approach it has taken in evaluating the current license proposal. We are very much in support of a simpler, smarter license structure and system and sustainable funding for conservation, so long as the funding is used appropriately and the expenditures are presented openly and clearly to the public.

We hope you are too.

Please join us and at least 24 other statewide and regional organizations in contacting your Michigan Senator and Representative, as well as the members of the Appropriations Subcommittees to let them know that sportsmen and women support this license restructuring and simplification. While the details of the package are still being worked out, it is important that they keep this in the appropriations budget as it moves forward.

Michigan House of Representatives: Contact Your Rep
Michigan Senate: Contact Your Senator

Senate Appropriations:

• Senator Roger Kahn, Appropriations Chair (R-32-Saginaw) 517-373-1760 or SenRKahn@senate.michigan.gov
• Senator Mike Green, Natural Resources Appropriations Subcommittee Chair  (R-31-Mayville) 517-373-1777 or SenMGreen@senate.michigan.gov
• Senator Darwin Booher (R-35-Evart) 517-373-1725 or SenDBooher@senate.michigan.gov
• Senator Howard Walker (R-37-Traverse City) 517-373-2413 or SenHWalker@senate.michigan.gov
• Senator Hoon-Yung Hopgood (D-8-Taylor) 517-373-7800 or SenHHopgood@senate.michigan.gov

House of Representatives Appropriations:

• Rep. Joe Haveman, Appropriations Committee Chair (R-90-Holland) 517-373-0830 or JosephHaveman@house.mi.gov
• Rep. Jon Bumstead, Natural Resources Appropriations Subcommittee Chair (R-100-Newaygo) 517-373-7317 or JonBumstead@house.mi.gov
• Rep. Nancy Jenkins (R-57-Clayton) 517-373-1706 or NancyJenkins@house.mi.gov
• Rep. Michael McCready (R-40-Bloomfield Hills) 517-373-8670 or MikeMcCready@house.mi.gov
• Rep. Terry Brown (D-84-Pigeon) 517-373-0476 or TerryBrown@house.mi.gov

Please call this week!

In addition, legislators return to their districts over their spring break (March 22-April 7). Find out when they might have coffee hours over the break and join them to discuss this proposal.

Michigan currently has 227 different hunting, fishing, and trapping licenses. The new proposal simplifies the buying experience by whittling that number down to below 50. The proposal also changes the fee structure that will likely bring in an additional $18 million dollars. The DNR has published the projected outcomes of what they would accomplish for sportsmen and women with the additional funds. With these published outcomes and more department transparency seen through their annual wildlife and fisheries reports and strategic planning efforts, MUCC and our partners feel we have a better opportunity to track and hold the department accountable for these outcomes.

But there is no question that long-term, sustainable funding for conservation is of critical importance.

Call today and support a better outdoors for tomorrow.

Click HERE to download a copy of MUCC’s final report on the license proposal.

The post Take Action Now to Invest in the Outdoors appeared first on Michigan United Conservation Clubs.

You know that the anti’s will be there in full force (probably hearing the truth for the first time), so please attend with your fellow sportsmen and women, get the facts straight from the experts, and make sure to take the survey.

The meetings will take place in the following locations from 6 to 8 p.m. local time:

• Tuesday, March 12; Gogebic Community College, David Lindquist Student Center, E4946 Jackson Road, Ironwood
• Wednesday, March 13; Northern Michigan University, Michigan Room, 2101 University Center, Marquette
• Tuesday, March 19; Wisconsin Street Hall, 610 S. Wisconsin, Gaylord
• Thursday, March 21; Lansing Center, Room 201, 333 E. Michigan Ave., Lansing

The meetings will include a presentation by DNR Wildlife Division staff on wolf management techniques, including the potential use of public harvest as a management tool as prescribed in the state’s Wolf Management Plan, which was developed through consensus by a roundtable of stakeholders representing a wide variety of interests related to wolf management.

Following the presentation, DNR staff will hold a question-and-answer session with members of the public. Meeting attendees will also be asked to participate in a survey regarding the possibility of the use of wolf hunting as a management tool in Michigan.

In January 2012, wolves in Michigan were removed from the federal list of endangered species after meeting recovery goals for more than a decade. In December 2012, wolves were declared a game species when Gov. Rick Snyder signed Public Act 520 of 2012.

Upon the reclassification of wolves as a game species, the Michigan Natural Resources Commission - which holds the exclusive authority to set hunting regulations for game species in the state - directed the DNR’s Wildlife Division to undertake a multi-pronged approach to developing a recommendation on whether a wolf management hunt should take place and what the parameters should be. The process currently under way includes:

• Completing a wolf population survey
• Compiling a thorough review of documented wolf conflicts, including depredation of livestock and pets
• Meeting with the Wolf Management Advisory Council to discuss a possible wolf harvest aimed at resolving conflicts (MUCC’s Resource Policy Manager Amy Trotter is our representative and will be bringing forward recommendations to the April meeting)
• Providing public input opportunities at meetings and through written comments
• Conducting government-to-government consultation with tribal governments 

The DNR’s recommendation on a wolf management season will be presented to the NRC for consideration no later than June 2013. Whether a wolf season will be established and what the season would entail is at the sole discretion of the NRC.

 For more information about attending this series of public information meetings, contact Adam Bump at 517-373-1263. To learn more about the state’s wolf population and Wolf Management Plan, visit www.michigan.gov/wolves

Please note: A tentative meeting date for Newberry has been removed from the schedule of March meetings due to the potential for additional meetings later this spring. Dates and locations for any additional meetings will be announced once determined.

The post Public Meetings on Michigan Wolf Management appeared first on Michigan United Conservation Clubs.

Anti-hunting organizations, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and other animal rights groups, have been active in their opposition to sound wildlife management, which includes regulated hunting and trapping. Their rhetoric is misleading some legislators to believe that the wolf is not recovered and will become extinct if this bill passes. Nothing could be further from the truth; through Proposal G of 1996, we have entrusted wildlife biologists and the bipartisan NRC to use sound science when prescribing wildlife management techniques, using hunting and trapping as a management tool for many  of our state’s most treasured wildlife species.

You can help make sure HSUS and the anti-hunting rhetoric does not prevail and support sound scientific management of the wolf by calling or emailing your State Senator today and asking them to vote “YES” on SB 1350.

The recovery of the wolf is a conservation success story. Now that the population has fully recovered and been removed from the federal and state Endangered Species List, the State of Michigan should be allowed to manage the population, particularly to reduce human conflict and its impacts on other domestic and wild animals.

The future of wolf management may depend on our action, so please help protect and defend scientific wildlife management today by contacting your State Senator!

Vote YES on SB 1350.

Find Your Senator Here!

The post ACTION NEEDED: Contact Your Senator To Vote YES on Wolf Bill appeared first on Michigan United Conservation Clubs.

In Southern Michigan, this cuts MNRTF funding for purchasing private in-holdings in certain southern Michigan State Game Areas and Recreation Areas and improving access to river frontage on the Maple and Kalamazoo Rivers. In the U.P. and NLP, this would cut funding for purchases of deer yard complexes and other wildlife habitat, as well as state forest land in-holdings.

The Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund Board approved all of these projects and the use of these monies to acquire and develop public recreation land is protected by the Constitution. So why would the Senate choose to zero out certain projects? There was some concern that this money would further fuel concerns from northern Michigan residents about the amount of state ownership in their area; even though people might not realize that purchases made with MNRTF funding must now pay the full amount of payment in lieu of taxes from the Trust Fund. There was also some discussion that the now “extra” money could be used to fund pet projects in certain districts. This sets a very dangerous precedent for legislative circumvention of the Trust Fund grant application and approval process.

Because the bill was amended in the Senate, it needs to go back to the House of Representatives for concurrence. We hope that the Michigan House of Representatives will see fit to restore funding for the projects approved by the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund Board. At the very least, they should fund the priority purchases in the Southeastern and Southwestern regions where public hunting and recreation land is sparse and opportunities can quickly pass by.

Please contact your Michigan Representative to say we want some or all of the MNRTF funding reinstated for the approved Regional acquisitions before they concur with the Senate passed HB 5364. Furthermore, projects not approved by the MNRTF Board should not be inserted, which harms the integrity of the grant application and approval process.

The post Trust Fund Projects Hit a Snag appeared first on Michigan United Conservation Clubs.

What were the reports from the field? What is the DNR saying? What are the initial counts? Was it bad for some? Good for others? What do we need to do to produce quality deer hunt experiences?

These are important questions about the quality of our deer hunt that need to be discussed in the near future, and MUCC and its members should help take a lead role in those discussions.

But did you know that our deer hunting is not only affected by policies such as length of the season, what equipment can be used, or what size buck you should take? It’s true.

Deer hunting, or a hunt of any species for that matter, are also affected by the kind of laws passed by our legislature. Sometimes they can be tricky to spot, but their effects can impact important deer hunting issues such as habitat, land access, available land, and how you can hunt in a big way.

There are a number of issues out there right now that could have big time consequences for how we hunt in Michigan that are not related to number of deer.

One such issue, Senate Bill 248 – also known as the “land cap bill” – is coming up for a vote in the House Natural Resources Committee on Tuesday, December 13th. As its name implies, the bill would “cap” the amount of land the DNR can own and manage into perpetuity at 4.65 million acres, which is a mere 17,000 acres over what the department currently manages.

Sounds great, doesn’t it? Who hasn’t felt at some point that the DNR has over-stepped their bounds, and this is a great way to control their power, is it not?

Not so fast. Think for a minute about what is happening here.

Say, for instance, part of our solution for a better deer hunt is to purchase more tracts of accessible public land in southern Michigan, or some quality winter deer yard becomes available in the more northern reaches of our state – which has had its fair share of low deer years. Once we get close to or reach that cap, the department would have two choices: 1.) forget the land and keep things the way they were, or 2.) purchase the land and sell off land someplace else.
Sounds reasonable, right? Except that most land to be sold off would be tax reverted land the department has been trying to sell off but can’t – mostly because it is poor quality land. And if not, the department would have to start looking and similar sized parcels of quality land they could sell off.

Imagine if you are a community or user group of the land chosen for sale. If it were part of the Traverse City State Forest or Rose Lake State Wildlife area near Lansing where this writer typically likes to go, I would have flames coming out of my nostrils. You would too if it was your favorite place to hunt. And so will other communities and user groups.

The problem with SB 248 is this: it identifies an issue – that the state has a lackluster plan for acquiring public access land – and then does a lackluster job of trying to solve that problem.

That is why MUCC cannot support this bill the way it is currently written. And that is why we need your help to take action. Call or email your Representative today to get it on their radar. In addition, you can also contact the members of the House Natural Resources committee, who will be voting on this bill Tuesday, December 13th.

Sportsmen and women in this state have too much stake in our natural resources to let legislation that could have large consequences slip by. Take action by calling or writing today.

Members of the House Committee on Natural Resources, Tourism, & Outdoor Recreation

Rep. Frank Foster, Chair      517-373-2629      frankfoster@house.mi.gov
Rep. Matt Huuki      517-373-0850      matthuuki@house.mi.gov
Rep. Holly Hughes      517-373-3436      HollyHughes@house.mi.gov
Rep. Joel Johnson      517-373-8962      JoelJohnson@house.mi.gov
Rep. Kurt Damrow      517-373-0476      kurtdamrow@house.mi.gov
Rep. Peter Pettalia      517-373-0833      peterpettalia@house.mi.gov
Rep. Wayne Schmidt      517-373-1766      WayneSchmidt@house.mi.gov
Rep. Harold Haugh      517-373-0854      haroldhaugh@house.mi.gov
Rep. Tim Bledsoe      517-373-0154      timbledsoe@house.mi.gov
Rep. Maureen Stapleton      517-373-1008      maureenstapleton@house.mi.gov
Rep. Dian Slavens      517-373-2575      dianslavens@house.mi.gov

The post Deer say: Action needed on “Land Cap” bill! appeared first on Michigan United Conservation Clubs.

We need your help today to:
1. Contact your U.S. Representative today to urge them to defeat this bad bill
2. Sign your organization on to this letter by 4:30 Eastern today

Details:

1. Contact your U.S. Representative today to urge them to defeat this bad bill

A bill being considered by Congress this week will derail progress on cleaning up ship ballast tanks and stopping aquatic invasive species introductions. Call your Member of Congress today and tell them that the Great Lakes needs stronger – not weaker – ballast clean-up programs!

Aquatic invasive species, such as zebra mussels and round gobies, are one of the most significant environmental threats to the health of the Great Lakes. Invasive species foul beaches, wreak havoc on the fishery, clog water intake valves of cities and utilities, harm fish and wildlife, and cost the country hundreds of millions of dollars each year.

The House of Representatives is set to vote this week on the Commercial Vessel Discharges Reform Act of 2011 (Title VII of HR2838). This bill does not protect the Great Lakes or our nation’s waters; it protects the shipping industry. It will derail progress on cleaning up ship ballast tanks and stopping more aquatic invasive species introductions.

Take Action!
Contact your U.S. Representative today to urge them to defeat this bad bill so that our Great Lakes are protected from aquatic invasive species introductions.

Talking Points for Calling or Writing Your Legislator

• I am calling/writing to urge [insert Member's Name] to oppose the Commercial Vessel Discharges Reform Act of 2011 (Title VII of HR2838).
• Aquatic invasive species are one of the most serious threats to the Great Lakes. We need stronger ballast clean-up programs that protect the Great Lakes and our nation’s waterways to prevent more damaging aquatic invasive species introductions.
• I urge [insert Member's Name] to delete the bad ballast water amendments – Title VII from HR 2838 – and to vote against the Coast Guard and Martitime Transportation Act of 2011 if those provisions remain.
• Thank you for protecting the Great Lakes.

Let us know what you hear! Thank you for taking action to protect the Great Lakes!

2. Sign your organization on to this letter by 4:30 Eastern today (Thursday, Nov. 3)

National conservation groups are circulating a letter opposing HR 2838, the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2011.  The bill jeopardizes the health of our nation’s aquatic ecosystems; hence we urge to oppose these provisions and the underlying bill if necessary.

Please consider signing on to the attached letter which will be sent on Friday to all members of the House. If you’d like to sign on, please send your group name to the National Wildlife Federation’s Lindsey Warren-Shriner at  warrenshrinerl@nwf.org  by Thursday, November 03, at 4:30PM EST.

The post Take Action Now to Protect the Great Lakes appeared first on Michigan United Conservation Clubs.