MUCC Policy Action Report

July 1, 2008

Subscribers please note: There will be only one edition of the policy report in the months of July and August while the legislature is on recess.

In this edition:

• ACTION ALERT: MUCC Launches Effort to Create a Bigger, Better Bottle Bill for Michigan
• New Policies Emerge from MUCC 2008 Annual Convention
• Compact and Groundwater Protection Legislation
• NRC Agenda for July
• Join Us For Conservation Days 2008!

ACTION ALERT: MUCC Launches Effort to Create a Bigger, Better Bottle Bill for Michigan

Sometime over the past two weeks, you may have heard the news that MUCC is pushing to expand Michigan 's Bottle Bill to include non-carbonated beverage containers.

On Monday, June 16 th , MUCC made the announcement that it seeks to duplicate the 1976 grassroots campaign that made Michigan the national poster child for recycling beer and soda pop containers. After a statewide news frenzy, a political wake-up in Lansing , and an energetic MUCC annual convention later that weekend, MUCC keeps hearing the same theme: Michigan is excited about the prospect of creating a Bigger, Better Bottle Bill to reduce litter and improve the state's dismal recycling record.

MUCC took the next steps this past week when it launched an online petition to support the expansion and Executive Director Dennis Muchmore testified at the Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee about the success of Michigan 's Bottle Bill and the necessary step to update the law to reflect the market demand of non-carbonated beverages. The next day, MUCC members, staff, and non-member volunteers took to the state capitol to discuss the importance of a Bottle Bill expansion with Michigan Senators right outside of the Senate chamber.

With support from Michigan voters at 76 percent, never dipping below 74 percent for any political affiliation, Michigan lawmakers cannot ignore this issue. With statewide attention, strong bi-partisan support, and the facts to turn this concept into reality, MUCC and its partners must turn talk into action – and here are some of the points that need to be made to lawmakers:

• Although our citizens now return 97 percent of the 5.5 billion bottles and cans for which they pay a deposit, they recycle only 20 percent of the bottled water containers because no deposit is required. Eighty percent of those empty containers end up in landfills or critical wildlife habitats.
• According to the Container Recycling Institute (CRI), in 2005 each Michigan resident bought an average of 338 bottles and cans of soda pop and 138 containers of water and other non-carbonated beverages. More than 1.1 billion of the latter were thrown away instead of being recycled.
• National trend data from the CRI shows that within a few years, sales of non-carbonated drinks will exceed pop sales.
• Recycling all containers reduces litter and saves money and energy while increasing the number of Michigan jobs. The annual energy savings alone for bottles and cans of pop and beer is equivalent to 450,000 barrels of oil, enough to fuel 150,000 cars for a month.
• Economic Advantages: According to the Michigan Recycling Coalition, annual sales of recycled commodities are nearly $2 billion. The industry employs more than 5,000 people who earn $137 million each year.
• Reducing the amount of litter has long been an important issue for Michigan taxpayers, who pay $5.5 million per year to clean up water bottles and other trash from the state's roadways. The current Bottle Bill has shown that when containers carry a deposit, people pick them up for free.

A lot of people, including lawmakers are asking the same question about MUCC's latest push to expand the Bottle Bill: Why now?

The answer: Timing is everything. Currently there is legislation in the Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee that would amend the Bottle Bill to cure a problem dealing with fraudulent out-of-state returns. MUCC supports this legislation because it updates the Bottle Bill to reflect changing times – and that is exactly why Michigan must expand the Bottle Bill. Noncarbonated beverages were simply not around in 1976 when Michigan voters initiated the law. If they were, they certainly would have been included. And now is the time to cure two timely concerns with the Bottle Bill – the fraud issue and the litter issue. Instead of ignoring both problems, Michigan can reduce fraudulent deposit returns, increase recycling, supplement the economy with new jobs, and reduce litter in our lakes, streams and other critical wildlife habitats. It's time to create a Bigger, Better Bottle Bill. It just makes $ense!

So here's what you can do to help make this necessary change happen:

1.) Call or write your State Representative and State Senator to tell them you support this initiative! Visit www.house.mi.gov and www.senate.michigan.gov to find out who your legislators are and how to contact them.

2.) Sign the petition to the legislature to expand Michigan 's Bottle Bill - http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/MIBottleBill08

3.) Contact your friends and family and urge them to participate as well!

4.) Write letters to your local newspapers about the issue

5.) Facebook and MySpace users should join MUCC's “Support a Bigger, Better Bottle Bill for Michigan ” groups to receive real-time updates and news on the initiative's progress.

For more information, sample letters, and talking points, visit www.mucc.org

New Policies Emerge from MUCC 2008 Annual Convention

Nearly 200 people representing 130 clubs attended MUCC's Annual Convention, which took place in Sault Ste. Marie, MI again this year. Voting delegates carried 365 votes and took action on 22 resolutions. In addition, they received reports from the DNR, DEQ, and keynote speakers Bill Rustem and Bob Garner. MUCC also honored several members and conservationists with Conservation Awards. The following 10 resolutions passed*, becoming official policy of the organization (summarized below; if you would like the full text of these resolutions, please email Amy Spray at aspray@mucc.org):

Resolution 05—ICE FISHING

Work with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to enact legislation to change the law to three (3) lines, one hook each, for ice-fishing.

Resolution 06—EQUITABLE BEAR HUNTING OPPORTUNITIES

Work with the MDNR to provide more equitable hunting opportunities for Michigan sportsmen and women who pursue bear without the use of dogs and will also work with the MDNR to suspend bear dog training for ten days prior to the opening of bear season and add an additional ten days to the front end of bear dog training season.

Resolution 08— STATE FOREST TIMBER SALES

Work with the MDNR and state forest managers to ensure that all acreage denoted in the compartmental review for cutting goes up for sale in all state forests.

Resolution 09—FERAL HOG REGISTRATION AND IDENTIFICATION PROGRAM

Work with the MDNR, MDA, and the State Legislature, as necessary, to mandate owner and facility identification systems for all feral hogs held captive in Michigan . The cost of implementing, managing and monitoring this program should be recovered through a licensing and registration fee to be paid by the owner or managers of the feral hogs.

Resolution 11—TO SUPPORT MICHIGAN CONSERVATION DISTRICTS

Work to promote Michigan Conservation Districts as a local provider of natural resources services, for non-industrial private landowners, for the best interest of our state's natural resources and our state's wildlife.

Resolution 12—TO PREVENT THE ESTABLISHMENT OF FERAL SWINE IN MICHIGAN

Support the Joint Commissions on Agriculture and Natural Resources that recommend aggressive action to eliminate feral swine in order to protect animal health, public health, and the environment by directing the Michigan Departments of Agriculture and Natural Resources to pursue the following recommendations:

A) B an all recreational shooting of swine behind fences;

B) Depopulate swine from all Michigan Privately Owned Cervid (POC) ranches, game ranches, wild game breeding facilities and other enclosed hunting ranches.

C) Depopulate and seek indemnity for those swine described above not otherwise hunted for profit or sent to slaughter by a determined date.

D) Prohibit husbandry practices that involve raising swine for recreational shooting (such as wild pigs, razorbacks, piney-woods rooters, Russian and Eurasian boars, and crosses) for sale or transfer.

E) Prohibit the sale , importation, or transfer of swine for the purpose of recreational shooting.

F) Allow year-round shooting of feral swine as nuisance animals.

G) Increase fines related to the importation and release of feral swine into Michigan .

H) Use federal funds to trap, test, and remove feral swine from private property

Resolution 14—BYLAW CHANGE: ADDITION OF MISSION AND DIVERSITY STATEMENT

An amendment to add MUCC's Mission Statement and a Diversity Statement to the bylaws.

Resolution 15—LONG-TERM FUNDING FOR MICHIGAN DNR

Urge the Michigan Legislature to secure a long-term sustainable funding source for conserving Michigan 's natural resources and protecting our environment. Support other reasonable funding proposals designed to help management of our natural resources including the Michigan State Park system, the state forest recreational system, and management of the state's wildlife and fisheries resources.

Resolution 16—FARM BUREAU PARTNERSHIP

Continue working with the Michigan Farm Bureau to prevent the animal rights and anti-hunting groups from altering or preventing the right to raise and harvest domestic farm animals and our right to be able to hunt and or trap the state's wildlife. Work together with the Michigan Farm Bureau, within our respective policies and guidelines, to deal with animal species that threaten our domestic and wild animal populations.

Resolution 19—NATIVE AMERICAN TREATIES

Work cooperatively with the Tribes and the State of Michigan to implement the terms of the agreement; seek partnerships with the Tribes to fulfill our shared missions of conserving Michigan 's natural resources; allow certain previous resolutions regarding Native American treaties to expire.

*Resolutions advocating for legislative/regulation change or a change in MUCC bylaws required a 2/3 majority vote to pass, per MUCC bylaws

Compact and Groundwater Protection Legislation

The Michigan Legislature has moved historic legislation to the desk of the Governor to ratify and implement the Great Lakes Regional Compact. MUCC was a key stakeholder in the legislative negotiations that led to the creation of the bill package. The laws are based on sound scientific management of our natural resources and establish the most protective groundwater protection standards in the nation. There was no opposition to the final legislative package, which accomplishes the following:

1. Implementation of the Great Lakes- St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact, which, if enacted by Congress, will return the authority of the states to manage the waters within the Great Lakes basin and to prohibit diversion of such water outside of the basin.

1. Requires permits for water withdrawals over two million gallons a day and for withdrawals over one million gallon a day, if they occur in water sensitive areas.

1. The creation of an internet-based water withdrawal assessment tool that could be used to determine if a proposed withdrawal is likely to cause an “adverse resource impact” on the characteristic fish populations of the nearest stream reach. “Adverse resource impact” is defined by the amount of flow that would be withdrawn from a stream. The law recognizes 11 stream types and defines the amount of water that must be preserved in each type to ensure that there is no adverse resource impact. For example, 97% of the flow of a cold water stream must be preserved.

1. Prohibit any withdrawal over 100,000 gallons a day that would cause an adverse resource impact.

1. Re-creates the Groundwater Conservation Advisory Council and charges them with evaluating the effectiveness and accuracy of the tool.

1. Tightens the requirements for permitting bottled water operations.

NRC Agenda for July

The July 10 meeting of the Natural Resources Commission will take place in Munising , Michigan . Action on the Wolf Management Plan has been postponed until now, but is expected to be signed by Director Humphries this month. The NRC will also set early waterfowl season dates and antlerless deer license quotas for 85 of the state's 98 Deer Management Units. Before the NRC for information only (action in August) are the following issues:

• Regular/ late waterfowl seasons : The dates of the regular waterfowl seasons will be discussed at both the July and August NRC meetings and the Citizen Waterfowl Advisory Committee (August 2). MUCC will be taking part in the CWAC discussion, so if you have thoughts on the current waterfowl regulations, suggested changes or other input, please send it to Amy Spray ( aspray@mucc.org ).
• Crossbow Disability Workgroup : This workgroup process, which MUCC was involved in, has produced a consensus document that would clarify the crossbow permit process for people with disabilities and expand access to people that are unable to use conventional archery equipment for a variety of reasons. If enacted, people could apply for a crossbow permit under this new process for the 2008 archery deer season.
• Axiom Entertainment: The NRC and DNR are looking at a proposal to sell almost 1700 acres of the Au Sable State Forest (Crawford Co.) for $5.2 million to Axiom Entertainment to build a full-scale amusement and water park. The sale is contingent upon the approval of the DNR and the applicant demonstrating financing for the entire project.

Join us for Conservation Days 2008!!!

Michigan United Conservation Clubs are hosting a series of unique day trips which are hands-on experiences designed to further your understanding of current conservation issues. So come spend the day with us and take away an enhanced understanding of Michigan 's spectacular natural resources!

Sail the day away on Lake Michigan

Muskegon , MI

Date: August 1 st , 2008

Time: 9:15 a.m.- 1:00p.m.

Cost: $15 for members(includes 2 ½ hour boat trip and lunch), $45 for non-members (includes MUCC membership, lunch and 2½ hour boat trip)

Join us on August 1, 2008 aboard the W.G. Jackson Great Lakes Research vessel for a unique boat trip! On this research vessel, you will learn about Lake Michigan , inland lake and river ecology, and how invasive species affect our waters and habitats. This hands-on experience is a boat-load of fun! Afterwards, enjoy a spectacular view, discussion and lunch on the water in downtown Muskegon .

Please R.S.V.P. by July 25 th , 2008 by contacting April (517/346-6472 or abennett@mucc.org ) to guarantee your spot! Spaces are limited!

Bugle with the Elks

Pigeon River , MI

Date: September 15 th , 2008

Time: 5:00p.m. - 8:00p.m.

Cost: $20 for members (includes dinner and tour), $50 for non-members (includes MUCC membership, dinner and tour)

Come and see majestic wildlife and the turning of the seasons in the Pigeon River . During this conservation day you will experience the beauty of the Pigeon River and enjoy a guided tour through the prime spots to view the elk and possibly hear several large bulls bugling in unison, a concert that is truly unforgettable.

Please R.S.V.P. by September 1 st , 2008 by contacting April (517/346-6472 or abennett@mucc.org ) to guarantee your spot! Spaces are limited!

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Updating our list for 2008 : If you would like to receive the policy report directly to your email address (or if you wish to be removed from this email list), please contact Amy Spray at aspray@mucc.org. Please include your first and last name in the email.

MUCC is committed to providing our members with up-to-date and accurate information on conservation policy issues from Lansing, Washington D.C., and around Michigan .

If you enjoy MUCC's biweekly policy action report, please consider becoming a member and support our efforts to conserve Michigan 's natural resources by remembering MUCC in your contributions and planned giving.