Camo At The Capitol

Carp invasion, horse trails and a Michigan moose season?

February 4th, 2010 by Dave Nyberg.

It's been a hectic week here and in a few hours I'll hit the road to Munising for the annual "Region I" meeting for MUCC clubs and members in the Upper Peninsula. But before disappearing from the office for a few days, I wanted to take the time to update you all on a few key items that went down this week.

Asian Carp

First off, an update on the ever-changing Asian Carp issue. Yesterday Assistant Attorney General Peter Manning and Donna Stine from Governor Granholm's office gave their respective updates to the Michigan Conservation Coalition on the White House "Carp Summit" and legal status of Michigan's Supreme Court petition. For those of you who are not aware, the Conservation Coalition is a group of statewide hunting, fishing, and conservation organizations that work together to preserve Michigan's outdoor heritage.

Mr. Manning gave the Coalition a preview of what Attorney General Mike Cox announced today, which was the filing of a renewed motion with the U.S. Supreme Court asking for a preliminary injunction to close Chicago-area locks. The Supreme Court already denied the original motion, but happened to issue its ruling on the same day Asian Carp eDNA was discovered in Lake Michigan. I guess we'll see how the Court rules on this second take, but it's going to be a bit more difficult for the State of Illinois and Obama Administration to recycle their original arguments against the motion with sobering evidence and mounting political pressure from the Great Lakes states. Michigan also has a petition pending in front of the Court to re-open the 1929 "Water Diversion Case" of Wisconsin v. Illinois, which seeks the appointment of a "special master" to oversee implementation of a long-term solution to the Asian Carp Problem. Illinois and the Obama administration have until February 19th to submit briefs on this petition.

Mrs. Stine told us what to expect from the upcoming White House "Carp Summit" on February 8th. Following the legal saga on Asian Carp, Granhom joined Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle in requesting a meeting with the Obama administration on the issue - it worked. So on February 8, Great Lakes Governors will convene at the White House to hash out potential solutions. From the sounds of it, Granholm is ready to take the gloves off on this issue - and we're rooting for her and Mr. Cox as they continue to fight every legal and diplomatic angle to make sure these fish do not destroy the Great Lakes sportfishery.

Meanwhile, a U.S. House subcommittee to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure is holding a hearing on Asian Carp next week. MUCC has drafted testimony to be entered into the record for this hearing asking for support on the "CARP ACT" legislation introduced by U.S. Rep Camp and U.S. Senator Stabenow.

Last, but not least, we've been busy gearing up for the annual "Great Lakes Days" in Washington, D.C. on February 23-24, where Asian Carp is sure to be a hot topic on the minds of Michigan volunteers and members of Congress.

Horse trail riding legislation

For the better part of a year now MUCC has been playing defense on a legislative package that seeks to increase equestrian trail access on state land. What started out as a broad-reaching bill to grant broad land use exceptions for equestrian trail riders has been slowly negotiated. The current version is a two-bill package that would outline a process for trail closures by the DNRE and create an "Equine Trail Advisory Council" to help identify additional trails that should be opened for access.

The crux of the debate has centered around how Michigan qualifies to receive nearly $25 million in federal wildlife and sportfish restoration (WSFR) funding each year from the federal government under the Pittman-Robertson and Dingell-Johnson Acts. In order to receive these funds, which are generated from an excise tax on hunting and fishing equipment, Michigan must follow certain federal and state laws that require lands purchased or managed with hunting, fishing, and trapping license fees be managed for those intended uses. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has warned Michigan lawmakers that our state will likely loose $25 million annually if the bills do not include certain management control standards. Regardless, House Bill 4610 (Moore, R-Farwell) galluped through the House without any problem last fall. In the Senate MUCC worked to reach a compromise on the bill and its counterpart, Senate Bill 578 (Brown, R-Sturgis), in order to alleviate the funding problem articulated by USFWS. Nearly one year and nine different bill variations later, that compromise is almost complete and MUCC has removed its opposition to Senate Bill 578 (S-6), which passed the House Tourism, Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Committee last week.

The problem, however, is that House Bill 4610 (S-3), which passed the Senate this morning, still contains a definition of "trailway" that the USFWS considers too broad and ambiguous. If the bill becomes enacted without changing this definition, USFWS indicates that Michigan would likely lose the $25 million in annual WSFR funds. MUCC asked senators today to consider substitute language offered by State Sen. Patty Birkholz (R-Saugatuck) that would fix the definition and bring the bill into compliance, but unfortunately it was not included in the final bill passed by the Senate. Both current versions of House Bill 4610 and Senate Bill 578 must still be approved by the House and signed by the Governor to become law.

Ever since the debate on this legislation began, MUCC joined other sporting groups in working to (1) ensure Michigan's public lands were managed on a case-by-case basis and not through specific exceptions for user groups and (2) ensure Michigan would not be placed in diversion of much-needed federal WSFR conservation funding. While issues appear to be resolved with SB 578 on these concerns, one more change to HB 4610 is necessary to ensure valuable funding for wildlife and sportfish conservation is not forfeited.

Moose Hunting in Michigan?

I had a chance to sit down with State Senator Jason Allen (R-Traverse City) this week to talk about his bill (Senate Bill 1013) that would create a Moose hunting season in Michigan. Allen's bill would require the NRC to issue at least one moose license for a newly-created moose hunting season, the fate of which would be determined by the recommendations of a newly-created "Moose Hunting Advisory Council." The bill would charge the Council to prepare a report on whether the season should be expanded, including data on the economic benefits of a moose hunting season and the season's affect on the state's moose population. Sen. Allen indicated his intentions with the bill are to promote the wonderful hunting opportunities in Michigan, but recognized that science should dictate the process.