Camo At The Capitol

Legislative Update: Swine, Fish Possession, and Great Lakes

After getting skunked on Little Bay de Noc this past weekend walleye fishing with some friends, I walked into a buzzsaw this week with all of the outdoor-related legislation coming up. As such, I'm still in the mix of preparing a follow-up from MUCC's Washington Asian Carp/Great Lakes lobbying trip. In the meantime, here's a quick breakdown of what happened in Lansing and Washington this week:

Feral Swine

To follow up on my previous post about stopping the threat of invasive feral swine, yesterday the House Agriculture Committee unanimously passed legislation (House Bills 5822-5824) that will once and for all legalize the killing of any swine running at large on public or private property by any licensed hunter. Currently, this is legal in 67 out of Michigan's 83 counties based on scattered "gentlemen's agreements" between the DNRE and county prosecutors not to prosecute hunters who are helping to control this invasive species.  We also worked with State Rep. Barb Byrum (D-Onondaga) to further amend the legislation declaring that feral swine are a "public nuisance." The bills now head to the House floor and similar legislation is pending in the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Bioeconomy. To learn more about feral swine and its affect on wildlife habitat, disease, and agriculture, check out MUCC's Feral Swine Fact Sheet.

Fish possession limits

Last year MUCC was approached by Jack Leonhardt from the West Michigan Walleye Club about a loophole in the law regarding daily fish possession limits. Because statute currently prevents a walleye angler from being in possession of more than his or her daily bag limit, tournament anglers or those who fish for a few days away from home are not legally allowed to "possess" more than one day's catch. To cure this loophole, MUCC and Mr. Leonhardt worked with State Representatives Dave Hildenbrand, Geoff Hansen, and Joel Sheltrown to get legislation introduced (House Bill 5481) that would allow a licensed angler to keep their aggregate catch for up to three days, so long as the previous days' catch was canned, cured, or frozen.  The bill passed the House late last year and today it passed the Senate Committee on Hunting, Fishing & Outdoor Recreation. Next it goes to the Senate floor and hopefully to the governor's desk.

Great Lakes

While the federal agencies continue twiddling their thumbs on Asian Carp (which is another story), several Michigan members of Congress teamed up with other Great Lakes lawmakers today to introduce legislation at the federal level that would authorize the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative at $475 million annually to restore fish and wildlife habitat. Dubbed the "Great Lakes Ecosystem Protection act of 2010," the bill would also reauthorize the Great Lakes Legacy Act and provide $150 million annually, for five years, to remove contaminated sediments from lakes and their connecting waters. The bill would also force increased coordination and monitoring between federal agencies that work on Great Lakes restoration.

Federal agencies indeed continue to miss the mark on stopping Asian Carp by refusing to impose immediate ecological separation between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River system (and instead propose stripping $78.5 million of GLRI money for Asian Carp control efforts), but apathy must be set aside on this bill. It's one we must and will fight for in order to establsih more secure funding to benefit our fish and wildlife habitats in the Great Lakes. Bravo to Michigan U.S. Senator Carl Levin and Congressmen Vern Ehlers and John Dingell for sponsoring this legislation.

Wolves

Nothing to do with legislation, but probably one of the hottest topics floating around the MOOD office right now. Since the Detroit Free Press refuses to allow us to debunk the untruths scribed in HSUS's latest op-ed, Tony Hansen is conducting a day-by-day factual rebuttal on the Head Hunter Blog. Check it out.

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