Posted on 06/18/2004 12:35:53 PM PDT by Dan from Michigan
Granholm signs bill to allow hunters to shoot doves
By AMY F. BAILEY
The Associated Press
6/18/2004, 2:45 p.m. ET
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Hunters could begin shooting mourning doves in six Michigan counties that border Indiana and Ohio as early as this fall.
Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed a bill Friday that changes the dove's classification from a song bird to a game bird.
Liz Boyd, spokeswoman for the Democratic governor, said Granholm signed it based on a promise made by Natural Resources Commission Chairman Keith Charters to recommend that the seven-member commission approve a three-year trial mourning dove hunt in six counties — Berrien, Cass, St. Joseph, Branch, Hillsdale and Lenawee. Mourning dove hunting would be banned elsewhere.
"The governor believes this is a reasonable compromise to an issue that has been discussed in Lansing for decades," Boyd said.
The Natural Resources Commission could set limits for a dove hunting season in September. It is expected to consider the issue at its meeting in July and hear public comments in August.
At the end of the three-year trial period, Charters said the commission will study the effects of the season on mourning dove populations and use it to evaluate future hunts.
"As chairman, I believe there would be strong support from the members of the commission to proceed with this type of approach," Charters said in a letter to Granholm. "If you were to sign this bill, I assure you this commission will be sensitive to public concerns about dove hunting."
He said the commission will insist on strict enforcement of safety regulations, including the 450-foot safety zone around homes and the ban on hunting in cities and trespass laws.
Despite the compromise, the Humane Society of the United States sharply criticized Granholm for signing the bill.
The group pointed to a candidate questionnaire Granholm signed in 2002 when she was a candidate for governor. On it, she indicated she would veto a bill to allow a mourning dove hunt.
More recently, Granholm indicated she only would sign the mourning dove hunt bill if it would go to Michigan voters for their approval.
"We're absolutely furious," said Wayne Pacelle, chief executive officer of The Humane Society of the United States. "It's really so disheartening to see her flip flop in such dramatic fashion."
The legislation didn't include an appropriation, which leaves the door open to a petition-gathering effort to put the law before voters in a referendum. Pacelle said it's too late collect signatures to put off a hunt this fall, but added that the group may consider it in the future.
Charters said information from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services and other state wildlife agencies show that dove hunting in Michigan shouldn't harm dove populations.
At least 4 million mourning doves migrate from Michigan each year, according to conservative estimates. The birds — which look like slender, streamlined pigeons — are most prevalent south of a line stretching from Bay City to Ludington.
There are an estimated 450 million mourning doves in North America, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Michigan is the 41st state to allow a mourning dove hunt. The shooting of mourning doves has been prohibited in Michigan since 1905.
State Rep. Sue Tabor sponsored the bill to change the classification of mourning doves from songbirds to game birds. She has hunted mourning doves in nearby states that allow it.
The Republican from Eaton County's Delta Township said she's happy that Granholm signed the bill, but said she does not think the state needs a trial hunt.
"I would rather see a statewide hunt," she said. "But if that's the decision the NRC makes, I will live it. To me it's a victory because we did what we set out to do — change the classification."
The new law also requires mourning dove hunters to obtain a $2 dove stamp fee as well as the state's regular small game hunting license to hunt doves. Some of the revenue will be set aside for the state's non-game wildlife fund.
We have a lot of mourning doves around our place. There's a great horned owl that lives in our woods who keeps them under control. You can see the piles of feather in the woods where he's been dining on them.
The mourning dove ain't no "bird of peace"...it is considered a pest in many areas.
Do they taste like chicken?
Country Pigeon/Redneck Seagull. Tastes like chicken
PETA alert. Where's Pam Anderson when we need her?
Dark meat and make a great Wok dish when you shoot enough of them.
She isn't fooling anyone, she just knows that she isn't firmly entrenched here in Michigan and is doing her best to appease us. She probably ran to the nearest restroom and vomited immediately after signing the bill.
As for the doves i dont hunt them but my jack russels kill a couple dozen over the course of a year.
Do they taste like chicken?
More like liver.
I'd like to know WHY she flip-flopped. What deal did our spineless state GOP make with the Canadian Trash THIS time? Are THEY going to flip-flop on the tobacco tax hike to $2 a pack?
There's some skullduggery going on here, and we should find out what it is soon.
But of course...
That is, if ya get good enough to actually hit one.
If you've never been dove hunting you're in for a big surprise...those are some quick thinking little boogers.
Um...I say Conspiracy Gaius, would you care for another garlic roasted dove or pehaps one of these delicious larks tounges in aspic...the honey roasted doormice are quite excellent...is the vomitorium to the left or right?
I have one dove that sits in my bird feeder. Doesn't eat the seeds. Just sits on them. Wierd.
LOL! Doves are pigeons! they are violent birds. Kinda makes you wonder why they ever came to be a symbol for peace.
Do they taste like chicken?
More like liver.
I think they taste a lot like Bald Eagles.
The headline is misleading! I thought this law would allow hunters to shoot anit-war protestors.
She did it to give the look like being pro-hunting, while she figured that the voters won't vote for it.
You hunt and eat eagles?
Give us a break.
I don't eat dove anymore so I no longer hunt them. Quail is a different story.
I have to run them away from my feeders. They are feathered pigs.
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