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.
It was meant to be humorous. Sorry I missed my mark
"If you've never been dove hunting you're in for a big surprise...those are some quick thinking little boogers."
Then you have smart strain, around here i could catch them with a butterfly net.
Oh! I thought of them as rats with wings. But feathered pigs works even better.
"Reparations" Granholm must be really scared of the negative political fallout she's getting for her reprobate Catholic "I'm against abortion personally, but..." bullshit!
I was hoping for open season on "Peace" protesters.
Guess I will just have to take my ire out on some succulent squab.
""If you've never been dove hunting you're in for a big surprise...those are some quick thinking little boogers."
Then you have smart strain, around here i could catch them with a butterfly net."
My grandson knocks them off my bird feeders with a wiffile bat.
Six of one half dozen of the other.
Not weird. Stupid. Our neighborhood doves do exactly the same thing, and then crash right into the window, something that I have yet to observe any of the other neighborhood birds doing.
Or maybe they're just sad. LOL! Sad...mourning dove.
Having hunted them (In Michigan,) I'll agree.
They're almost as hard to hit as snipe.
It was meant to be humorous. Sorry I missed my mark.
Well, it hit my funny bone! LOL! BTW, a delectable treat is to lay six, or eitht, or ten of them on a broiling pan and pin a strip of bacon over each one and throw'em in the oven for a few minutes. Yum!
I'm sure many people who will criticize her for this don't think twice about her strong support for killing human fetuses.
Out West, they were never been a "song bird", and I've eaten many of them.
Incidentally, one of the harder wing targets, due not only to their size, but also to their erratic manuevers. It is almost as if they can see, and are actively dodging, the shot.
I love dove shoots. My father and I and my son go every year. You can never say you are a good wing shot until you can consistantly limit out on doves...IMHO
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