[CA] Assembly bill seeks ban on dove hunting

Not satisfied with the proposed legislation to outlaw the use of hounds to hunt black bears, a member of California's Democratic-controlled Assembly wants to outlaw dove hunting.

State assemblyman Joe Nation, D-San Rafael, who represents Marin and Sonoma counties, introduced a bill Friday that would ban the hunting of mourning and white-winged doves in California.

The bill, AB 1190, already has been praised by the Sacramento-based Animal Protection Institute, the New York-based Fund For Animals and the Washington D.C.-based Humane Society of the United States.

They are the same organizations that co-sponsored the bill to outlaw the use of hounds to hunt black bears, or AB 342, introduced by Paul Koretz, D-Beverly Hills.

Nation's bill would remove mourning doves and white-winged doves from game-bird status and make it illegal for any person to kill them.

Paul Smith, who is Nation's chief of staff in Sacramento, said yesterday that sportsmen throughout California already have lit up the assemblyman's phone lines to voice opposition and outrage about the proposed legislation.

"We expected it," Smith said. "Any time we introduce a bill that gets a key constituent group upset, we expect reaction."

"This is more of an ideological statement," Smith said. "Mr. Nation doesn't believe that these animals should be used for hunting or target practice. He feels this is something that needs to be considered . . . debated."

In Imperial Valley, the Imperial Valley Press ran a story Friday about how the bill would impact that area during dove season. Cathy Kennerson, chief executive officer of the El Centro Chamber of Commerce and Visitor's Bureau, told the Imperial Valley Press that dove hunters spend more than $1 million each fall in Imperial Valley.

Desert Wildlife Unlimited, working with the California Department of Fish and Game and local businesses in Imperial County, now cultivates more than 2,000 acres of farm land between Calipatria and Niland to improve dove and pheasant hunting.

Veteran dove hunters such as San Diego's Ray Newton, who has been hunting Imperial Valley since 1968, had excellent hunts last year.

"Hunters in California are being demonized again," Newton said. "The battle to maintain hunter's and gun owner's rights is never-ending."

Ban on dove hunting proposed

Assemblyman Nation introduces bill opposed by outdoor, gun advocates

March 7, 2003

By CLARK MASON

THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

A proposal to ban dove hunting in California is being welcomed by animal rights activists, but hunters are up in arms over the bill by Assemblyman Joe Nation.

Nation said he is in favor of a hunting ban on mourning doves and white-winged doves for humanitarian and environmental reasons.

The San Rafael Democrat said there are more than 2 million doves killed each year by California hunters, but many more are shot and not retrieved, resulting in a "slow, miserable death."

He said the hunting also introduces lead shot into the environment, which is ingested by animals or seeps into waterways.

There are more than 100,000 dove hunters in the state, and Nation acknowledges that his proposal faces fierce opposition.

Gun and hunting advocates see the proposed ban, Assembly Bill 1190, as part of a systematic assault on hunting. They dispute that significant numbers of doves are maimed and left to die.

"This is just another emotional ploy being foisted by animal rights wackos who want to equate the importance of human beings and animals to the same level," said Sam Paredes, executive director of Gun Owners of California.

He said Nation's bill is causing a big uproar among hunters and predicted thousands will go to Sacramento to oppose it.

Other organizations against Nation's bill include the National Rifle Association, sporting goods interests and hunting associations.

Paredes, whose organization represents 30,000 members, said doves are usually shot at close range and hunters effectively use dogs to retrieve them.

He also disagreed about the extent to which lead ammunition harms the environment, saying "you could hold lead buckshot in your hand for a year and you wouldn't get any lead poisoning."

Animal rights advocates, however, cite studies on the toxic effects of the lead ammunition, saying the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service banned the use of lead shot for waterfowl in 1991 because of the risks it posed to waterfowl ingesting spent shot and to species that feed on possibly contaminated birds, such as bald eagles, California Condors and golden eagles.

They note that mourning dove hunting is banned in 11 states, including Iowa, Michigan and New York.

An official with the Animal Protection Institute, which persuaded Nation to introduce the bill, noted that a 2002 environmental study by the Department of Fish and Game estimated 25 percent of shot mourning doves are not retrieved.

"This is slaughter. The birds are tiny," said API spokesman Brian Vincent. "The amount of edible meat on them is quite small. It seems like the hunters are using doves to take potshots -- for target practice, rather than hunting."

But hunters disagree. "They kill 'em and grill 'em," said Paredes. "It's fun. They're also very, very tasty."

Hunters say a ban on dove hunting would lead to a drop in revenue for Fish and Game. But Nation countered that "the issue isn't how you can make money for Fish and Game, but is it appropriate to shoot doves when many aren't retrieved?"

Animal protection advocates say the dove has been been a symbol of fecundity and peace for more than 6,000 years and is equated with the Holy Spirit in Christianity.

"The bird of peace should not be blown to pieces," Vincent said.

But Paredes said the first time doves were used as an international symbol for peace was at the 1936 Berlin Olympics presided over by Adolph Hitler.

"Funny thing, they seem to forget that," Paredes said. "And doves have historically been a food source for people since time immemorial."

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