Senate Panel Moves Bill Forward
Bill Could Come to Floor Vote
as Early as Today

Published March 31, 2004. By Tim Martin. Lansing State Journal.
State Senate panel OKs mourning dove hunting

A bill that would allow hunters to shoot mourning doves in Michigan cleared a state Senate panel Tuesday.

The full Senate could vote on the issue as early as today. The bill would add the mourning dove to the state's game list, ending a hunting ban that began in Michigan nearly a century ago.

Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, after approving the bill by a 4-3 vote, said few issues have sparked debates among neighbors, friends and relatives quite like the mourning dove bill.

"It has inspired a lot of discussion. ...I have even been involved in a debate in church on this issue," said state Sen. Michael Bishop, R-Rochester.

Bishop joined Republicans Alan Cropsey of DeWitt, Bruce Patterson of Canton Township and Alan Sanborn of Richmond in supporting the bill. Democrats Virg Bernero of Lansing, Liz Brater of Ann Arbor and Mark Schauer of Battle Creek voted against the bill.

The House already has passed a version of the bill.

At least 39 other states allow mourning dove hunts. Supporters say a Michigan season would keep hunters in-state and possibly boost the economy.

Opponents say the doves are songbirds that should be protected.

"The majority of people do not see this as necessary," said Eileen Liska of the Michigan Humane Society.

The average annual mourning dove population in the United States is estimated at about 400 million, including at least 4 million that migrate from Michigan each fall.