News - Tabor Reintroduces Dove Bill


	News
	Tabor Reintroduces Dove Bill Published August 14, 2003. By Dawson Bell. Detroit Free Press. Lawmaker to revive bill on hunting doves Undaunted by repeated setbacks and lots of hate mail, state Rep. Susan Tabor is taking another shot at adding Michigan to the long list of states that permit hunts for mourning doves. Tabor, R-Delta Twp., reintroduced legislation Wednesday to add the mourning dove, long protected in Michigan, to the state's list of legal game species. It would then be up to the Natural Resources Commission and Department of Natural Resources to establish a hunting season. Similar legislation has fallen shy of passage in the past while generating some of the most emotional debate in recent legislative history. Tabor and her foes expect more of the same this time. "People feel very strongly about it, and we'll be encouraging them to let their legislators know how they feel again," said Nancy Gunnigle, spokeswoman for the Michigan Humane Society, which has organized past opposition. Tabor said she hoped for a civilized debate that focused on scientific arguments. But she's not counting on it. "This is a very emotional issue for a lot people," she said. Tabor hopes to mobilize support from state hunters, who number up to 800,000, and she has the support of the Michigan United Conservation Clubs, the state's most influential outdoor lobby. Sam Washington, the group's president, said Wednesday that Michigan can support a dove season. Among other arguments, hunters say doves are migratory and doves not hunted in Michigan are legal game as they fly south through other states. Tabor, who chairs the House Conservation and Outdoor Recreation Committee, said she expects to schedule hearings on the bill in the fall and hopes to win approval in the Legislature before the end of the year.

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