News

Law May Leave Doves Vulnerable

Published 12/4/2001 - Lansing State Journal
Law may leave doves vulnerable.
Legislation would allow commission to name game species.

By Stacey Range
Lansing State Journal

Opponents of a mourning dove hunting season are attacking new legislation they say could open season on the songbird without public approval.

The legislation, to be taken up today by a House committee, would transfer authority to name new game species from the Legislature to the state's Natural Resources Commission.

While the change would have broader effects, protectors of the mourning dove say it's just a new attempt to end the 96-year ban on hunting the bird.

"This is mourning dove legislation in disguise," said Julie Baker, co-founder of the Lansing-based Songbird Protection Coalition. "It's a back-door approach."

The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Cameron Brown, would give the Natural Resources Commission authority to rewrite the list of targetable game in Michigan.

While the Sturgis Republican said the purpose of the legislation is not to allow mourning dove hunting, it does leave open the possibility that mourning doves could be added to a new list of huntable species.

"It would be up to the commission to determine what game should be hunted," Brown said.

The commission already has made its position known, Baker said. In 1987, the commission voted to approve a mourning dove hunting season. It was stopped, however, by a court that said the commission could not establish new game without the Legislature's approval.

"There is no doubt that if it's up to the commission, there will be a mourning dove hunting season," said Wayne Pacelle, a senior vice president with the Humane Society of the United States, one of the key opponents of the legislation.

The mourning dove has been the subject of controversial and emotional debates for years. Proponents of hunting the bird say the small, fast-moving creature is a challenge to kill and since 39 other states have made mourning doves legal targets, why not Michigan? Opponents say hunters want to kill the bird simply for fun, not for food since each bird produces less than an ounce of meat.

Several past efforts targeting the songbird have failed, most recently last year when a bill to create a mourning dove hunting season failed by one Senate vote. Activists credited the narrow win to public opposition.

But, Baker said, public opposition won't carry as much weight with an appointed commission.

"These commissioners are not accountable to the voters like elected officials are," Baker said. "Essentially, we would not have any elected representation on this issue any more."

Brown says that isn't so.

Under the new law, the commission must hold a public hearing and provide for public input on any order before it is issued.

And an amendment drafted Monday would give the Legislature veto power over the commission's decisions.

"The Legislature would still have final say," Brown said. "This just depoliticizes the issue."

State Rep. Larry Julian, R-Lennon, is a co-sponsor of the bill. Julian said he signed on to the bill because he thought it made sense to have trained experts deciding which animals are proper game.

He said he didn't think it had anything to do with mourning doves.

"It never crossed my mind," Julian said. "I never put those two things together."

Brown said he believes the commission already has the authority to name game. He says Proposal G, passed by voters in 1996, transferred that power, although the commission has never exercised it because the language of the law isn't clear.

"There is some ambiguity about what Proposal G is calling for, but this bill will clarify that," Brown said. "It is the will of the people."

The Michigan United Conservation Clubs say there is no ambiguity in the law.

"It's pretty clear," said Amanda Hathaway of the MUCC.

Under Proposal G, the Natural Resources Commission was given the "exclusive authority" to regulate hunting. The list of species allowed to be hunted was defined in subsection 40103 - which says the Legislature is to designate species on the list. Brown's bill would amend that subsection.

Protectors of the mourning dove said they are prepared for the bill to pass through the committee today.

The vice chair of the Conservation and Outdoor Recreation Committee is Rep. Sue Tabor, R-Delta Township, who sponsored the mourning dove hunting legislation last year and had begun gathering support for another attempt this year.

"We don't have much of a chance in this committee," Pacelle said from his Washington, D.C., office. "We'll have some people there for the hearing, but we're going to reserve our efforts for the full House and Senate votes."

Contact Stacey Range at 377-1157 or srange@lsj.com.

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