Legislative Update: June 2015
If You Feel as I Do, Make Your Voice Heard
Not long ago, I sent out an e-mail detailing some of the items in pieces of proposed legislation in the Michigan Senate called SB 39 and SB 40. For those of us who hunt public lands in Michigan, and it’s the primary destination state for grouse and woodcock hunters, a couple of these are especially disturbing:
- All lands under the control of the [DNR] department are to be open to all motorized and non-motorized activity, which includes the removal of berms, gates, and other impediments;
- The state would have the right to sell state lands to private individuals.
So, horses, four-wheelers, and dirt bikes would have unrestricted use of state lands, at least those lands that aren’t sold. Lands, by the way, that include large acreages purchased with Pittman-Robertson funds (money that comes from the sale of hunting equipment) and State Game Funds derived directly from hunting license fees. Additionally, substantial dollars gained directly from hunting licenses and Pittman-Robertson funds are spent annually across the State Forest system. In FY 2015 – not including wages, travel, or equipment – about $1.2 million is being spent on direct habitat management projects in the northern 2/3rd of the State; primarily on State Forest lands.
A brouhaha has erupted over these bills, and so, last week in the Detroit Free Press, an article appeared written by the two senators who are sponsoring the bills. I have attached it for your reading because it shows the bills to be something far less intrusive than the way they are actually written. For example, an “elderly” person being denied access is a lot different from two-dozen people staging a dirt-bike race, which, is also a motorized “activity.” And the sale of state land? Part of what makes Michigan so attractive to visitors and those of us who live here is the tremendous amount of land open to the public. If a paper company decides to buy 50,000 acres in the western UP – and post it – what would prevent that?
I have spoken in person with one of these gentlemen and found him to be cordial, open, and willing to listen to all sides. To their credit, the senators are asking for the public’s comments, with phone numbers provided.
If you feel as I do that the face of Michigan’s public hunting lands will be changed forever should these bills be enacted, please let the senators know:
Sen. Tom Casperson represents the 38th state Senate District, which includes the central and western Upper Peninsula. He can be reached at 517-373-7840 or SenTCasperson@senate.michigan.gov.
Sen. Darwin Booher represents the 35th state Senate District, which includes the northern Lower Peninsula. He can be reached at 517-373-1725 or SenDBooher@senate.michigan.gov.
Thanks,
Steve Smith
Editor
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