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1) Re: 2009 House Bill 4198 (Extend ban on deer feeding ) [by bugman on March 26, 2009]if the d.n.r. is going to make arbitrary decisions, why should we extend the authority. they have already proven that science and the facts mean nothing to them.
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[quote user="Al T"]This is an isolated incidence and if the NRC does not currently have authority that an act of the legislative branch needs to give them, what authority are they acting on at this time.[/quote]
They have the authority now, this is a bill to extend it to 2015.
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This issue is getting more confusing. It takes a bill from a politician to give the authority to the NRC to ban baiting/feeding because the legislators do not have that power, but need to give the authority to the NRC to have that power. If the NRC doesn not have the authority to intiate a ban on deer baiting/feeding that requires legislative intervention, why is there a baiting/feeding ban installed by the NRC that does not have the authority?
As far as baiting being a right concerning hunting, I can not agree totally with that. It has always been a legal technique used for hunting. The elimination of baiting does not remove the right to hunt, but does restrict hunting by removing a technique.
In 1999/2000 the MDNR biologists notified participating organizations and individuals at a meeting that they no longer will manage wildlife but will manage the ecosystem and the effects of white tailed deer on the ecosystem in the State of Michigan. The MDNR is not managing wildlife, they are ecosytem managers. I believe C.J. related to that issue in her post as well.
When the bait ban was intiated for the T.B. areas of lower Michigan some biologists and members of the MDNR included restrictions on bear baiting in Michigan by retricting the type of material used in baiting bear that would be consumed by deer. The current MDNR director played a part in this issue when she was a biologist. The at that time MDNR director at an NRC meeting in Upper Michigan was flabergasted that these restrictions were placed and that law enforcement was going to enforce them. At that meeting he told the biologists that these restrictions were not feasable and would not be enforced for bear hunting. He was very irritated that the restrictions were formed without his knowledge.
It is not that some mistrust the government in these issues persay. It is the lack in confidence in the MDNR and the potential abuse of power by the NRC in regards to them being appointed by a Governor that creates alot of mistrust. They are financially influenced and have no rationale where tradition and heritage is concerned. Under the jurisdiction of Proposal G, voted into law in 1996 the citizens of the State of Michigan are to be allowed input into natural resources issues and that sound, scientific, and biologically proven evidence is the basis of the NRC decisions. The lack of sound evidence other than a penned deer being infected with CWD does not justify the long term restrictions placed on baiting and feeding. If no animals were found to have CWD in the area of the infection in a year or two that should be enough evidence to say that the restrictions are not necessary. In Kent County where the penned deer was located they did restrict hunters by asking them to check their deer in. If that area is restricted to deer check ins and no further infection is found common sense would say it is not a disease that has spread to the rest of the state.
There are legitimate reasons for some not to trust the MDNR. The wolf issue in Upper Michigan is one that is most prelivant. We (residents) have lost hunting, trapping opportunity due to the part they play in stocking wolves with out regard of property owner rights as well hunting opportunity. Seasons have been adjusted to compensate the wolf restoration people to accomadate the removal of hunting land use and opportunity. These organizations are HSUS and other animal rights organization oriented and the MDNR plays its part in dehuminizing those areas. There is reason for mistrust to those that have knowledge of the every day works of the MDNR and it appears that there are very few that do have this knowledge. Sitting in a class room or office and reading reports from other places does not constitute knowledge needed to understand wildlife in general. The restrictions placed due to dehumanization of our properties creates the feelings that the knowledgable feel concerning the deer baiting/feeding ban. The MDNR has stated for years that baiting/feeding in no way is detrimental to the white-trailed deer herd in Michigan. This is an isolated incidence and if the NRC does not currently have authority that an act of the legislative branch needs to give them, what authority are they acting on at this time.
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