March 2010

Welcome to the September Safari Club International Quarterly Update for the Wisconsin Chapters. This update is a continuing email publication provided by The Welch Group. If you would like to subscribe to the email list please visit http://www.thewelchgroup.org/lists/ and sign up for the SCI: Wisconsin Chapters option.

As the 2010 Legislative Session starts to wind down, there are still over 90 bills floating around the legislature that, good or bad, will affect our hunting heritage.

• Deer Season Reform – DNR staff continue to ignore the hunting public and stick their head in the sand of their bad science when it comes to counting deer and revising deer season structure. Fortunately, with a big push from SCI and our friends in the Hunters Rights Coalition, we were able to convince key Legislators to ask for an upward revision to the deer goals. DNR Administration has been very responsive to our calls for reform, but everything moves very slowly as the entrenched bureaucracy defends its “turf”.

Goals will be revised upwards, but we will continue to push for a sustainable herd size, closer to 1 million deer.

We will continue to push for a simplified statewide 9 day season, with tags allocated for herd management where needed.

We have reviewed with DNR leadership the proposed expenditure of Pittman Robertson (PR) dollars for deer science studies. We have emphasized the need to study predation together with all non-hunt deer deaths. The state experienced a bonus of around $4 million in extra PR funds this year, as hunters and shooters stocked up on guns and ammo. The intervention of the HRC made sure that the spending of those dollars has become a transparent exercise.

SCI continues to make deer season reform its #1 issue and continues to lead the debate for hunters.

• Stewardship Access – New rules to guarantee access to stewardship purchased lands are now in the Legislature for review and final approval. The rule was referred in each house to the environmental committee, not the fish and wildlife committees. This makes it very difficult for us to get a fair hearing on our concerns.

Over the last few years, more and more of your tax dollars are being spent to buy up private lands and close them to hunting. This was not the intent of the Legislature, as tax dollars should only be spent on the purchase of public lands. Hunters, best I can tell, are members of the public!

At this time, we believe that the committees will at least give us a hearing. SCI, together with HRC and other hunting groups, will show up to testify in favor of some major revisions to the rules.

The very future of our sport hangs in the balance. Not every hunter has access to private lands. If we are to keep our hunter numbers up, we need to make sure those hunters using public lands continue to have a place to hunt. The Nature Conservancy and many in the DNR bureaucracy are hostile to hunters and are using the gradualist approach to shut us down.

This is a big one!

• Bear Bill – SCI has worked with the Wisconsin Bear Hunters Association and our friends in the Legislature to introduce AB 371, the 2009 Wisconsin Bear Bill. This bill passed the State Assembly on a unanimous voice vote in January. It has had a hearing in the Senate, and we expect that it will receive a favorable reception in the full State Senate.

Just a reminder as to what it does: 

• Creates a “try it for free” weekend for bear dog training in August
• Lowers the age for fee exemptions from 16 to 12 for Class B
• Allows for a back-up shooter
• Allows for continued dog training during harvest season for Class B if their harvest tag has been already used. This would apply only when and where dogs can currently be in the woods.
• Animal Rights Legislation – The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is the number one extreme animal rights organization in the country. They now have a Madison office and several lobbyists working full time to attack hunters and farmers alike. So far they are trying to keep a low profile, but we know their agenda includes banning all hunting – calling it “animal abuse”.

SCI and HRC have taken a lead role in educating our Legislature about this group. We recently distributed a Fact Sheet about their radical agenda.

However, we see their creeping influence already in several pieces of ill thought out Legislation.

The so called “thrill kill” bill would have made it a felony to run over a chipmunk with your ATV.

Now there is a new bill to make it a felony to do any practice of animal cruelty – included in the definition of animal cruelty is not keeping your dog pen in good repair, not having a full water dish, etc…. Felonies! And if done in front of a child, you could face up to 10 years in prison.

Rest assured that SCI will remain vigilant in opposition to this wrong-headed anti-hunting agenda.

• Range Protection – We have scored a partial victory for the shooting sports in that SB 424 has passed the Senate on a voice vote and looks like it may pass the Assembly as well. This bill will allow existing shooting ranges to expand or improve their property without running into local zoning problems. Currently, shooting ranges are protected from nuisance suits and closure through zoning changes, only if they operate as they always have. Any changes to the property, including something like paving a driveway, could trigger zoning review and possible closure.

This bill will go a long way to making sure we continue to have a place to get in some recreational shooting.

Also, as mentioned earlier, there are some new PR funds available to the DNR and we are making a major push for making some of that money available to local shooting clubs for expanding their public access. One of the original intents for PR funds was to support shooting sports, but currently none of the dollars go to local ranges.

• Gun Cases - SCI is working with Senator Decker on a bill to allow uncased, but unloaded, long guns to be set on non-moving vehicles. The bill also allows the transport of uncased, but unloaded, long guns during the regular hunting seasons by those who have a valid hunting license. This bill has passed the Senate on a voice vote and awaits action in the Assembly.
• Last Word – This report is really just the highlight of the many issues we are following on your behalf. The Welch Group maintains an office right across the street from the Capitol and is continuously monitoring all legislative and regulatory actions. If you have any questions or great ideas, feel free to contact us.

To learn more, contact Bob Welch of The Welch Group at 608-819-0150.

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