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| Attention Hunters!!! |
2010 “Hunters
Rights Coalition” Summit Meeting
On Saturday January 16th the
“Hunter Rights Coalition (HRC)”
held their 3rd annual summit meeting in Stevens
Point Wisconsin. The HRC mainly consists of the six Safari Club
International (SCI) chapters of Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Bear
Hunters Association (WBHA), and the National Wild Turkey
Foundation (NWTF) Wisconsin State Chapter. These three
organizations were all well represented at the meeting along with
representatives from the National Rifle Association (NRA),
Wisconsin Trappers Association (WTA), Wisconsin Bowhunters
Association, Wisconsin Waterfowl Association, and many other local
and state hunting/conservation organizations.
Bob Welch from the “Welch Group” & Jolene
Plautz,
our two lobbyists, did an outstanding job of bringing in
legislators such as Representatives
Scott Gunderson,
Ann Hraychuck, Amy Sue
Vruwink and also
Senators Jim Holperin & Glenn Grothman. They also brought in
special guests “Secretary of the DNR”
Matt Frank and “Executive
Secretary Board of Commissioners of Public Lands” Tia Nelson
to discuss concerns on issues relating to Deer, Bear,
Turkey, Wolves, use of public lands, over regulation, and current
bills in the senate & house committees.
Also discussed were issues with the current gun laws with
the help of our NRA regional rep. Jordan Austin.
Also sharing their
knowledge and expertise were Greg “Kaz”
Kazmierski from SCI, Dean Hamilton from NWTF, Scott Meyer
from the WBHA, and members of the conservation congress.
All of these people and organizations coming
together to discuss concerns about our states wildlife and Right
to hunt is the result of the formation of the HRC three years ago
to give the hunter a voice in Madison.
Today we have two lobbyists who watch and fight for or
against every bill being introduced. They keep us advised on what
is going on behind the scenes and at the same time advise our
legislators on our views and concerns sometimes before the bills
are even written. Through these meetings and day to day contact
with our legislators the HRC has become a voice that has to be
dealt with. Along the
way we have also found quite a few legislative friends that now
ask us our opinions on bills that they are drafting. In return
they know they can count on our support.
We have come a long way in three years but
are still far short of the voice we could have if all the hunting,
fishing, trapping, and gun organizations could come together. This
is why we invite the leaders of these sportsman’s organizations to
attend the summit with an equal voice.
To fight this battle it takes both money &
numbers (Members). Our adversaries have both and this is why it’s
been and is going to be a long battle. It’s time we unite in one
voice and educate our legislators and the non-hunting community
that we are the conservationists. We are the reason that there is
abundant wildlife and public land for all of us to use. Lastly
when necessary we will stand together to fight to protect our
right to hunt, fish, trap, and own guns.
SCI hosted the event this year and was represented by “Kaz” from
S.E. Wisconsin Bowhunters chapter, Joseph & Kathe Koback, Ray
Wolski, & Kris Marchel from Central Wisconsin Chapter, Cal & Karen
Ort from N.E.Wisconsin Chapter, and Scott Maves from Badgerland
chapter. The Central
Wisconsin Chapter volunteered to host the event for SCI. They made
sure everything ran smoothly and professionally from the meetings
on Friday evening to the social after the summit meeting on
Saturday.
December 2009
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.com/lists/ and sign up for the SCI:
Wisconsin Chapters option.
As winter approaches (quickly!), it’s a good time to reflect on how
this fall’s legislative session progressed, and what we look to face in
2010.
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Youth Mentored Hunting – Just thought we should be proud
of the fact that youth mentored hunting for those as young as 10
years old was in place for this fall’s hunting seasons. The DNR did
quite an education and outreach program and word is that we got
tremendous participation. 11,000 new hunters were added because of
this law! You should all take a bow!
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Deer Seasons – Another year and another collapse in the
deer herd. The DNR continued to act tone deaf as they refused to
address the obvious errors in their deer counting science and
refused to significantly change overwinter goals. They also refuse
to recognize the significant impact that predation is having on the
herd.
The DNR did try to come up with an alternative to earn-a-buck,
and SCI was represented on that committee by Greg Kazmierski. SCI
and the HRC put together a strong coalition with other hunting
groups to fight against the agency proposal which came out of that
committee.
The 16 day season with an early opener was obviously a
non-starter with hunters, and our show of strength at the rule
hearings caused the DNR to pull the rule from consideration.
However, that is not the whole story.
We had asked that the DNR not only eliminate the early opening 16
day season, but also consolidate the October hunts into one 4 day
period, eliminate the December hunts altogether, manage deer
population through tag allocation, and make for a consistent
statewide season structure (including CWD) that would last for at
least 5 years.
Only with consistency across the state and over time, can we
regain a level of accuracy in the SAK deer counting science.
Unfortunately, by pulling the rule, these other reforms are
unlikely to occur – for example the December hunt will continue for
this year.
SCI will make the future of deer hunting a top priority for our
2010 agenda and we get a good start on it right away as the Assembly
and Senate Natural Resources Committees will be holding an
informational hearing at 10:00 am on December 17th in Room 411 South
of the State Capitol. Anyone wishing to testify or just to register
your dissatisfaction with DNR heard management – show up!
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Stewardship Access – The new rules to implement the new
stewardship hunting access law have now gone through hearing and
will be presented to the Natural Resources Board for their approval
in January. Despite hunters showing up at the hearings to express
our concerns with the rule, the DNR looks likely to move forward
with rules that do not provide for adequate assurances that lands
purchased with your tax dollars will remain open for hunting and
trapping.
Too many grants are now being given out to land trusts which
contain prohibitions on hunting and trapping. And the DNR is barely
lifting a finger in opposition to this ever-growing trend.
SCI and the HRC fought hard to get language included in the
stewardship reauthorization which guaranteed access for hunters, but
the DNR rules largely ignore this language.
Hunting groups are united in our fight to preserve access to
public land. If this rule is not fixed, the hunting community will
remove its long time support for stewardship. Better to keep the
land in private hands, than to use tax dollars to close lands to
hunting.
The last stop for the rules is in the Legislature and we will
make a concerted effort to amend them during the Legislative Review
process.
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Puppy Mills – The “puppy mill” bill has now been signed
into law by the Governor. Although it is not a bill we sought out or
supported, we are very pleased that the bill creates a system for
licensing dog breeders that should have very little effect on
hunting dog owners or breeders. There is still a rule process to go
through at the Department of Agriculture, but we are pretty
convinced that the rules will come out favorably.
Animal rights extremists had sought to include all dog owners in
the new regulation and many of the new rules would have made it
impractical to keep a dog outside.
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Trill Kill Bill – SCI and the HRC weighed in strongly
against an ill-thought out bill to make it illegal to “pursue” any
mammal or bird using a motor vehicle. This would have potential made
you a felon for hitting a chipmunk with your ATV! The bill is
probably dead, but we are working to make sure that if it ever does
receive a vote, it has been repaired.
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Gun Issues – There is a lot of action regarding gun
control in the Legislature right now. Over 24 separate bills have
been introduced which would limit your right to keep and bear
firearms. These bills would make it illegal buy a firearm for
someone else, close so-called “Gun Show Loopholes”, make it illegal
not to report a stolen gun right away, make domestic violence plea
deals subject to gun confiscation, and implement the crazy
“microstamping” of all bullet casing.
Fortunately, I don’t believe that any of these bills will
actually pass. But they do have hearings and we do need to be
vigilant in our opposition.
On the plus side, the Milwaukee Police Chief has actually said he
could live with a concealed carry law, so there is at least the hint
of some movement on that issue.
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Event – The Friends of SCI Hunters conduit helped to host
a shooting event/fundraiser for Senate Democrats in October. We had
excellent attendance – 7 Senators and 8 Senate staff members. Many
of these had never shot a gun before. This was an excellent way to
further our relationship with the majority party.
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Last Word – 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.
The Welch Group maintains an office right across the street from
the Capitol and is continuously monitoring all legislative and
regulatory actions.
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