by Jonathan Oosting / M Live
The Republican-led state House on Wednesday approved and enacted a citizen-initiated law that will effectively undermine two anti-wolf hunt proposals set to appear on the November ballot.
The new law, sent to the Legislature via a statewide petition drive and approved by the Senate two weeks ago, reaffirms the ability of the NRC to name game species and establish hunting seasons. It does not require the governor’s signature.
“It’s crucial to Michigan’s future that we respect and honor the fishing and hunting heritage by maintaining a factual, science-based approach,” said state Rep. Andrea LaFontaine, R-Columbus Township, who voted for the bill.
Leadership did not have to take up the proposal, and critics urged them to let it head to the ballot, where it would have competed with referendums on two previous wolf hunt laws that will now mean little.
The debate was heated and the vote close. The measure passed the lower chamber 65-43 as opponents and proponents who had rallied outside the Capitol earlier in the day looked down from the gallery above.
“If they are so certain that this is the correct way for Michigan to go, what do they have to lose by letting the people of the state of Michigan vote?” state Rep. Vicki Barnett, D-Farmington Hills, told about 100 activists at the anti-wolf hunt rally.
“They know they’re wrong, so they’re using loopholes and tricks to circumvent your constitutional rights, and I won’t stand for it.”
Opponents gathered 214,000 signatures for a referendum on a 2012 wolf hunt law, and when the Legislature responded by passing a second law, they gathered another 183,000 signatures for a second ballot proposal. The petition drives were funded primarily by the Humane Society of the United States.
A coalition of hunting and conservation groups then collected some 297,000 valid signatures to send the citizen-initiated bill to the Legislature. It contains an appropriation to fight invasive species, which means it may be immune from future referendum.
Michigan is currently home to an estimated 636 gray wolves, all located in the Upper Peninsula. Voters in other parts of the state shouldn’t make a decision that primarily impacts residents north of the bridge, according to Michael Leonard of the Safari Club International, Lansing chapter.
“The people in the U.P., they’re living with these animals,” said Leonard, who rallied with about a dozen hunters outside the Capitol. “We don’t have wolves down here. We don’t know. We don’t have to deal with it. I don’t think it’s fair for the majority to decide on the minority for what’s happening in the U.P.”
Republican State Rep. Ed McBroom of Vulcan and Democratic Rep. John Kivela of Marquette — both from the Upper Peninsula — spoke in support of the measure on the House floor, citing reported wolf attacks on livestock and dogs.
“Our entire peninsula is being affected and people’s lives are begin affected in a way that’s adverse to our whole culture,” McBroom said, noting lawmakers from around the state came together to approve a bankruptcy settlement for Detroit earlier this year. “We need your help.”
State Rep. Brandon Dillon, D-Grand Rapids, criticized the practice of attaching appropriations to controversial bills to make them referendum-proof and rejected claims that the fight has been about sound science.
“If we used facts to make our decision around here, we’d have a lot different bills passed,” said Dillon. “The actions on this bill, frankly, are not out of a first-rate democracy, they’re one of a banana republic.”
Michigan’s wolf population grew dramatically in the 1990s and early 2000s, prompting removal from both state and federal endangered species lists. Supporters say hunts are needed to manage the population, arguments bolstered by recent news that wolves had killed five hunting dogs in the span of three days, along with a cow.
But hunt critics say the wolf population does not justify a hunt so soon after government protections were lifted. They note that existing laws already allow farmers to kill nuisance wolves on their property and that wolves, unlike deer, are not shot for food.
“This isn’t about guns or hunting,” Kathy Karaba of Battle Creek said before the morning rally. “This is about a species of animal that needs to be protected. There is no rhyme or reason for killing these animals.”
Sherri Weigman of Lansing, carrying a “do not silence my vote” sign, said she helped collect signatures for both anti-wolf hunt petition drives and said she was frustrated to see her work go to waste.
“What is being proposed, and what’s being voted on today, is a real slap in the face to democracy,” Weigman said. “I don’t care how you feel about this issue, if the shoe were on the other foot, I’m sure those people wouldn’t like it if all there work was for nil.”
Twenty-two wolves were legally killed in three regions of the UP last year during Michigan’s first-ever wolf hunt, about half the number the state had hoped for.
An MLive.com investigation found government half-truths, falsehoods and livestock numbers skewed by a single farmer distorted some arguments for the inaugural hunt.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources sold 1,200 wolf hunting licenses last year, generating roughly $120,000 for the Game and Fish Protection Fund, according to the non-partisan House Fiscal Agency.
The $1 million appropriation proposed in the new bill would be drawn from the state’s general fund. The measure would also extend a provision of the 2013 law that gave free hunting, fishing and trapping licenses to active military members.