By John Barnes
Legislation approved today would provide about $1.6 million a year for “wildlife management public education” – a move critics fear is a veiled attempt to fight wolf-hunt opponents at the ballot box.
The bill would create a Michigan Wildlife Council that would determine how the money is to be spent. Its membership would include the Department of Natural Resources director.
The move would shift to a new account a $1 license surcharge approved by lawmakers earlier this year, and to be assessed next year on most hunters and anglers. The surcharge is part of larger license-fee restructuring.
Specifically, the legislation says the wildlife council would “develop and implement, in conjunction with a third-party marketing or advertising agency, a comprehensive media-based public information program to promote the essential role that sportsmen and sportswomen play in furthering wildlife conservation and to educate the general public about hunting, fishing, and the taking of game.”
The Senate passed the bill on a largely party-line vote, 25-13. It passed the House on Oct. 9, which must now sign off on some minor charges before it heads to the governor.
State Sen. Rebekah Warren, D-Ann Arbor, objected to the possible use of “taxpayer dollars, state resources … when we all know there will be at least one referendum on the ballot next November directly related to the controversial issue of the wolf-hunting season.
“We have already passed a bill to do an end-run around a previous referendum relating to wolf-hunting. … Can it be that we are doing it yet again here today, potentially breaking our own campaign finance laws by doing so?” Warren asked.
“This is not taxpayer dollars,” responded state Sen. Mike Green, R-Mayville. “This is money that was put into license (fees). We’re transferring that into a different fund.
“The whole idea behind this fund and the council is to support the wise scientific management of game species, and if a referendum attacks those principles, then the use of the fund becomes even more important so that our citizens truly understand what they might be voting on,” Green said.
The bill was sponsored Sponsored by state Rep. Jon Bumstead, R- Newaygo, Adam Wright, legislative director for Bumstead, said it is modeled on a similar program in Colorado and is meant to raise additional awareness about hunting and fishing opportunities, particularly in the wake of population declines.
“The good news about the committee is they have to follow the law. The things (Warren) is concerned about are already current law,” he said.
The wolf hunt began Nov. 15. To date, 20 wolves have been killed out of 43 targeted by year’s end. The most recent estimate place the total number of wolves in Michigan at 658.
Anti-hunt groups successfully raised enough citizen signatures to put the hunt on the 2014 ballot after state lawmakers approved the hunt. Legislators then deferred power to declare game species to the Natural Resources Commission, to nullify the ballot question.
A second petition drive is underway to quash that move, but a new referendum by pro-hunt groups seeks to nullify that effort as well, possibly without a public vote.