On July 2nd, animal rights groups launched a petition drive to stop the state from controlling the growing wolf population. If enough signatures are gathered, Michigan voters will decide on November 4, 2014, whether to overturn Senate Bill 288, which granted authority to designate game species to the state Natural Resources Commission. The anti-hunting coalition, called Keep Michigan Wolves Protected, is backed by the nation’s most powerful animal rights organization, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS).
This is the latest chapter in a war between the animal rights lobby and the state of Michigan over an out-of-control wolf population.
Here is a timeline of what has occurred to date:
January 1, 2012 – The US Fish and Wildlife Service removes the Western Great Lakes population of wolves from the Endangered Species list.
December 28, 2012 – Michigan Governor Rick Snyder signs Senate Bill 1350 into law which adds wolves to the state’s game animal list so that they could be managed by the Natural Resources Commission and controlled.
May 22, 2013 – The anti-hunting lobby qualified a referendum for the November 4, 2014 ballot seeking to overturn Senate Bill 1350 and prevent a wolf hunting season.
June 1, 2013 – Governor Snyder signs Senate Bill 288 into law, which counters the anti-hunting referendum by granting the Natural Resources Commission authority to designate game species. Previously only the legislature could determine which animals to add to the game list.
July 2, 2013 – Keep Michigan Wolves Protected and HSUS launch a signature drive to qualify a second referendum to overturn SB 288. The latest signature drive is intended to remove that new authority.
HSUS must gather 161,305 signatures by approximately March 2014 to place the issue before the voters (actual deadline is 90 days after the final adjournment of the 2013 legislative session, which will occur in December). If the latest signature drive is successful, Michigan citizens will be deciding on two anti-hunting issues on November 4, 2014 – the first to remove wolves from the game list, and the second to strip the Natural Resources Commission’s new authority to determine game species.
“All of these efforts have little to do with the number of wolves in Michigan, which have vastly exceeded their recovery goals, and has everything to do with the potential for a wolf hunting season,” said Nick Pinizzotto, U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance president and CEO. “The possibility of a hunting season is simply unacceptable to these anti-hunting groups.”
– See more at: http://www.ussportsmen.org/hunting/antis-in-michigan-pushing-second-referendum-on-wolves/#sthash.3Clhva10.dpuf
