More Legal Wrangling over Michigan’s Wolves

By Glen Wunderlich

Michigan wolf management is now in the hands of a Washington D.C. federal district court judge.  At issue is whether wolf populations have fully recovered.  On one side of the matter is the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), which claims that the gray wolf still needs protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA); on the other side is the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation (USSAF) and others such as Michigan United Conservation Clubs defending the 2011 delisting rule against the HSUS lawsuit.

The decision may well determine whether the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has the authority to delist recovered populations of a species, and return that recovered population to state management, while continuing to manage populations of the same species in different locales under the ESA. Read more

Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation Celebrates Virginia Decision

Washington, DC – Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe has signed Sunday hunting into law, allowing Virginia to join the 40 other states that allow hunting on privately owned lands on Sundays. Sponsored by Delegate Todd Gilbert, and cosponsored by many members of the Virginia Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus, HB 1237 passed the Senate on February 18 (28-11) after clearing the House of Delegates on January 30 (71-27). An identical bill (SB 154) sponsored by Senator Phillip Puckett also reached the Governor’s desk, after passing the Senate on February 10 (29-10) and later the House on February 28 (73-24). Read more

LaPierre Blasts Mainstream Media and Obama Administration at CPAC

“A little over a year ago, I offered the answer for school violence,” said the NRA’s Wayne LaPierre, “and the media elite called every nasty name imaginable. Fortunately, Americans disagreed.”   That was the opening shot, and LaPierre never stopped firing at the “media elite” and the political figures he says are dedicated to “fundamentally changing America” as he addressed the attendees of the National Conservative Political Action Conference outside Washington. Read more

On-the-Ground volunteer efforts are making a big difference in habitat improvement

GW:  All I can think of when I see those logs is firewood.  And, I don’t care what kind of wood it is.

Rabbits and other small creatures will have some new homes at Fulton State Game Area now that a handful of volunteers – working on a Michigan-On-the-Ground program – spent a Saturday building brush piles at the Kalamazoo County site. The Michigan DNR and Michigan United Conservation Clubs have partnered to create Michigan On-the-Ground volunteer opportunities where people can work The program, a partnership between Michigan United Conservation Clubs and the Department of Natural Resources, recruits volunteers to help the DNR improve fish and wildlife habitat across the state. On-the-Ground has attracted the attention of sportsmen and others who want to help increase the productivity of state game areas, rivers and lakes.
Last Saturday, volunteers felled pre-selected trees to build lattices, which could be piled high with brush to provide nesting and escape cover for small game – like rabbits – and other critters. By noon, the crew had built 10 brush piles along the edge of an agriculture field on the area. Read more

Charity Navigator Downgrades HSUS

This from www.HumaneWatch.org

Whenever we point out that the independent watchdog CharityWatch gives the Humane Society of the United States a C-minus grade, HSUS usually retorts that it gets four stars (out of four) from Charity Navigator, a different evaluator. No more.

Today we learned Charity Navigator has downgraded HSUS from four stars to three. The reason? After we filed an IRS complaint against HSUS last fall, alleging that HSUS had improperly inflated its revenue for several years, HSUS filed amended tax returns. (Independent experts, such as CharityWatch and a Minnesota tax attorney, also thought HSUS was in the wrong.) Based on this amended data, Charity Navigator has revised its rating of HSUS and downgraded the group. Read more

NSSF Issues Statement on Facebook Firearms Policy

Facebook today acted to provide clarification to its policies on postings concerning firearms and agreed to provide educational messaging on its platform. We are in agreement that all applicable laws should be observed in the private transfer of firearms. We would have welcomed the opportunity to provide our industry’s perspective, however, and regret that we were not consulted. Facebook’s clarification will not affect the lawful commerce in firearm and ammunition products for NSSF members and their customers.

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