Boone and Crockett: Conservation Groups Achieve Breakthrough on Litigation Payouts
GW: Although a good step forward, those interested in transparency will meet a dead end unless Senate leader Reid allows the bill to move forward. Hats off to these lawmakers in any event.
MISSOULA, Mont.–The bipartisan Open Book on Equal Access to Justice Act passed the House Judiciary Committee on Feb. 5 by a voice vote. This is a show of strong support for the bill, H.R. 2919, by Reps. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and Steve Cohen (D-TN).
“Lawsuits are still controversial and the disagreements still run deep on lawsuits in conservation, but we now have clear, bipartisan agreement that transparency is the first step toward solutions,” said Lowell Baier, president emeritus of the Boone and Crockett Club. “This bill ensures public disclosure of the facts: who files these lawsuits, why, and how much public money is spent on them.” Read more
The exceptionally cold winter weather of the past few weeks has caused the bays and waters of the Great Lakes to freeze much further into the center than in recent years. Rather than move far into the deep waters of the lakes, some waterfowl – including horned and red-necked grebes; common, hooded and red-breasted mergansers; and long-tailed ducks – are moving from the larger, freezing waters of the Great Lakes and are looking for open water bodies inland. In foggy, snowy, low-visibility conditions, these birds are mistaking icy roadways and driveways for inland water bodies and are becoming stranded on land. 
Department of Natural Resources (DNR) officials announced the 2014 Black Lake sturgeon harvest season ended after less than 90 minutes on Saturday, Feb. 1, with six fish being harvested. The fishing season, which included spearing or hook-and-line fishing, was scheduled to run Feb. 1-5, or until the harvest quota had been reached.
