Michigan State Senate Passes Law to Protect Conservation

   08.14.14

Michigan State Senate Passes Law to Protect Conservation

Safari Club International (SCI) congratulates the Michigan Senate for their bipartisan triumph by passing the citizen-initiated law, the   Scientific Fish & Wildlife Conservation Act (SFWCA) today. SCI, along with hundreds of local sportsmen’s organizations in the state of Michigan support the SFWCA and expect to see the Michigan House take their vote before the end of August. SCI would like to thank the following Senators for protecting science based conservation in the state today by supporting SFWCA:

  • Senator Jim Ananich
  • Senator Jack Brandenburg
  • Senator Darwin Booher
  • Senator Tom Casperson
  • Senator Bruce Caswell
  • Senator Patrick Colbeck
  • Senator Judy Emmons
  • Senator Mike Green
  • Senator Geoff Hansen
  • Senator Dave Hildenbrand
  • Senator Joe Hune
  • Senator Mark Jansen
  • Senator Rick Jones
  • Senator Roger Kahn
  • Senator Mike Kowall
  • Senator Arlan Meekhof
  • Senator John Moolenaar
  • Senator Phil Pavlov
  • Senator David Robertson
  • Senator Tory Rocca
  • Senator Randy Richardville
  • Senator Tonya Schuitmaker
  • Senator Howard Walker

“The senate vote today is the first hurdle to ensure scientific management of our wildlife in Michigan is not violated by animal rights organizations,” said Merle Shepard, Past President of SCI and Michigan resident.  “Without this citizen-initiated legislation, fish and game decisions made by our state’s professional wildlife biologists will be subject to endless referendums run by out-of-state activists. The hunters and conservationists of Michigan now need our elected officials in the House of Representatives to pass SFWCA as it was intended by the citizens of the state.”

Out-of-state anti-hunting groups, led by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), have launched two referendum drives in Michigan seeking to overrule Michigan’s wildlife biologists on game management decisions. With their deep pockets, they know that once they get on a statewide ballot, it’s just a matter of spending millions of dollars in misleading advertising. They are currently trying the same strategy in Maine,just as they tried it here in 1996 and in 2006. SFWCA puts an end to the constant referendums and campaigning for proper wildlife management and replaces it with proper scientific management of wildlife.

The bipartisan Natural Resources Commission (NRC) was created in 1922 to separate conservation from politics. In 1996, the people of Michigan voted to give the NRC exclusive authority to issue game orders and required that it use sound science. This initiative makes sure that fish and game decisions can be made by the only public body in Michigan required by the people to use sound science: the Natural Resources Commission.

The Scientific Fish & Wildlife Conservation Act:

  • Ensures that decisions affecting the taking of fish and game are made using principles of sound scientific fish and wildlife management;
  • Provides for free hunting, fishing and trapping licenses for active members of the military, and;
  • Provides appropriations for fisheries management activities within Michigan necessary for rapid response, prevention, control and/or elimination of aquatic invasive species, including Asian carp.

Contact:

Nelson Freeman (media@safariclub.org)

Avatar Author ID 273 - 199569107

Protecting hunters’ rights and promoting wildlife conservation, SCI’s two areas of focus, historically has been the interest of hundreds of individuals long before SCI was established. But how did SCI as an organization begin?

Forty years ago, there were many safari clubs across the country made up of local, unaffiliated groups of hunters. One such was Safari Club of Los Angeles, which was formed in April 1971 by forty-seven individuals. In early 1972, an out-of-towner from a similar club in Chicago attended one of the monthly Wednesday night meetings, and it was decided that the L.A. club should attempt to combine with the one in Chicago to make it an affiliated chapter. The founder of Safari Club of Los Angeles, C.J. McElroy, went to the Windy City and instituted the new chapter.

Eleven months after the formation of Safari Club of Los Angeles, on March 9, 1972, the name was changed officially to Safari Club International. SCI continued to reach out to other independent safari clubs throughout the United States in an effort to combine them into a single overall organization.

Today, interest in SCI’s two primary missions has grown a worldwide network. Subsequent involvement and promotion of these missions is rooted in each of our 55,000 members, supported through each of our 190 membership chapters found across the globe, and put into action by government representatives and personnel both nationally and internationally.

In this way, we can encourage an appreciation for nature and wildlife so that conservation efforts remain strong, while also fighting to protect our rich hunting heritage. Big changes can be achieved through the endeavors of many who are united in a mission – the mission of Safari Club International.

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