(Columbus, OH) – Sportsmen should thank Committee members for voting to stop a bill that would have allowed for the unlimited killing of deer, elk and bear.

Senate Bill 868, introduced by Senator Richard Stuart (R- Montross), would have required the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries to issue agricultural damage kill permits to any person claiming that deer, elk, or bear were causing agricultural damage without first investigating if any damage actually occurred.

“This bill was pushing through at a break-neck pace and would have had a devastating effect on the state’s deer, elk, and bear populations,” said Rob Sexton, U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance vice president for government affairs. “Sportsmen should thank members of the House Committee for putting the breaks on this bill and for protecting professional management of the state’s deer, elk, and bear populations.”

Today the House Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources Committee voted to table the bill, which likely will kill the bill for the remainder of the year.

Current law requires the Department to investigate claims of agricultural damage before damage permits can be issued. Only after finding the damage was actually caused by a deer or bear can the Department allow the removal of the problem deer and bear. Additionally, in current law only deer and bear are subject to damage permits. This bill would have also allowed the state’s limited elk population to be included in the damage permits.

A coalition of sportsmen’s and conservation organizations including the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance along with the National Wild Turkey Federation, National Shooting Sports Foundation, National Rifle Association, Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, Safari Club International, Quality Deer Management Association, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, and many others all pushed to stop the bill.

Both states recently approved elk restoration plans and RMEF pledged $300,000 each.

“We’re proud to step forward and put money ‘on the ground’ for these projects. No doubt, our great volunteers, members and supporters will continue to raise additional funds for both states,” said David Allen, RMEF president and CEO. “Restoring elk back into Missouri and Virginia is going to be a tremendous legacy in conservation.”

In Missouri, RMEF invested over $61,000 to help fund an initial elk restoration study in 2000. A restoration plan was finally approved in October. The restoration zone is a 346-square-mile area spanning parts of Shannon, Carter and Reynolds counties. The area was selected because of suitable habitat, extensive public lands, low road density, minimal agricultural activity and landowner support. Up to 150 elk will be relocated to Missouri from Kentucky, an undertaking expected to begin within a few weeks.

“We are very grateful to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation for its long-standing support of elk restoration in Missouri,” said Missouri Department of Conservation Director Bob Ziehmer. “Now that we are ready to move forward, RMEF has wasted no time putting resources behind the effort.”

In Virginia, RMEF invested more than $28,000 for an initial elk restoration feasibility study in 1996. RMEF volunteers were thrilled when the board of directors of the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries in August voted unanimously to relocate elk into Buchanan County, with an elk management area to include Dickenson and Wise counties. Plans call for relocating 75 elk from Kentucky to Buchanan County beginning as early as 2012. Biologists are hoping for a sustainable elk population that will offer wildlife recreational opportunities such as elk viewing in the short term and a limited hunting season within four or five years.

“We are excited about the elk restoration project in Virginia and the opportunity to partner with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation – an organization recognized as a leader in wildlife habitat conservation in the country,” said Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries Director Bob Duncan. “RMEF’s support of our agency and our elk restoration project, not only monetarily but through the many RMEF members and chapters throughout Virginia, has been overwhelming. The benefits of such a partnership are long term and beneficial to not only the restoration of elk in southwest Virginia but to other wildlife species and programs in the area.”

Kentucky’s elk herd, which is the largest herd east of the Rocky Mountains, was restored with financial and technical support from RMEF in the 1990s. That herd now numbers more than 10,000 animals, is a major tourism draw, offers ever-increasing hunting opportunities and is now serving as a source herd for restoration efforts in other states.

The state’s restoration plan calls for relocating 75 elk into Buchanan County in southwest Virginia. Releases could begin by 2012. Biologists are hoping for a sustainable elk population and a limited elk-hunting season within four years. County officials are expecting significant economic and tourism benefits similar to those in neighboring Kentucky, which launched its own restoration program over a decade ago and now boasts the largest elk herd east of the Rockies.

At an agency meeting on Aug. 17, RMEF volunteers and staff spoke passionately in favor of elk restoration, although several other organizations were opposed. The board voted unanimously to restore elk into Buchanan County, which strongly supported the concept.

“Hats off to the citizens of Virginia, and especially those of Buchanan County, who understand there is no higher calling in conservation than restoring a native game species to sustainable, hunt-able, balanced populations. For everyone who doesn’t understand it today, I believe you’ll be convinced over time that this was the right decision, the right thing to do, the right way to go about it,” said David Allen, RMEF president and CEO.

To be a part of this historic conservation effort in Virginia, join and support RMEF. Visit www.rmef.org and click “Attend an Event” to find fundraisers planned across the state. For additional information, call 800-CALL ELK or contact Chris Croy, RMEF regional director for Virginia, at 704-551-6223 or ccroy@rmef.org.

“There is no higher calling in conservation than restoring a native game species to sustainable, hunt-able, balanced populations,” said David Allen, RMEF president and CEO. “When the citizens of Wisconsin, Kentucky and Tennessee decided to bring elk back to those parts of their former range, we were there to help, and those successes are among the most rewarding and popular accomplishments in our organization’s history.”

Allen encouraged Virginians to get involved in the process. The public can comment on the agency’s proposals at a series of meetings and online by Aug. 1, 2010.

Learn more about elk restoration and management alternatives in Virginia at the URL/link below:
http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/wildlife/elk/management-plan/

Meeting details:
Russell County: June 24, 7:00-9:00 p.m., Russell County Government Center, 137 Highlands Dr., Lebanon, Va.
Wise County: June 29, 7:00-9:00 p.m., Wise County Courthouse, 206 E. Main St., Wise, Va.
Dickenson County: June 30, 7:00-9:00 p.m., Ralph Stanley Museum, Community Room, Main St., Clintwood, Va.
Buchanan County: July 1, 7:00-9:00 p.m., Appalachian School of Law, Booth Center, 1169 Edgewater Dr., Grundy, Va.
Lee County: July 6, 7:00-9:00 p.m., Lee County High School, auditorium, Clyde Pearson Rd., Jonesville, Va.

Submit comments online at the URL/link below:
http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/wildlife/elk/management-plan/comment/

The debate was concluded by Sen. Mary Margaret Whipple (D). “As a final comment, let me just say this. I’ve really never been afraid for my life at the Red Lobster,” she said.

Gee, I bet three dead people at the University of Alabama Huntsville and many, many more had never really been afraid for their lives at the University. Perhaps if we didn’t use idiotic reasoning of what happens after the fact and one of those three dead people could have been carrying a weapon for protection, as is guaranteed under the Constitution, there would be innocent people alive and one deranged sicko dead instead.

Tom Remington

In August, the governing board of the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) voted unanimously to end unmanaged harvest of elk by state deer hunters. For years, any Virginian with a deer permit could shoot an elk wandering across the state line from Kentucky. That practice is expected to officially end this fall.

Additionally, the VDGIF board also moved toward an official elk reintroduction and management plan for southwestern Virginia.

?Kudos to conservation leaders in Virginia. Restoring a native game species to management levels is one of the highest achievements in conservation, and it?s great to see Virginia aspiring to that goal for elk,? said David Allen, RMEF president and CEO.

He added, ?The Elk Foundation is extremely proud of the role we played in restoring elk to neighboring Kentucky. With a lot of money, technical assistance from our staff and support from our volunteers, we helped relocate over 1,500 elk to Kentucky between 1997 and 2002. Today that herd has more than 11,000 animals and offers incredible hunting opportunities with legitimate chances to take world-class bulls.?

Research shows that Kentucky elk have dispersed into four neighboring states with varying degrees of hospitality. Virginians originally wanted to keep elk out but now the culture appears to be changing, said Allen.

As an extension of its mission to ensure the future of elk, other wildlife and their habitat, RMEF promotes sound management of wild, free-ranging elk, which may be hunted or otherwise enjoyed.

A YouTube video clip of the VDGIF board discussion and vote follows:

Posted by Tom Remington

Mark Warner says there’s a coalition, a Christian coalition, taking over the republican party and if they have their way they’ll take over the state. Among other groups, Warner says this coalition is made up of NRA members, home-schoolers and those with different views. He says this is “threatening to what it means to be an American”.

Think about that for a minute…..no, actually you need only a second. Did I wake up one morning to discover America has completely changed? What is going on?

Tom Remington

I’m temporarily filling in for Susan Wolf, who is recovering from surgery. The Humane Society of the U.S. HB538 “commercial” breeder measure passed the Virginia House on 2/12/2008. It will clear our Senate within days. HSUS is about to gain in Virginia what it couldn’t in years of Washington lobbying the Santorum Pet Animal Welfare Statute – (AKA PAWS). VAPAWS (HB538) requires hobby dog breeder licensing and inspection for anyone selling puppies at retail as well as wholesale, if they’re over a certain size. Virginia has an early, very short and frenetic legislative session. Its 2008 agenda included over 30 animal rightist supported bills. HB538 was HSUS’s top priority.

Sportsmen and hobby breeders here lost to HSUS’s five paid Richmond professional lobbyists, its DC personnel and numerous very well coordinated local semi-pro anti activists. HB538 duplicates and supplants the federal licensing system that registers and inspects all large dog breeders and investigates any dog breeder with four (4) or more females about whom a tip or a legitimate complaint has been received. USDA-APHIS has 5700+ Class A breeders that it monitors and inspects at least once per year, including 14 in Virginia. The federal government did 10,000 inspections last year, checking compliance with 60 pages of detailed dog care standards.

HSUS personnel used the public firestorm over Michael Vick’s despicable dogfighting and created their own inflammatory anti-dog breeder hyped press. Horton’s Dogs in Carroll County, Virginia, the HSUS “Virginia is for Puppy Mills” cause célèbre, was well known to local authorities and the animal control officer (ACO) for years. He had a business license, a 500 dog kennel permit, five employees, bought dog food by the ton and advertised puppies in newspapers and on the Internet. He sold both retail and to pet stores and should have been federally licensed and inspected by law, but wasn’t. On that there’s no dispute.

That situation was a local political problem, not a federal law or enforcement shortfall. Someone could have brought Horton to the USDA’s attention at any time. Three months after the well-publicized HSUS November “raid,” there still hasn’t been a complaint lodged with USDA, nor has the local ACO returned to that facility, which continues to sell puppies. Horton remains in business and still meets the USDA definition of a licensed “dealer.” The fourteen USDA licensed and inspected VA dog breeders are listed on the USDA-APHIS website. This isn’t some mysterious, unknown or unaccountable animal welfare service, just one the State Veterinarian’s Office and ACOs need to learn about, rather than being asked to supplant, or duplicate the federal program at great cost to local taxpayers and risk to responsible dog owners.

HB538 requires local county ACOs to review pet store records and to enforce both new state dog kennel inspection standards and those of USDA-APHIS. This is totally absurd, as the bill has internal self-contradictions, as well as numerous conflicts with federal animal care regulations. Further, the new inspection system will cost $ millions to implement, none of which has been budgeted. The counties and cities have been saddled with another unfunded mandate from Richmond. The bill’s precise details may be found at http://vhdoa.uplandbirddog.com/stater.html Suffice it to say that Virginia’s new “commercial” breeder definition includes many hunt clubs, those with co-owned dogs and other responsible breeders that aren’t “puppy mills.”

One of my disappointments while lobbying against this bill over the last three weeks was the refusal of top USDA-APHIS management to take position on HB538. Even more discouraging, a few dog owner groups supported HB538, to the point they joined the animal rightist speaking panels and heavily lobbied members one on one. Included among these individuals was the fired professional lobbyist of the AKC Virginia Federation of Dog Clubs and Breeders (VFDCB) and another Richmond lobbyist representing a MFH hunt club. The Legislative Chairman of the Virginia Veterinary Medical Association also supported this anti-dog breeding measure. Unfortunately, the American Kennel Club’s HB538 opposition letter arrived too late to be useful.

Despite all of this opposition, it’s usually easier to stop a bill than it is to pass one. That didn’t happen in Virginia, for the second significant time in three years. We lost the crucial committee vote (9-Y 8-N). The Old Dominion dog groups opposed to HB538 failed to cooperate with each other, coordinate their efforts, or compensate for the adverse actions of VFDCB’s dismissed lobbyist. Our lobbying effort was very frankly embarrassing. The lessons learned during our 2005 PAWS opposition fight were forgotten. HSUS announced last year that it was taking its PAWS anti-breeder effort to the states and that Virginia was its first target. Please learn from our mistakes and prepare to better defend your sport and your dogs.

Freely forward and cross post.

Sincerely,

Bob Kane, President
Virginia Hunting Dog Owners’ Association
Chairman Emeritus, Sportsmen and Animal Owners’ Voting Alliance
http://vhdoa.uplandbirddog.com http://saova.org

Posted by Tom Remington

Coyotes are being sold to states that allow hound trainers to use live wild animals for training purposes. Indiana does not allow this so trappers are selling the coyotes to states like South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia where the use of live animals is allowed for dog training.

Animal rights groups are pressuring the IDNR saying the practice is cruel and inhumane but some legislators who sit on the Natural Resources Study Committee don’t see it that way at all.

State Sen. Greg Walker, who is on the committee, said he did not see a problem with selling the animals to dog-training facilities because the care is often better than their lives in the wild.
“For the kennels which do the training of hunting dogs, they prefer to keep the animals in good condition,” said Walker, R-Columbus.
Generally, trainers do not allow the bait animals to be caught, Crider said.
“It’s really nothing that runs counter to what these animals experience in the wild anyway,” Walker said. “It’s part of their natural makeup, it’s part of their DNA, and so if it’s cruel, I guess sometimes you’d say nature is cruel.”

While the DNR is suggesting a change to the rules, the Study Committee could propose legislation that would override any DNR recommendation.

Tom Remington