CPWM Signatures Certified

[EdB]

If you live in Michigan, call and email your state legislators to vote yes for this.

https://mucc.org/cpwm-petitions-officially-certified/?utm_content=offshore10%40comcast.net&utm_source=VerticalResponse&utm_medium=Email&utm_term=CLICK%20HERE%20TO%20READ%20MORE&utm_campaign=Conservation%20Insider%20%7C%20CPWM%20Petitions%20Certified%21content

Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 23, 2014

Contact: Matt Evans | Michigan United Conservation Clubs |[email protected] |517-371-6462

Bureau of State Canvassers Certifies Citizens for Professional Wildlife Management Petitions

Citizen Initiative Garnered Almost 300,000 Signatures from Registered Michigan Voters

LANSING—The Michigan Board of State Canvassers has certified the Citizens for Professional Wildlife Management (CPWM) petitions for a citizen initiative to allow the Natural Resources Commission to make science-based decisions on fish and wildlife conservation issues, including naming game species and issuing fisheries orders.

The Secretary of State Bureau of Elections staff report estimated that the pro-hunting group turned in at least 297,051 valid signatures of registered Michigan voters in support of the Scientific Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, which also creates a $1 million rapid response fund to protect fisheries from invasive species like Asian carp, and allows active military members to hunt and fish for free. “We’re excited that so many registered Michigan voters directly petitioned their elected representatives under the Michigan Constitution to protect their outdoor heritage by making sure we make fish and wildlife conservation decisions with sound science,†said Matt Evans, legislative affairs manager for Michigan United Conservation Clubs. “Almost 300,000 registered voters have asked their legislators to pass this law, and I sincerely hope they listen to their constituents.â€

The citizen initiative is now before the Legislature, which will have 40 days to pass the initiative. Both chambers are expected to meet on August 13, which would be within the 40-day timeframe. The citizen initiative would render moot two referendums pushed by out-of-state anti-hunting and animal rights organizations that are trying to ban wolf hunting, despite biologists’ recommendations, by stripping the ability of the Natural Resources Commission to name game species using biologists’ recommendations.

Citizens for Professional Wildlife Management is a coalition of Michigan conservation, hunting, fishing, trapping organizations and local rod and gun clubs around the state, including the Michigan chapters of Safari Clubs International, Michigan Bear Hunters Association, Michigan United Conservation Clubs, Michigan Trappers and Predator Callers Association, Upper Peninsula Bear Houndsmen, Michigan Hunting Dog Federation, U.P. Whitetails, Inc., Upper Peninsula Sportsmen’s Alliance, Lake St. Clair Walleye Association, Lake St. Clair Muskies, Inc., Michigan Steelhead and Salmon Fishermen’s Association, National Wildlife Federation, and individuals like Kirk Gibson, Steve Rinella, Mike Avery and Jimmy Gretzinger.

[danthebuilder]

Let the people vote.

[EdB]

Senate is won! The house is left to go.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 13, 2014

Contact: Matt Evans, Legislative Affairs Mgr. | [email protected] | 412.601.4167

Michigan Senate Passes Citizen Initiative for Scientific Wildlife Conservation

Over 297,000 Michigan voter signed petition to base wildlife decisions on sound science.

LANSING—Today the Michigan Senate passed the Scientific Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, a citizen initiative brought to the Legislature by the signatures of almost 300,000 registered Michigan voters led by the Citizens for Professional Wildlife Management, a coalition of conservation, hunting, fishing and trapping organizations.

“This is a significant step that recognizes the efforts of thousands of volunteers and hundreds of thousands of Michigan voters to ensure that sound science is the deciding factor in fish and wildlife conservation decisions,†said Matt Evans, legislative affairs manager for Michigan United Conservation Clubs. “Today, the Senate listened to the will of almost 300,000 of their constituents who exercised their constitutional right to propose legislation to their democratically-elected representatives.â€

On July 24, The Michigan Board of State Canvassers certified over 297,000 signatures of registered Michigan voters to place the Scientific Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act before the Legislature. The act would share the authority for naming game species between the Legislature and the Natural Resources Commission (NRC), which is require to use sound science in its game decisions. The act also grants the NRC the authority to issue fisheries order, under the same sound science mandate, protects those fisheries with a $1 million rapid response fund for aquatic invasive species, and preserves free hunting and fishing licenses for active military members.

The act also defeats two referendums sponsored by the Humane Society of the United States, which is seeking to prevent a regulated hunting season on wolves in certain areas of the Upper Peninsula with high rates of livestock and pet depredation. In the past few weeks, five dogs have been killed by wolves in the Upper Peninsula. The Humane Society of the United States, which recently had its charity rating stripped by Charity Navigator, is also sponsoring anti-hunting initiatives in Maine and at the federal level.

The Scientific Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act now heads to the Michigan House of Representatives, which passed a similar measure last summer on a bipartisan basis.

Citizens for Professional Wildlife Management is a coalition of conservation, hunting, fishing and trapping groups and individuals including the Michigan chapters of Safari Club International, the Michigan Bear Hunters Association, Michigan United Conservation Clubs, the Michigan Trappers and Predator Callers Association, the Michigan Hunting Dog Federation, the Upper Peninsula Sportsmen’s Alliance, U.P. Whitetails, Inc., the U.P. Bear Houndsmen, and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. The act has also received the endorsement of the National Wildlife Federation, the Michigan Salmon and Steelheader Fishermen’s Association, the Lake St. Clair Walleye Association, the Lake St. Clair chapter of Muskies, Inc., and numerous local conservation groups throughout Michigan