News

Game or Tame: Dove Hunting Legislation
Sparks Fiery Debates

Published January 21, 2004. By Jennifer Mitchell. The News-Herald

Game or tame: Dove hunting legislation sparks fiery debates

The passage of the amended House Bill 5029 last year had bird-lovers up in arms and hunters cleaning their shotguns.  The bill, which is expected to come before the Senate Appropriations Committee by the end of January, would legalize the hunting of mourning doves.

The version the House passed also appropriates $350,000 from the state Game and Fish Protection Fund to create brochures that would "describe how dove hunting is ethically, lawfully and safely conducted."  The brochure also would include information about the "special hunting opportunities mourning dove hunting offers to youth hunters, the elderly and the disabled."

State Rep. Doug Spade (D-Adrian) opposed the last- minute appropriation because it would take away voters' right to referendum. He asked to include another amendment, which would allow a referendum on the $350,000 before the bill is enacted. Spade's suggested amendment did not pass.

"It was an extraordinary action," state Rep. Hoon-Yung Hopgood (D-Taylor) said. "What essentially happened is that the appropriation was added on the floor, which is uncommon.  "It's not something I care about passionately. I was on the fence. When it seemed like a clear attempt to prevent a referendum, it pushed me off the fence."

Dr. James Bull of Lincoln Park, president of the Detroit Audubon Society, also opposes the legislation. He said it is something he cares passionately about.  "Michigan has had a long history of protecting the mourning dove and that goes back to 1905," Bull said. "In 1998, the mourning dove was declared in a state house resolution as Michigan's symbol of peace." 

Bull said that there will be some major issues to deal with if the state changes the bird's status.

"Lead shot is legally used on doves and other land birds," Bull said. "Large amounts land on the ground and it leads to lead poisoning for mourning doves and other birds." He added that hunters also could mistake endangered species for doves,  "(President) Bush mistakenly killed a killdeer when he was hunting mourning doves in 1994," Bull said.

The Michigan United Conservation Clubs, proponents of the legislation, said in a question and answer section of their Web site, that "the ability to differentiate between species is implicit in all hunting."

"We believe that there is a sustainable population and so hunting will not hurt that population," said Donna Stine, MUCC's assistant policy director, "We support the bill."  Dove hunting is legal in 39 other states, which is one more reason Michigan should legalize it, Stine said. Hunters could go to Ohio, she said, but why should they have to?"

The MUCC Web site says that mourning doves are fairly common and that legalizing hunting in Michigan won't hurt the species' numbers [Misinformation, click here for cited scientific research facts on significant population declines.], but Bull said that same argument could be used for robins, blue jays and cardinals.

Lawmakers differ as to what they think the public's opinion on the matters is.

State Sen. Shirley Johnson (R-Royal Oak), chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee, does not support the bill.  "For every one piece of correspondence asking us to support it, we get 100 to 150 asking us not to," said Rebecca DeVooght, Johnson's communications director. "It's not even an issue for us. "

State Sen. Bruce Patterson (R-Canton Twp.) said he's gotten "lots of calls and letters and e-mails from all sides."  "This is one of those areas where I am damned if I do and damned if I don't," Patterson said.  He plans to vote for the legislation if it comes before the full Senate.  "The mourning dove is not endangered," Patterson said. "They are relatively short-lived. A lot of people say, 'I've been feeding the same pair for years,' and that's not true." [Misinformation, click here for cited scientific research facts on age, mortality, and chronology of natality.]

Opponents also are concerned with the amount of birds it could take to make a meal. With a dove breast ranging from 3 to 4 ounces, Patterson said, a meal could take three to four birds. [Misinformation! Have you ever seen a 3.5 to 4 ounce bird "fly" with a 3 to 4 ounce breast? If shot properly, a dove's breast is "maybe" an ounce. Click here for cited scientific research facts.]  "The McDonald's burger is only a quarter of a pound," Patterson said. "We can't make these decisions based on the size. If we do it based upon size, then we'd be shooting elephants."

[SPC NOTE: Dove shooting proponents are perpetuating misinformation to push their agenda and can be easily - and completely - discredited with cited scientific research from unassailable sources. Click here for more.]

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