Mi. Senate Bill 288 - Bad bill for wildlife and for Democracy

Immediate help is needed!  A dangerous bill for Michigan wildlife and our democratic rights has been fast tracked through the state house and senate and now sits on the governor's desk.  Senate Bill 288 will undermine Michigander's longstanding right to have a say and vote on what happens to our state's wildlife.

Presently our elected legislature designates which animals can be hunted and if we, the people, are opposed, we have the right to overturn their bill by referendum. (This was done to protect doves from being hunted in Michigan in 2006).

Senate Bill (SB 288), if signed by the governor, will also allow the unelected 7 member Natural Resources Commission (whose interests are hunting and fishing) to designate which animals will be placed on the game species list to be sport hunted, but there will be no referendums allowed.  That means that the present legal ballot referendum allowing citizens to vote in 2014 on whether or not to protect Michigan gray wolves from hunting and trapping will be easily reversed by these 7 people. 

It is no coincidence that SB 288 was introduced 13 days after the referendum's 255,000 Michigan voters' signatures were turned in to the Secretary of State's office to be certified. 

No legislator, Republican nor Democrat should be using these underhanded tactics to do an end run around a legal referendum that is in process or to silence the voters of Michigan from legally opposing game species designations in the future.

Please call Governor Rick Snyder ASAP and urge him to VETO SB 288.  This bill goes far beyond wolves.  It takes a large bite out of what Michigan citizens hold to be true - that wildlife is held in the public trust for all of the citizens of Michigan and that we, as voters, have a legal right to referendum granted to us by our state constitution since 1908. Governor Snyder should be protecting our voting rights not silencing us.

Please contact the Governor's office at: 517  373-3400 or 517 335-7858; email is rick.snyder@michigan.gov.   If the voicemail is full, please try again a little later as they reset it.   

Thank you for protecting our wildlife and our democratic rights.  

P.S.  If you would like insight to why two more thoughtful state representatives opposed the poorly written SB 288, you can read their responses below: 

Rep. McCready, Dist. 40, objected to the bill because of:  “the poor timing of this legislation due to pending certification of a referendum ballot drive to repeal the wolf hunting law.  …”If signatures are approved, the referendum process as allowed by our state constitution should not be circumvented.”

Representative Howrylak, Dist. 41,  wrote:    “I voted no because the Natural Resources Commission should not be a final authority on the designation of a species as game, absent necessary reforms.  The reforms to the Natural Resources Commission that I propose include the following: minimum professional and competency standards as pre-requisites for appointment to the commission and ensuring that decisions are subject to the right of referendum of the voters of the State of Michigan. It is imperative that commission members have a relevant background in conservation and science.  Additionally, in its current form, the decisions of the commission are not subject to voter initiative because of its regulatory authority.

Absent these reforms to ensure that wildlife decisions truly are based on sound science, the commission should only act in an advisory capacity to the legislature in the matter of species game designation.”