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- FILED UNDER
The state Legislature has a
reputation for not just
cherry-picking battles,
but choosing winners
and losers, as well.
We still hold out hope,
however, that lawmakers
will do the right thing and
sit out the pitched battle
over the hunting of
wolves in the Upper Peninsula.
reputation for not just
cherry-picking battles,
but choosing winners
and losers, as well.
We still hold out hope,
however, that lawmakers
will do the right thing and
sit out the pitched battle
over the hunting of
wolves in the Upper Peninsula.
The Board of Canvassers
on Thursday unanimously
approved a third wolf petition
for the November election,
teeing up an opportunity for
lawmakers to nullify two
other proposals already on
the ballot.
on Thursday unanimously
approved a third wolf petition
for the November election,
teeing up an opportunity for
lawmakers to nullify two
other proposals already on
the ballot.
The third ballot proposal
comes courtesy of Citizens
for Professional Wildlife
Management, which turned
in nearly 300,000 valid
signatures, easily
surpassing the required 258,088.
The Legislature has 40
days either to pass the
initiative, come up with
a competing proposal,
reject it, or do nothing.
This is one case in which
doing nothing, which our
Legislature has been
known to do on far more
pressing issues, is the only
decent alternative.
days either to pass the
initiative, come up with
a competing proposal,
reject it, or do nothing.
This is one case in which
doing nothing, which our
Legislature has been
known to do on far more
pressing issues, is the only
decent alternative.
Were the Legislature to
pass the initiative — and
it’s already voted twice
in the past two years to
support a wolf hunt —
it automatically becomes
law. If they reject it or
do nothing, the initiative
will appear on the
November ballot along
with two other anti-wolf
hunting proposals
that have already been
approved for the ballot,
leaving the whole issue
up to voters.
We’re not big fans of
making policy through
ballot initiatives — a
blunt instrument that
rises and falls less on
substance or merit than
it does on emotion, and
few issues are more
emotional — and polarizing
— than the debate over
wolf management. Yet it’
s unseemly — and
undemocratic — for
an elected body to so
blatantly ignore the will
of its citizens, particularly
absent a compelling publi
c interest that might justify
taking an unpopular stand.
making policy through
ballot initiatives — a
blunt instrument that
rises and falls less on
substance or merit than
it does on emotion, and
few issues are more
emotional — and polarizing
— than the debate over
wolf management. Yet it’
s unseemly — and
undemocratic — for
an elected body to so
blatantly ignore the will
of its citizens, particularly
absent a compelling publi
c interest that might justify
taking an unpopular stand.
Strictly speaking, we do
not oppose the hunting
of gray wolves. Those who
do have legitimate objections
about the haste in which the
Legislature cleared the way
for A hunt, basing its decision
not on science but on the
discredited ravings of a few
zealots whom it seems would
like nothing better than to see
the gray wolf again disappear.
Neither are we impressed,
however, with anti-hunting
crowd’s vitriol toward those
they disparagingly refer to
as “trophy hunters,” as though
the only legitimate hunters
were those who did so for
sustenance and some
spiritual connection to
our lost wilderness.
however, with anti-hunting
crowd’s vitriol toward those
they disparagingly refer to
as “trophy hunters,” as though
the only legitimate hunters
were those who did so for
sustenance and some
spiritual connection to
our lost wilderness.
Wildlife management
isn’t romantic nor, for
many, is hunting, but
hunters play an integral
role in the states’
management of the wild,
and those states, including
Michigan, have an excellent
track record of managing
other formerly rare species
such as deer, elk, mountain
lions and black bears. What's
more, wildlife management
experts and biologists
understand that wolves are
good for the ecosystem and
are highly motivated to see
the species succeed. So are we.
isn’t romantic nor, for
many, is hunting, but
hunters play an integral
role in the states’
management of the wild,
and those states, including
Michigan, have an excellent
track record of managing
other formerly rare species
such as deer, elk, mountain
lions and black bears. What's
more, wildlife management
experts and biologists
understand that wolves are
good for the ecosystem and
are highly motivated to see
the species succeed. So are we.
Forget hunting. A far greater
threat to the future of the gray
wolf in North America is the
vicious cultural war that puts
this beautiful predator species
— demonized by myth and
ignorance — in the middle of
a zero-sum game that
marginalizes efforts to
educate the public and
create consensus-based policies.
The Republican-controlled
Legislature’s zeal to appease
a vocal minority — even if i
t means circumventing voters
— only fuels that war.There is
no imperative — no pressing
public interest — to establish
a wolf hunt, certainly not against
the will of the majority of Michigan
voters, all of whom share an
equal stake in the preservation
of our natural resources. If
lawmakers give a lick about
the rights of its citizens and
the democratic process, they
will let voters decide this issue.
Legislature’s zeal to appease
a vocal minority — even if i
t means circumventing voters
— only fuels that war.There is
no imperative — no pressing
public interest — to establish
a wolf hunt, certainly not against
the will of the majority of Michigan
voters, all of whom share an
equal stake in the preservation
of our natural resources. If
lawmakers give a lick about
the rights of its citizens and
the democratic process, they
will let voters decide this issue.
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