http://www.unionleader.com/New-Hampshire-bobcat-hunt-called-off
New Hampshire bobcat hunt called off
CONCORD — The state Fish and Game Department has withdrawn its proposal to allow bobcat hunting and trapping in New Hampshire, drawing cheers from animal rights activists and jeers from trappers.
“The bottom line ... it was clear to us that it was not going anywhere, and that it was not productive to keep battling the issue,” said Glenn Normandeau, executive director of the agency.
Fish and Game does not plan to revisit the idea any time soon. “This proceeding is finished,” Normandeau said.
The department announced its decision Wednesday, two weeks after a committee of House and Senate members, known as the Joint Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules (JLCAR), objected to proposed rules for the hunt.
New Hampshire ended its bobcat season in 1989 after studies showed the population was declining. Neighboring states continued to hold hunting and trapping seasons.
But the proposed return of a limited hunting and trapping season proved controversial in New Hampshire, packing hearings with vocal opponents.
Senate Majority Leader Jeb Bradley, a Wolfeboro Republican, commended the decision. “Not only did we hear significant public opposition to this rule change, I believe this was flawed policy and I was prepared to propose an amendment to extend the prohibition of the bobcat hunt, if necessary,” he said
Democratic state Sen. Dan Feltes of Concord, who sponsored the motion against the hunt on the joint legislative committee, said, “Fish and Game made the right call.”
Feltes made the motion to object to the hunt on the basis that the rules would violate the federal Endangered Species Act.
The bobcat is not endangered, but the Canada lynx, which is on the endangered species list, could be caught inadvertently in bobcat traps.
Lindsay Hamrick, state director of the Humane Society of the United States, which opposed the hunt, also applauded the decision.
“Today is a true victory in the Granite State — both for its residents and its wildlife,” she said. “There was never any biological or ecological reason to open a hunt, and because bobcats are not killed for food, it would have been nothing more than a trophy hunt.”
Trappers disappointed
Paul DeBow, president of the N.H. Trappers Association, said his group faced well-financed and well-organized opposition.
“As you can imagine, we’re quite disappointed,” he said. “We were up against the animal rights activists and it’s kind of a religion to them, to come out and stop any sort of hunting and trapping. I think if we were trying to introduce a raccoon, mink or otter season, they would be doing the same thing.”
Many of those who testified against the hunt at public hearings identified themselves as hunters, but DeBow maintains that most of the opposition was from outside the community of hunters and trappers.
“It pains me that the Legislature looks at the 5,000-plus correspondences they got in opposition to this, and thinks that these people represent a true cross-section of the state,” he said. “I kept hearing that a lot of deer hunters were opposed, but I couldn’t find one.”
In the end, the opponents of the hunt “got their way,” Normandeau said.
So did the bobcat win? “That’s a good question and it’s a question that I don’t know the answer to,” Normandeau said. “The problem with all of these questions about wildlife is that the answer to whether they won or not, you find out in 20 years, not today.”
A lengthy process
The chief Fish and Game officer for the state lamented the fact that a shrinking number of hunting and fishing enthusiasts is bearing the cost of wildlife management through license fees and excise taxes, with no apparent support for spreading the burden to the “passive” outdoor enthusiasts, many of whom opposed the hunt.
No scientifc justification to be trapping Bobcats in N.H.
The decision to withdraw the proposal ends a process that began a year ago when the Fish and Game Commission, having been approached by trappers, asked the department if the state’s bobcat population could sustain a limited “harvest.”
The commission voted last October in favor of creating rules for a limited season. Fifty permits were to be issued via a lottery season.
In December, the commission approved the agency’s draft proposal for a bobcat season. Fish and Game then solicited public comments, both in writing and at public hearings, which were packed with opponents of the hunt and supporters as well.
On Feb. 17, the commission voted 5-4 to move forward on the proposal.
But on April 1, the JLCAR passed its objection with only one vote opposed, setting the stage for a legislative showdown.
With opposition mounting from lawmakers, the Fish and Game Department, in consultation with the commission, decided to withdraw the proposal.
READ THE 2015 N.H. EVALUATION OF BOBCAT POPULATION
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment