First of all, I would like to thank the other members of our board for their work on the issues involving CWD. A lot of folks put in a huge amount of effort that lead us to the recommendations we drafted on Sat. We voted on a wide variety of issues and some will be happy with our recommendations while others will be dissatisfied. I'm sure there are those who will dismiss the entire effort based on any one single issue that did not get resolved in a manner that agrees with them. That would be unfortunate. None of the board members is under the illusion that we will please everybody. I would also like to state that we were not passing laws of writing bills. We were simply making recommendations. All of our recommendations will then go to the DNR Secretary and then the NRB. The following is the process that will be followed with our recommendations.
January 31, 2008 – Presentation of recommendations to the Secretary (tentative)
February 1, 2008 – Green Sheet to Land Division Administrator
February 5, 2008 – Green sheet to NRB
February 15, 2008 – Send information about hearings to Revisor of Statutes Bureau (earlier than normal practice in order to allow hearings earlier than would otherwise be possible)
February 27, 2008 – NRB meeting and request to go to hearing
March 26 - 29 – Public hearings on CWD rules resulting from the public participation process.
April (1st week), 2008 – Prepare green sheet for adoption the same month (requires Secretary approval to submit the green sheet late)
April 23, 2008 - Natural Resources Board meeting to request adoption of proposed rules.
April 25, 2008 – Submittal of proposed rules to legislature’s chief of clerks.
May 7, 2008 – Likely date of referral to standing committees.
June 6, 2008 – End of first 30-day of legislative review period.
July 7, 2008 – End of second 30-days of legislative review
July 15, 2008 – Needs to be submitted to Revisor’s Bureau or Legislative Reference Bureau
August 1, 2008 – Publication of Administrative Register
Early August, 2008 – Deer regulations finalized to go to printer
September 1, 2008 – Effective date of CWD rules resulting from the CWD Public Dialog
As you can see, there is still a lengthy process and hearings to deal with our recommendations. Our group meets again on the 26th of January for our final meeting to draft our green sheet and to discuss minority opinions.
Now, back to Saturday's proceedings. 15 of the original 18 member board was present on Sat. for the vote. Members of the press were present including, Tim Eisele and Dean Borts. Only 3 members of the public were present throughout various periods of the roughly 10 hour session. None of the members of the public made statements when given the chance.
We agreed as a whole that votes would be pass or fail based on a simple majority. With 15 members voting, that meant 8 votes were required to pass any one item. Nearly 50 items/categories were being voted on with some having sub categories and bullet points as well as new motions from board members. In all, I would estimate some 65 votes were taken. In the interest of time, I will not explain every issue and the voting results. Some of the votes were in dealing with the CWDMZ (Chronic Wasting Disease Management Zone) while others were statewide recommendations. When I get an electronic copy of the the voting on each issue I will send it along. Here are some of the issues that are of interest to Bowhunters. (side note: our recommendations were for a 5 year period, after which they will be evaluated )
Within the CWDMZ, DMU goals will be set at 2001 density levels with a 20% reduction over a five year period. This motion passed.
No longer protect white or albino deer within the CWDMZ. This motion passed.
All State and County lands within the CWDMZ would be open to public hunting with no closed areas and would follow the same rules as the rest of the zone. This motion passed
Season structure within the CWDMZ: This entire portion of motions was replaced with a proposed season structure drafted my a board member and adopted by the group. The single biggest issue was implementing a separate combined muzzle loader/crossbow season. The crossbow use would be for persons of all ages and all abilities.
allow magnifying scopes (above 1X) for muzzle loaders during the ML season in the CWDMZ. This motion passed.
Charge a fee statewide for a buck tag to allow hunters to bypass EAB by buying a higher priced buck only tag. This motion failed.
Provide unlimited buck tags in the CWDMZ. This motion failed.
Hunting at night or with lights (laser). This motion failed
Allow the use of crossbows for everyone (all ages and abilities) during the regular archery season within the CWDMZ. This motion passed with a vote of 9 yea, 5 nea and 1 abstain. (It should be noted that I voted against this motion)
Allow group bagging during the archery season (as is done during firearms season) within the CWDMZ. This motion failed by 1 vote. (I voted against this motion)
Youth deer hunting. The motion was to expand the youth deer hunt to include 16 and 17 year olds. The motion read:Expand the statewide youth deer hunt to ages 12-17 and either sex (meaning youth could harvest bucks) This motion passed.
Allow riles within the entire CWDMZ except in metro zones. This motion passed
Expand shooting from all vehicles of animal husbandry, including trucks with farm plates. This motion failed
Ban the sale and use of urine based scents statewide. This motion failed
Depopulate all deer (cervid) farms statewide and issue no new permits to allow deer farms (this would make deer farming an illegal activity) This motion failed
Ban deer baiting state wide. This motion failed 5 yea, 7 nea and 3 abstain ( I abstained from this vote as the WBH representative since the WBH has a neutral stance on baiting)
Increase penalties for baiting violations. This motion passed 9 yea, 5 nea and 1 abstain ( I was the one that abstained per WBH's neutral stance)
change the penalties for baiting violations from a civil forfeiture to a criminal act. This would make baiting violations a felony. The DNR warden present noted that this would mean that violators (if convicted) would no longer be allowed to possess a firearm nor vote. This motion failed. (I abstained)
change the penalties for baiting violations from a civil forfeiture to a criminal act. Make baiting violations a misdemeanor. This motion failed. (I abstained)
Ban deer feeding state wide. This motion passed 7 yea, 4 nea and 4 abstain. ( I abstained from this vote as the WBH representative since the WBH has a neutral stance on feeding)
Continue sharp shooting within the CWDMZ. This motion failed
The motions to remove deer through various non-hunting methods such as:
Snares. Failed
Trapping, netting. Failed
Introducing wolves to the CWDMZ. Failed
Shooting from helicopters. Failed
Using poisons. Failed
Hunting with dogs. Failed
Introducing deer diseases such as EHD (Blue Tongue) Failed
I would expect a full reporting of all motions and votes through some form of the media very soon.
