Today is the first day of firearm deer season here in Michigan. In what can rightly be described as a symbolic move with a vanishingly small chance of being signed into law by the Governor, the legislature in the last ten days has rushed through HB 4687, a bill which would overturn a deer and elk feeding and baiting ban authorized by the Natural Resources Commission and implemented by Department of Natural Resources.
The agency defends its decision as necessary to combat Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), first found in a deer in Ingham County in 2015. Since then, more than 120 deer with CWD have been found in 9 counties. CWD is a terrible scourge. The DNR describes it as follows:
“Chronic wasting disease is a contagious, neurological disease that affects deer, elk and moose. It causes a degeneration of the brain resulting in emaciation (abnormally thin), abnormal behavior, loss of bodily functions and death. CWD is fatal; once an animal is infected there is no recovery or cure. To date, there is no evidence that CWD can be naturally transmitted to humans or to other animals. … It is transmitted through direct animal to animal contact or by contact with saliva, urine, feces, blood, carcass parts of an infected animal or infected soil. Prions are extremely resistant in the environment and can stay infectious for years.”
In enacting the ban, the DNR relied on peer reviewed studies showing “that baiting and feeding that concentrates animals beyond their normal movement patterns increases the likelihood of disease transmission.” The Department cites a lengthy list of studies in making the decision to ban feeding and baiting, which can be reviewed here.
On the other hand, supporters of the bill make no bones about the reason for this bill. It’s a direct and blunt challenge to the DNR, and a dismissal of the science behind the decision. It caters to hunters who see the DNR as interfering with their rights. Here’s a sampling of what those in favor of the bill say:
- The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Michele Hoitenga: ‘The NRC’s baiting ban puts unnecessary restrictions on Michigan hunters with little evidence that it will do anything to prevent the spread of disease,’” according to a press release; and that it’s not clear that the science is reliable
- Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey: “…the so-called sound science is a little spurious.”
- Rep. Beau La Fave: “Absolutely nothing about this baiting ban and feeding ban is based on any sound science whatsoever”
- A bait shop owner who testified in support of the bill: the ban is a “knee jerk reaction to CWD”
- Last but not least, Ted Nugent (who fawning lawmakers referred to as “Uncle Ted” during his appearance at a September Committee hearing) called state officials “either ‘liars’ or ‘stupid'” or idiots. He said the ban is destroying family heritage in Michigan, and called it a “Rosa Parks moment” that will spur civil disobedience throughout the state.
Attorneys for Animals opposes the bill (and a similar bill in the Senate, SB 37), because of the blatant disregard for science. So does the DNR, the Michigan United Conservation Clubs, the chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, various hunting and sportsmens groups, the Michigan Cattlemen’s Association and others. While we usually find ourselves on opposite sides of natural resources issues, in this instance we believe that a variant of the old saying “politics makes strange bedfellows” is appropriate.
Read our testimony in opposition to SB 37, a bill similar to HB 4687