News - Opponents of Dove Protection Form Committee


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	Opponents of Dove Protection Form Committee Published September 4, 2005. By Gary Heinlein. Detroit News. Hunters fight effort to restore dove ban Hunters have announced they're preparing to shoot down a proposed reinstatement of Michigan's 100-year ban on the hunting of mourning doves. They're forming a coalition to raise money for what promises to become a lively, expensive and sometimes emotional public debate of the issue during the 14 months before voters make the final decision at the polls next year. The U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance will partner with the Michigan United Conservation Clubs, National Rifle Association and other groups that favor hunting the birds, which resemble pigeons but are smaller. The hunters' organization is called the Citizens for Wildlife Conservation Committee. U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance President Rob Sexton said the opposing Committee to Restore the Shooting Ban, which led the ballot drive, already has raised at least $272,000 for its campaign. Efforts to reinstate the dove hunting ban via a ballot referendum are led by the Humane and Audubon societies of the U.S. and Michigan. Their backers include bird lovers who until last year had fought off sportsmen's attempts to allow mourning dove hunting in Michigan. Opponents of mourning dove hunting collected more than 275,000 voter signatures to put a referendum on the 2006 ballot. By reinstating the hunting ban, the ballot proposition would undo 2004 legislation and a compromise under which Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed that legislation. The deal restricted initial hunting to a limited area of southern Michigan. The first hunt was held last autumn, but there will be no hunt this fall or next. As of Sept. 1, the ballot initiative suspended hunting of mourning doves until voters make their decision in 2006.

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