Thursday, January 30, 2014

Sunday Hunting Wounded: Final Shot Tomorrow at 9am

Why Tomorrow?

Tomorrow morning the Anne Arundel County Delegation meets at 9am in Room 124 of the Lowe House Office Building. They are scheduled to vote on whether to support HB 0197, the bill that authorizes DNR to allow hunting on private lands every Sunday from early October into January.

Delegation Chairman Schuh, a candidate for county executive, did not allow opponents of the bill to speak when the bill's sponsor, Delegate Costa, presented the merits last Friday. We and some members of the delegation are frustrated that a vote will be taken based on testimony from only one side. Delegate Schuh rightly points out that we had an opportunity to speak at the committee hearing yesterday, and speak we did (see below), but only a handful of the fifteen delegates from our county sit on that committee. This is considered a "county bill" and its future depends on the vote of the county delegation tomorrow.

So feed your horses early, drive to Annapolis, park in the Gott Parking Garage, and walk across the street to the Lowe House Office Buillding and head to the Anne Arundel Delegation Room 124. We will be present when OUR delegates vote on this bill, whether they let us speak or not. The delegation meeting is quick. They serve coffee and donuts. Let's get this done.

For Emails and Calls to County Delegation click on


For the Delegation Meeting Friday at 9am in Room 124


How The Bill Got Wounded

You called, you wrote, and you showed up. Our shots echoed through the halls of the House and Senate offices. Ears are still ringing. Is our bill dead? No, it is wounded. Like a responsible hunter our job is now urgent. We must deliver that final bullet.

Maryland Horse Council's decision to hire Frank Boston as a lobbyist for all of our issues was a wise one. He has ushered Christy Clagett, JoAnne Stone, Wanda Melton, and myself in and out of the offices of the key players like a field master on a great day of fox chasing. The mix of Boston's knowledge of the inside game and our ability to mobilize as a community has amazed the legislators who assumed a week ago that this was a bill that had legs.

We are told that it is bad form to broadcast the comments our legislators make to us in private meetings. All I can say is that the signs are good. Sometimes legislators make promises to colleagues that they must keep, and sometimes they do things behind the scenes to help their constituents.

The big news is that the Senate Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs Committee removed the Sunday Hunting bill from the schedule Tuesday. It was a decision made by members of the Anne Arundel County delegation who had heard from constituents. In the words of one senator, "we wanted to avoid the nuclear blow-up that was coming." In other words the senate is waiting to see what the House does.

The other big news is that the hearing yesterday in the House Environmental Matters hearing couldn't have gone much better. We had three panels of three speakers organized by Christy Clagett in consultation with Frank Boston. It included farm owners, a boy scout leader, a pony clobber, a hiker, a retired DNR employee who represents outdoor recreation interests, and fox hunters. We had been warned that the committee might not show much interest because it is a county rather than statewide bill. That was not the case, and it might have had something to do with the fact that we started by having twenty-five people (more than for any other bill that day) stand in opposition. Lots of questions were asked of our panels by delegates who were very engaged and clearly fascinated to learn just how important it is to the community to preserve Safe Sundays.

On Friday morning at 9am the Anne Arundel County Delegation to the House will vote on whether they support this bill. Most of the members of the delegation were NOT present for the committee hearing yesterday and therefore have heard ONLY from the bill's sponsor on its merits. Delegate Schuh, the chair of the delegation and a candidate for county executive, has repeatedly denied our request to speak briefly in opposition to the bill at the delegation meeting. He says that our opportunity to speak is at the committee hearing, which is true, but the county's position on a county bill is what usually determines whether the committee supports it. The people making the decision are the county delegation, and the only way to address them is at the delegation meeting.

Be sure to buy a copy of the Capital newspaper on Friday, or look for it online. Reporter Pat Fergurson is working on a story.

If you want to be notified of updates on Anne Arundel County horse issues, put your email address into the Follow By Email box in the right column! We only post important stuff.

Monday, January 27, 2014

Sunday Hunting On Fast Track: Contact Anne Arundel County delegation NOW!

The letter below explains what happened when the county delegation met last Friday. We were not allowed to testify. They will vote this coming Friday at their 9am meeting and a yes will make it nearly impossible for us to block passage in committee or on the floor.  Please make these calls. You will most likely get an answering machine. Leaving a message is adequate. They keep track.

We would like to thank MHC lobbyist Frank Boston and his staff for going above and beyond the call of duty in working with us on this issue.

CALLS AND EMAILS


This web page has all of the fifteen county delegates listed with phone and email: 
Call and ask them to oppose the bill and hear our case at this Friday's meeting. 

This web page has all of our county's five state senators with phone and email: 
Call and ask them why they voted to support this bill with no notice to the public and no testimony. Ask them to reconsider at their next meeting.

SHOWING UP IN ANNAPOLIS

There are three important meetings on this bill in Annapolis this week: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. Join us at any or all. Contact Christy Claggett at larkinghill@aol.com if you would like to testify.

Senate Hearing on SB 0191
Tuesday, January 28, 1:45pm
Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee

House Hearing on HB 0197
Wednesday, January 29, 2pm
Environmental Matters

Anne Arundel County Delegation Meeting
Friday, January 31, 9am

MOST RECENT COMMUNICATIONS 
BY ANNE ARUNDEL HORSE COUNCIL

January 27, 2014

Delegate Schuh and Members of the Anne Arundel County Delegation to the MD General Assembly,

During the four years that I was President of the Maryland Horse Council I spoke to a number of county delegations at their meetings. It was a disappointment to find out last Friday in the hearing on the Sunday hunting bill that county residents were not allowed to address the delegation. 

We have great respect for Delegate Costa, but his presentation in support of his bill seemed to be colored by his personal enthusiasm for deer hunting. Here are a few of the responses to his testimony that we would have presented had we been allowed to speak.

1. The argument that the bill affects only a few Sundays is not true. The bill allows Sunday hunting during archery, muzzle loader, and firearm season from October into January.

2. Delegate Costa argued that landowners can choose whether to allow hunters and whether to allow hikers and riders, and that they don't allow both at the same time. In fact, we do allow both. A tradition exists in rural parts of the county where networks of trails run across property lines to allow equestrians and neighbors to ride, walk, and visit. We all suffer from crop damage by deer so most of us give permission to hunters to hunt our properties during the deer season. Recreational users of the land, hunters, and landowners know when it is deer season. We know that Saturdays are heavy with hunters, weekdays are lighter, and Sundays are safe for other activities. Allowing Sunday hunting on private land makes it a heavy day for hunting and makes the trails unsafe.

3. Delegate Costa suggested that property lines divide areas where hunting is taking place from those where recreational activities are going on. The reality on the trails is that neither the hunters nor the recreational users know where the lines are. Most are unmarked. Delegate Costa alluded to a distance from the property line that hunters must stand to shoot legally, but we were unable to find anywhere in the DNR's Guide to Hunting and Trapping a reference to such a restriction, which would explain why none of the hunters we have asked are aware of such a restriction.

4. Delegate Costa said that shotguns with slugs used for deer are lethal only to 50 yards. While it is true that most hunters prefer to shoot deer at close range, the slugs are lethal to 200 yards or more according to this article in American Hunter and many other online sources. 

5. I am a member of the board of directors of Anne Arundel County Farm Bureau. Reducing the deer population is a priority for the organization, but the board is divided on the issue of Sunday hunting. In response to news that Delegate Costa had introduced this bill I have asked our president to form a committee to work with DNR on a plan to create a county clearinghouse to connect hunters with landowners and organize managed hunts where landowners desire them. If that committee determines that there is a need for state or local legislation to further its mission our county Farm Bureau will contact its representatives and pursue a legislative agenda.

I am sure that you are aware that county bills such as HB 0197 and the senate version, SB 0191, are virtually assured of passage when the county delegations support them. We will testify at the committee hearings on Tuesday and Wednesday, but committee members from other counties have already been clear with us that they are unlikely to take a stand on a county issue in opposition to our elected representatives, regardless of whether we were given an opportunity to present our views.

We are also aware that the county delegation on the Senate side took a position in support of SB 0197. That meeting took place without public notice and without a written agenda before most of us knew that Senator Reilly had introduced the bill. Our chances of being heard were nonexistent. The record as it stands heading to the Senate Committee on Tuesday is that the delegation supports the bill.

Our only chance of being heard on this bill is the house delegation. We understand that you will meet this coming Friday and vote on whether to support it. If your delegation votes yes the bill will be on a fast track to passage without the citizens having ever had an opportunity to speak. We understand that we are free to meet individually with each of the fifteen members but the reality of life is that we have jobs that are difficult to leave and that the legislators are busy. Your delegation meetings are an efficient way for county bills like this one to be considered.

Please consider this request on behalf of the members of the Anne Arundel Horse Council to be allowed to address the delegation at its Friday meeting before a vote is taken on HB 0197. We are being represented in this matter through our affiliation with the Maryland Horse Council by Frank Boston. To the extent that individual meetings are our only means of communication, please respond to his lobbyists as they attempt to arrange those meetings.

I have attached a copy of the testimony that we brought to last Friday's meeting.

Steuart Pittman
Anne Arundel Horse Council

_________________________________________________________________________________
Anne Arundel County Horse Council
A member of Maryland Horse Council

Steuart Pittman 410-507-3351 dodonfarm@verizon.net
Christy Claggett 410-703-7998 larkinghill@aol.com





To: Anne Arundel County Delegation to MD General Assembly
From: Steuart Pittman and Christy Claggett, Anne Arundel Horse Council
Date: January 24, 2014
Re: Opposition to HB0197, Sunday Deer Hunting

According to the 2010 Maryland Equine Census, Anne Arundel County has 4,500 horses residing on 10,000 acres of farmland with 2,050 people involved in the industry as owners or employees.

Trail riding is the number one activity pursued by horse owners, and virtually all trail riding in our county is done on private farms.

Most of the farm owners who allow equestrian access also allow deer hunting because all farms suffer from crop damage by deer, whether it is to corn and beans or hay and pasture.

A longstanding compromise is in place in our county’s rural areas with respect to deer hunting on weekends. Horseback riders and others who use the trails on private farms stay home until Sundays. The 364-year-old tradition of fox chasing in our county is practiced by the Marlborough Hunt Club on Sundays, and all organized trail rides are scheduled on Sundays to avoid deer hunters.

Maryland Horse Council has made it a priority to oppose Sunday hunting bills in counties where it is introduced. Members of that organization in counties where Sunday hunting was passed are the most vocal opponents and are seeking to have the bills overturned.

As an alternative to the Sunday hunting bill we will propose an innovative program with Anne Arundel County Farm Bureau to institute managed hunts on private farms by qualified hunters with oversight by DNR. We are also open to lengthening the firearm season for deer while preserving safe Sundays.

A vote by the Anne Arundel County delegation to support this bill will make blocking it in committee very difficult. We hope to put our energy into creating an innovative program to reduce the herd rather than a major legislative battle between outdoor sport organizations and hunters.

Please make a commitment to withdrawing or opposing this bill for the 2014 session and join us in our effort to create an alternative plan to reduce crop damage from deer in our county.

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Trail Riders Alert: Contact Anne Arundel County Delegation to Preserve Safe Sundays

It is a tired battle that has been fought in county after county and also at the state level. Should there remain a weekend day during deer season in which the woods and trails are free of hunters?

If you trail ride, fox hunt, or even walk the trails to get some exercise, you know that it's not safe in the woods when hunters are out, even when they are just across the property line from where you happen to be. The deer season runs from the first Sunday in October to the second Sunday in January and many of the farms where we have permission to ride also have given permission to hunters to help reduce the deer population.

Anne Arundel County's Senator Ed Reilly and Delegate Bob Costa have introduced a bill that would end the compromise reached many years ago between hunters and outdoor recreation interests. It would make our county an exception to the state law and allow Sunday hunting during deer season.

Maryland Horse Council and Anne Arundel Horse Council have proposed to Delegate Costa and Senator Reilly that they withdraw the bill and convene a group to propose alternative methods to effectively reduce the deer population in our county.  Matching qualified hunters with landowners and extending the season are two proposals on the table.

It is time to let our delegates and senators know that this is a bill that affects their constituents.

We need you to make phone calls and send emails. They keep a tally of supporters and opponents of their bills. Let them know where you stand immediately.

Senator Ed Reilly (410) 841-3568 edward.reilly@senate.state.md.us

Delegate Bob Costa 410-841-3551 bob.costa@house.state.md.us

This web page has all of the county delegates listed with phone and email: 

This web page has all of our county's state senators with phone and email: 

The Anne Arundel County Delegation meets this Friday 1/24 to consider the bill and will vote on whether to support it next Friday 1/31. We requested an opportunity to speak at the county delegation meeting but have so far been denied. It is essential, however, that you contact the members of the county delegation at the two links above for delegates and senators, preferably today and tomorrow.

THE HEARINGS

If we fail to convince Delegate Costa and Senator Reilly to withdraw the bill we will need to show the strength of our numbers at the hearings. Put these on your calendar and keep checking this County Forum for updates.

Senate Hearing on SB 0191
January 28, 1:45pm
Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee

House Hearing on HB 0197
January 29, 2pm
Environmental Matters