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
_________________________________________________________________________________
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.
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