| Bernard -- Update on F&W – Senate Alert! Public Hearing on 3 F&W Bills! Action Needed! In our last F&W email, we informed you that the Chair of the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Energy attempted to pull off a "public hearing" with less than 3 days notice. With the help of you and our allies: We stopped that cold. However, Senate Leadership and the Chair of that committee still wish to jam forward with a new ersatz "public hearing" which will be held entirely by Zoom. The bills are listed below with links so that you can investigate them for yourselves: The Federation cannot support ANY of them. The "public hearing" will be held on all 3 proposed laws on: Thursday, February 10, 2022, from 5:30pm to 7:30pm
Please sign up now! If think you only MIGHT be able to make it, sign up. While it is a sign up process - they can and will likely use the results as an informal "poll", and we expect the antis had advanced knowledge of this.
If you want a chance to be heard you must sign up in advance of the hearing online using THIS LINK. S.129 Restructure the F&W Board The F&W Board is responsible for making the F&W rules. They do so based on the science, research and recommendations from the biologists and species specialists at the F&W Department. 14 members serve on the board, one from each county, each appointed to 6-year terms by the Governor. These people are typically selected for the direct knowledge and experience with the outdoors and wildlife. Over the years, small but vocal groups persist in trying to end various outdoor sporting activities, with laser focus on things like trapping and hunting with dogs. Every time they try, they are beaten back by sportspeople who defend what they hold dear. However, what if the composition of the board were changed so that these small groups could make the rules? That's the problem: They resturcture the board NOT to have sportspeople, and suddenly new rules can be made, rules NOT favorable to what we hold dear. The current arrangement works and works exceptionally well, with the proof being that ALL of Vermont's game species are abundant & flourishing. S.201 Complete Ban on foothold traps
Over the years, foothold traps have changed a great deal from what we might otherwise think of with spike jaws, etc. Like it or not, foothold traps are an exceptional useful tool to handle various species that can become nuisances.
S.281 Ban hunting of coyote with dogs
Coyotes are non-native and are thus an invasive species, and many, many people consider them as pests. They are wily, evasive, opportunistic and can easily outdistance a human. Not so with dogs, and as there is no season on coyote and they are not considered a game species, hunting coyote with dogs is an effective management tool. Beyond this: If hunting a coyote is considered "bad", what about hunting bunnies or birds? It becomes a very slippery slope. If the issue with hunting dogs is the concern that these dogs may bite humans, and we do acknowledge extremely isolated instances where this has occurred but given huge press, a better way to handle this is with another bill in play that would create strict liability for ALL dogs. PLEASE: Consider signing up, and sign up even if you think you might have a slight chance to make it. Better to sign up now and have to cancel, then not be able to sign up at all. This is not a time to say: "I don't trap, or I don't hunt with dogs, or I don't care what rules are made. It's divide and conquer. We stand together or hang separately. Even if you DON'T hunt with dogs or trap - you are surely affected by rules changes. AGAIN: To sign up, use THIS LINK. And please forward to as many like-minded friends so that THEY might consider signing up. We will have further updates on the F&W side as they develop, and we will be requesting additional action later. Thank You Donate to defend your rights: Vermont Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs
http://www.vtfsc.com/ | 
