| Bernard - The Federation is pleased to report that H.411 - the "Wanton Waste" bill - was unanimously passed by the Senate Natural Resources & Energy Committee this morning, with this bill being unchanged from what passed the House. In considering this bill, the inclusion of coyote in earlier versions made this bill difficult to deal with, because individual views on coyote differ radically between various group. Some wish that no coyotes should be killed, with others seeing coyote as pests and nuisance animals. In testimony on this bill, the idea was put forward that there was no need to hunt or kill coyotes, because coyote populations will self-regulate over time. The problem with that concept however is that by allowing coyote to hit those elevated population levels, there would be very serious consequences, such as the decimation of smaller games species; increased risk of disease and starvation; in addition to coyote driving out species such as fox that desire the same habitat. Beyond that: As the coyote population expands they will push further into urban areas, and with that push will come a significant increase in negative human-coyote interactions than can be tolerated by most Vermonters. While crow remains a "covered wild animal" in this bill and we argued that crows should also be exempted, coyotes were excluded, and with H.411 we have gained Wanton Waste protection for virtually all other Vermont games species in Vermont - which is not only a HUGE win for our wildlife - it is a concept that virtually all ethical hunters support. On other fronts: At this time S.129 (change the Fish & Wildlife Board) is dead, with discussions occurring regarding better inclusion of differing views. S.201 (Ban on foothold traps) has been transformed into a bill requiring that F&W Department to adopt rules for using traps that conform to Best Management Practices, something that the Vermont Trappers Association fully supports, and even submitted a petition for. That only leaves S.281 (Coyote Hunting with Hounds). The Senate changed that bill from an outright ban into a bill to have the Fish & Wildlife Department create rules for hunting coyote, with the Fish & Wildlife Board than promulgating those rules after public input and acceptance by the Legislative Committee on Rules (LCAR).
S.281 is now in House Natural Resources, Fish & Wildlife, with only Commissioner Herrick scheduled to give testimony today at 1:15, and it is scheduled for "possible vote" at 9AM tomorrow. The Federation and it's allies worked hard on all 4 of these bills, with S.129 being set aside; two outright Bans (S.201 and S.281) being addressed through the rule making process; and finally H.411 which became a bill which the VTFSC could support along with the Fish & Wildlife Department. Overall: We could not be more pleased with these results, and we hope and expect that S.281 will also be acceptable. Thanks & Best Regards VTFSC www.vtfsc.org 
Best Regards, Vermont Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs
http://www.vtfsc.com/ | 
