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  1. http://nydovehunting.weebly.com/what-ny-dove-hunting-does.html
  2. http://www.telecomintel.com/bid-opportunities/2015/02/27/6113886-Pheasant-Hatchery.html
  3. I got the following e-mail from Fred Neff this morning. Fred was/is involved with the NYSCC and his local federation. He is credited with being the impetus for the NY voluntary habitat and access stamp. Fred also has been a long-time advocate of dove hunting for NY and a key player in it, A change was made to PA's mourning dove season this fall. Can you guess what it was? Well, they added 20 more days to the total season length (including split seasons) - up from 70 days to 90 days. This was the result of a new national dove harvest strategy cooperatively developed by state wildlife agencies and the USFWS that resulted in the 20 day addition in positively affected states in the Eastern Management Unit (EMU) - the 27 easternmost states - whenever dove populations in the EMU exceed 36.5 million birds. Recent EMU dove populations estimates of 95 million doves far exceeded that goal, PA will add their 20 additional days to the front end of the season. And what does NY get? Zero! Nada! Why? Do I really have to go there at this point? The kindest thing I will say at this point is "uninformed state legislators". While we present hard scientific facts and data that proves that sound dove management at both state and federal level (remember that the dove is considered a migratory game bird by the USFWS) poses no threat to dove populations due to hunting, NY legislators (especially our downstate Big Apple who could care less about the matter but have the vote) who fear for their political lives continue to listen to the utterly emotional drivel of our anti-dove friends. I could list a lot, but I'll just list two of the many personal favorites that I've encountered over the years here: "You've driven them to extinction once and they're just coming back". "NY will have major power outages from hunters shooting doves on power lines". Note - I'm still waiting for anyone to show me proof of that one". I've spent 50 years on this one in NY. And I wasn't, and am not, the only one involved in this for sportsmen. And I've heard it all and been through it all. But 40 out of the contiguous US states have a dove season; plus Ontario just opened a dove season. This pretty much sums it up - while on a visit to our home in Utica years ago, my cousin, Ted, from PA, when informed that we could not hunt doves in NY exclaimed, "What is wrong with these people; are they un-American?" What has to happen for NY to get their season is simple: DEC has got to stand up and take a strong a forceful lead in pushing for the reclassification. They hide behind the shield (probably out of fear for their pensions that would be jeopardized should they run afoul of the politicians and antis) that the legislature and the governor must first pass a law that reclassifies the dove as a migratory game bird and then they could saddle their horses and get it done (maybe - the tentacles of NY politics are many and wide). NY sportsmen have got to get off of their butts and show DEC that they will throw their whole weight behind this one as they have in items involving major issues of the day - deer management, habitat and access, etc. But when it comes to doves, we still are the silent majority. Most just don't understand the concept of dove hunting since they've never had it. They remain "underwhelmed" by, and resistant to, the concept. My continuing believe is that if DEC takes a lead role in this, and our states' sportsmen become interested enough to become educated, this will happen. Remember, the 8 states that resist a dove season are mostly northeast states where doves are not overly present. Deer, bear, and moose are. NY is unique in that it has everything in abundance. I once told a friend from the Adirondacks who told me that they don't see doves up there, "Hey, you want to see a dove, come down here to Central or Western NY; I'll show you at least 500 any evening that you want in the fall when the harvesting is going on and the migration is starting. And if I want to see a moose, I'll come up your way. Don't see much of them down here". I can't believe that I just wrote all of this. I think maybe I'm still a bit unrecovered from my bout with the flu. Fred.
  4. The information taught in this free course will be very valuable in understanding the complex layers of science, politics, and controversies inherent to setting hunting policy. NY Dove Hunting recommends and hopes our members take advantage of this free course. Remember this is a free course without a grade, so like anything else, the more you put into it, the more you will get out of it. https://www.coursera.org/course/perceptivehunting
  5. http://nydovehunting.weebly.com/governor-cuomo-vetoes-anti-dec-mute-swan-proposal.html Read story here: http://nydovehunting.weebly.com/governor-cuomo-vetoes-anti-dec-mute-swan-proposal.html
  6. Today is Monday, December 15. Governor Cuomo has until Wednesday December 17, presumably until midnight, to act on the anti DEC legislation out of Queens. The legislation is on the governor’s desk, right next to NY Dove Hunting’s petition asking him to VETO it. NY Dove Hunting has reported and informed on this issue for a solid five months. In the future, we need all to pay better attention to what we promulgate and mobilize faster. However, there still is three days. Let’s test how organized we are and our ability to mobilize. One hundred emails / phone calls to the governor’s office each of those three days, up to and including Wednseday. Three hundred contacts POLITELY asking Governor Cuomo to VETO this legislation. NYDH has outlined many useful “talking points” to use in constructing a message about this legislation. At this stage in the game, we are not going to dredge it all up, but it is published online. Some of the lesser used material centers around the need to manage wildlife across government borders. Any Governor with presidential ambitions might be behooved to consider how conservation-minded United States citizens who do not live in Brooklyn and Queens might view this legislation mostly driven out of two boroughs of NYC. Many persons contacting the Governor about this legislation used analogies with snake heads and feral swine. However, the Governor lives in Long Island, essentially NYC. Therefore, he may relate better to Norway rats, black rats, house mice, Pigeons (which are really “rock doves” another Bird of Peace you know); English or house sparrows, and European starlings. All of these came here oversees in small numbers. We might throw in the Quaker parrot or monk parakeet, which have established colonies in “ Tony Avella County; ” however, there currently is also legislation pending which will reclassify Quaker parrots from unprotected wildlife to protected bird. That’s another chapter and another challenge coming up. There really is no need to get into detail at this stage, unless you feel compelled to. A simple, polite contact, perhaps using one or two talking points, or merely saying that you desire the legislation is VETOED is sufficient. Does your rod and gun meet tomorrow? Are you bringing a petition and/or form letters and pressing everyone to engage? Are you on social media and / or contacting your email contacts about this? As stated, after five solid months of promulgating this, the response was not satisfactory. In the same time, the antis generate tens of thousands of petition signatures and managed to bring this through the legislature. Prior to those five months, the DEC held a public review phase, during which we urged the sporting community to engage. The antis were extremely active in the public review of the DEC’s mute swan strategy, while most sportsmen never even heard of a mute swan… The next MODO bill (mourning dove) must be fully engaged. One of the excuses of Senator Grisanti (who was voted out this election ) was that he and other lawmakers heard from plenty of people opposed to dove hunting, and this was the only contact he and others had in support of it. Some of this falls on the erroneous belief that 1) Pro hunting legislation can escape the radar of anti hunting organizations, it will not however. 2) Failure to understand that environmental conservation regulations will almost always be subject to a public review phase, and that public review phase will be advertised. Speaking of Grisanti, his departure opens the door for a new Senate Environmental Conservation Committee Chairman. The Assembly Cahir position of the same committee is also vacated by the retirement of Robert Sweeney. The new appointments will be interesting. The senate version of the mute swan bill was sponsored by Tony Avella, who is on the Senate En-Con Committee. The assembly version of the mute swan bill was sponsored by Cyronowitz, who is on the Assembly En-Con Committee. This is not suggesting that these two lawmakers will be appointed to chair the committee in their respective houses, but it is a possibility. The En-Con chairpersons are the gate keepers to all DEC related legislation. They decide if it moves forward and also if it expires in what they call the “suspense file”…
  7. If you had a chance - To block a measure that would… Be harmful to native wildlife Be harmful to wetland habitats Be harmful to the conservation fund Blocks new hunting opportunity Allows Animal Rights Organizations to over-rule the DEC Emboldens animal rights organizations and sets new precedents on policy decisions Would you act on that chance? Here is your opportunity. Sign this petition and ask others to do the same! http://www.thepetitionsite.com/832/485/616/veto-s-065889-a-and-a-08790-a/
  8. We all heard about Maine's "Question 1" which sought to ban the use of bait, hounds and foot snares to take bears... This was not the only hunting-related referendum that was up for grabs during the November 2014 general election across the US. A complete link to the story below. The most interesting and most significant IMO is Michigan Proposal 2: Proposal 2, Michigan Natural Resources Commission Referendum Michigan voters rejected two proposals on November 4 regarding hunting. Proposal 1 would .... Proposal 2 would have allowed the Natural Resources Commission to directly designate game species and determine hunting seasons, rather than game animals being designated through legislation. Remember: Michigan was the state that the HSUS ran TV ads to gather petition signatures which enabled them to allow Michigan to put the fate of dove hunting up for vote in 2006. The majority vote was to ban Michigan's newly created (two year old) dove season. What if whitetail deer hunting was put on a referendum, would the outcome differ? Read more here: http://wildlife.org/wildlife-management-issues-on-the-ballot-last-week/
  9. NYDH Quarterly Newsletter October/November 2014 Although we do not intend to be involved with elections, we have sent out more emails than intended due to the primary and general elections. In two years, depending on what we accomplish, we might become involved with electing supportive candidates, as it is pretty apparent that if we had worked at it we could have seriously impacted the reelection of Senator Avella and Senator Grisanti. We will see how arrogant these two are in the next two years following the election, that is provided Grisanti is even reelected, which he very likely will not be. Another diversion, and reason for frequent contacts, is our attempt to petition the governor to veto the mute swan bill which passed both houses. We urge you to sign the petition and to in turn urge others to sign it. Furthermore the sporting community MUST begin to accept Electronic Petitions and stop being wary of them. After the elections and after we close the mute swan petition, we will be launching a mourning dove petition. The lack of participation with the mute swan petition is concerning, however. We urge you to also sign and forward the upcoming mourning dove petition as well! Since we are still pushing the mute swan petition; and other similar legislation is pending - for example the monk parakeet protection act, we are sending an extra newsletter that should help everyone connect the dots about how the antis are tying invasive species management and convoluting invasive biology and how it is likely to create ANOTHER obstacle to establishing a hunting season for native mourning doves. Since this invasive-themed newsletter is an extra, we again will be mailing more frequently because we have a lot of other stuff we want to get out there which is more directly related to the mourning dove hunting issue. Unless the HSUS pulls some stunt to close down the DEC pheasant farm and banning pheasant hunting in NY (again), we should be back on a regular schedule and mailing less often. However, follow our website and social media sites as we will update things weekly or even more often. Here are some articles we have published on our website since last newsletter: http://nydovehunting.weebly.com/ldquowhat-is-going-on-with-getting-a-dove-season-in-nyrdquo.html http://nydovehunting.weebly.com/hunting-related-legislation.html http://nydovehunting.weebly.com/atlantic-flyway-council.html http://nydovehunting.weebly.com/eurasian-collared-dove-regulations-throughout-the-us.html http://nydovehunting.weebly.com/eurasian-collared-dove-hunting-ndash-endless-opportunity.html http://nydovehunting.weebly.com/the-common-denominator.html
  10. But the game isn't over yet.... Can we at least equal the number of lawmakers whose decision we are protesting? That would be ONE more signature.... Can we equal the total number of lawmakers? That would be 26 more signatures.... Sign on at the link below and share it among hunters! http://www.thepetitionsite.com/832/485/616/veto-s-065889-a-and-a-08790-a/
  11. Tony Avella's Anti- DEC mute swan bill (S-06589A and A-08790-A) passed both houses today and will be sent to the governor. All we can do is email Governor Andrew Cuomo and request he veto's the mute swan bills because the DEC knows more about managing wildlife than the humane society. This having passed both houses is now in the hands of the senate which can deliver it to the governor any time they feel. The governor would then have 10 days to either sign it into law or veto it. As of just now, the senate still has it. We need to IMMEDIATELY contact the governor and urge him to veto this proposal. This bill was expedited through the legislative process and finalized the very day before they all break for the year. The 17 sponsors in the Assembly and the 5 sponsors in the Senate made sure they completed this political favor for the animal rights organizations that endorse them before breaking until the fall!
  12. Assemblyman Lalor is hosting a clay shooting event in Dutchess County. Please support his campaign, thank him for being one of the 25 out of 250 lawmakers who voted appropriately on the DEC/ mute swan controversy, as well as the safe act, and ask for his support for a mourning dove hunting season after the smoke clears after November's election. And vote for him in November! http://secure.campaigner.com/Campaigner/Public/t.show?7bwxz--3qihk-ydbvlc4&_v=2
  13. If you have not signed and shared our NY Dove Hunting's Petition, please do so! The petition allows comments, but it is not at all necessary to add additional comments. We will be publishing talking points once or twice a week that could be used as comments or for individual letters to politicians and/or newspapers. Here is the first Talking Point. Talking Points on Mute Swans I) The plan of the US Fish and Wildlife Service and states within the Atlantic Flyway Council which includes NY; was to eradicate mute swans, not “manage” them. Legislation passed in June of 2014 by the NY Senate and Assembly prevent the DEC from eradicating mute swans and mandates mute swan populations are to be sustained and management efforts are to give preference to non-lethal methods. The ten year revision of mute swan strategies among the FWS and the Atlantic Flyway Council focused on addressing a failure in controlling the size and distribution of mute swan populations under current strategies. The new strategies proposed were based on Best Available Science and Best Management Practices. These strategies are not only the most effective, but less costly. New legislation forces the DEC to default to more expensive and less effective strategies. The long term costs of managing and sustaining a mute swan population will compromise conservation funds available for at-risk species, non-game species, game species and wildlife habitat. The long term costs of not using Best Available Science and Best Management Practices will compromise conservation funds available for at-risk species, non-game species, game species and their habitats. The cost of remediating mute swan impacts will compromise conservation funds available for at-risk species, non-game species, game species and their habitats. The DEC is legally mandated to remediate impacts to native wildlife and their habitats – “doing nothing” is not an option; therefore an impact to conservation funds is inevitable. http://www.thepetitionsite.com/832/485/616/veto-s-065889-a-and-a-08790-a/
  14. I just signed the petition: "VETO S-065889-A and A-08790-A" Will you join me in supporting this issue? http://www.thepetitionsite.com/832/485/616/veto-s-065889-a-and-a-08790-a/
  15. The organization with the longstanding National Initiative to Ban Mourning Dove Hunting and National Initiative to Ban Pheasant Stocking in trouble - AGAIN! http://kycir.org/2014/07/17/how-a-congressman-his-wife-and-a-lobbyist-mixed-politics-personal-finances/
  16. First Ever National Dove Hunter Survey Published This Week! Introduction: http://nydovehunting.weebly.com/introduction-to-first-national-dove-hunter-survey.html Frequently Asked Questions about the National Dove Hunter Survey: http://nydovehunting.weebly.com/frequently-asked-questions-about-the-national-dove-hunter-survey.html Read the National Dove Hunter Survey: http://nydovehunting.weebly.com/national-dove-hunting-survey-2013.html
  17. NY Dove Hunting Quarterly Newsletter July 2014 Our petition to the Governor of NY about mute swans continues until the senate delivers the bill to him. Learn more and sign the petition at: http://nydovehunting.weebly.com/mute-swans.html Forty-five NY sportsmen’s organizations wrote letters of support for a dove season in 2011. Learn which clubs and read the story at: http://nydovehunting.weebly.com/list-of-ny-hunting-clubs-that-support-dove-hunting.html How many mourning doves are found throughout NY and how good would the hunting be? You asked and this article answers the question: http://nydovehunting.weebly.com/mourning-dove-hunting-activity--harvest-around-new-york--2012-2013-for-ontario-can.html Read about some of the mourning dove milestones that occurred across North America: http://nydovehunting.weebly.com/mourning-dove-hunting-milestones.html
  18. Post them up. Probably best to leave out the auto-replies though...
  19. http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2014/06/24/voters-head-to-the-polls-to-cast-ballots-in-long-island-primaries/ http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2014/06/24/rangel-espaillat-face-off-in-primary-election/
  20. Mourning doves are the number one game animal in the USA. Despite this, there are eight lower contiguous states that do not allow dove hunting. Dove legislation has been introduced in NY since at least 1990, possibly longer. According to the DEC’s website a number of dove bills have been introduced over the years; however not a single dove bill has ever been moved forward for vote. Based on the responses the DEC received to three dove hunting -related questions included as part of a larger survey of small game hunters; the DEC speculates that NY hunters do not have experience with dove hunting and therefore have not generated enough political support for dove hunting. Lawmakers offer a similar perspective which resonates with that of the DEC. According to one high ranking state senator his office receives many letters and/or petitions opposing dove hunting and very seldom hears from anyone who supports dove hunting. This same senator was convinced by anti-hunters who have contacted him, that doves were not edible. We have created an online presence using email newsletters, a website, two Facebook pages, a YouTube channel, and two Google Plus pages. The purpose of these online presences is to inform policy makers, build political support for dove hunting, engage & organize aspiring dove hunters and encourage ethical hunting practices, attitudes and behaviors. The link to the NY Dove Hunting website is www.NYDoveHunting.weebly.com. From there; you can go to our Facebook, YouTube and Google Plus pages. A focused and factually correct response from sportsmen to lawmakers, newspapers and the DEC can drive the establishment of a mourning dove hunting season. Our online articles provide talking points so that sportsmen can address the controversy surrounding dove hunting in a focused and factually accurate manner. NY Dove Hunting also aims to interest hunters and aspiring hunters in dove hunting. NY Dove Hunting also functions to organize, engage and keep hunters informed about dove hunting initiatives. To accomplish these functions, we need sportsmen to join our network by liking our Facebook pages and subscribing to our YouTube Channel.
  21. Please click on the link below and watch the propaganda video against dove hunting created by an anti hunting group modeled after the HSUS campaign against dove hunting. The HSUS has used a short list of talking points to successfully block dove hunting throughout the United States for many years. In 2003 the state of Michigan established a dove hunting season (with the help of Ted Nugent an avid dove hunter). In 2006 the HSUS repealed the season by summarizing their website page devoted to anti dove hunting into this childish cartoon. The HSUS spent millions of dollars airing this video in segments on Michigan public television in the months leading up to the general election on which a referendum to ban dove hunting was put on the ballot by a petition the HSUS initiated. Luckily NY is not a "referendum state"; however the arguments made against dove hunting in this video, which are the same as the ones on the HSUS website, have been the exact ones they have succeeded with nationwide many times. These arguments have been used and will again be used to influence public opinion and thereby politicians by blasting them in news media, public comment, and to letters to politicians, local newspapers, and the DEC. Sportsmen can redirect public opinion with the correct response to these arguments. However the operant word is "correct". If response from the sporting community must be factually correct. Those facts can be found on NY Dove Hunting's website, face book page, and You Tube Channel. Every premise against dove hunting set forth by the HSUS and this video commercial have been addressed in NY Dove Hunting's online sites. If sportsmen do not bother to respond to editorials and such, or respond incorrectly, public opinion will be influenced against dove hunting. http://youtu.be/4jt6ebPd54U
  22. Hopefully most are starting to understand how these things play out and how to respond... Biased Newspaper Article http://www.antonnews.com/massapequanobserver/news/36111-not-ready-for-a-swan-song.html Letter by Anti following article: http://www.antonnews.com/massapequanobserver/opinion/36011-letter-modern-madness-and-the-mute-swan.html Result: Influence Public Opinion Your Response: Write a factual and relevant rebuttal letter to the newspaper. Colloquy: We will be providing form letters, letter writing guidelines, and information on where to send or e-mail these letters very soon. If possible, construct your own letter or modify the form letters without changing the context. If you write your own letter or add to the form letter, be sure to follow the newspapers letter guidelines or they will not publish your letter and you will have wasted your time. Newspapers always require you to provide your full name and address, and daytime phone number. They will attempt to call you three times to verify you wrote the letter. If they do not reach you by telephone they will not publish your letter and you let this opportunity get away. This is NOT the only newspaper to pull this. We need to write as many as we find out about. Any time anything about a bill or a draft plan is released in the news, a DEC press release, or posted on their website; everyone should be on the lookout for antagonistic press. See number 5 for how to do this. It is very simple to be vigilant. Anytime you find an article or press release, you should write in rebuttal if the article is antagonistic toward hunting or sound wildlife management. If the article is neutral or pro-hunting, or on the side of sound ecological principles, it is not as important to write in and we recommend you save your energy for when rebuttals are needed. Do a google search the day after and every day thereafter for about a week, after an article or press release is published, and/or a public comment period opens or closes. For example if you search: Mute Swans New York you will see every article as well as newspaper letters the search engine picks up. You should do three things. First if the letter is antagonistic, write a rebuttal to the publisher. Second, let us know about the article and provide the link. Third, let people in your network know about it and provide them the link.
  23. Note: The following article is of explanatory nature. We will follow up with information on how you should respond to this. The politicians and the antis are making this a soup of complexity, so it is important that you read this article thoroughly so that we can get everyone updated and one the same page. This is evolving tremendously fast and is putting a strain on our time, we need people to pitch in. At this point we are considering a website with a petition and/or form letter generator to keep up with all this BS. Also, we cant make these articles shorter, all we can do is break them up into part 1 to be continued, part 2, etc.. However it does not seem that would increase readership and would result in less people taking the time to understand what we are saying instead of engaging more people. Suggestions or opinions on that encouraged, not here though, PM please. February 23, 2014 We have been offering the unpopular premise that the practice of hunters uniting, no matter what the issue, is not wise; and in addition to potentially exasperating a bad public image and/or supporting unsound policies; should also be frowned upon because it is a tool in which funnels policy decisions to a relatively select few. This is not suggesting that the decisions for 800,000 NY hunters is being made by ten people, but rather several hundred who are connected, not only to each other, but to various politicians and politically linked organizations. This is not however what this article is about and to understand that we direct you to the archives. We are however, addressing an issue that does in fact impact the sporting community universally. That issue is senate bill 6589 and assembly bill 8790. These bills are requiring the DEC to duplicate an enormous amount of research which has already been done, because the conclusions do not support the political agenda of anti-hunters. The proposals are not linked to the endangered species act requiring an EIS, a sound law in our opinion. However these proposals; which we deem not sound, copy this law to enable a socio-political agenda. One of the sponsors of the legislation, Tony Avella, is endorsed by the HSUS, the largest and wealthiest anti-hunting organization in the United States. These bills, if passed, will impose a two year moratorium the DEC’s mute swan management plan. We agree with the two consecutive moratoriums passed and imposed on hydrofracking in NY to gather more state-specific information. This moratorium is much different, while ironically being very much the same… It is different because the two issues have a much different level of complexity and different levels of scientific consensus. Unlike hydrofracking, which involves a myriad of chain-reaction problems which are not addressed and have shown up in other states; the research pool for mute swans is adequate and practical application of the research has been developed, agreed upon, used successfully in other states, and produced the desired ecological end result: reclamation of breeding sites by native birds, recovery of submerged aquatic vegetation or SAV, and improved water quality. A four year moratorium was initially issued on Hydrofracking. When that expired few people knew what fracking was. Over those four years however, legitimate concerns developed because of the recent history of other states which do allow fracking. Environmentalists organized a campaign against fracking. Before we continue: we are NOT criticizing environmentalism and we are NOT categorizing people who are opposed to invasive species eradication as environmentalists. We consider ourselves environmentalists. The first moratorium expired and the industry was anxious to get started. They thought they were going to waltz right in and start making money. They even kept themselves busy over those four years engaging landowners and even entering contracts with them to start drilling away once the moratorium expired. They knew they had a Pro-fracking President and a Pro-fracking governor – yes Obama and Cuomo, the two best friends the industry could ever have. The majority of state representatives also supported fracking, many of them endorsed and/or financed by the industry. But anti frackers were now organized and had history, as well as science on their side. Articles, editorials, and letters to the editor in local newspapers, social media sites such as face book allowed them to recruit new members at an exponential rate. The anti-fracking movement became a force against politicians and big energy. Anti-hunters are well versed in the use articles, editorials, and letters to the editor in local newspapers, and social media sites such as face book, which enable them to recruit new members at an exponential rate. The HSUS is extremely well funded and it is very common for them to air infomercials on television laden with snappy, attractive propaganda to efficiently reach masses of people. So what is going to happen if the HSUS and their local affiliates in NY State succeed in passing this moratorium on swan eradication? For one thing the mute swans population will have grown 26 percent and in addition to increasing their numbers will likely have increased their distribution throughout the state as well – remember, conservation issues are time-sensitive…. Can any new research be completed in two years? No, not really… Will any research develop any alternative conclusions or strategies? We can’t see how that is possible with legitimate science. Will research discover the mute swan is an integral part of the ecological processes in the state? No, it will not. However, we are aware of one study which suggested mute swans enable the native waterfowl to access food, but have not reviewed the study. It sounds like pseudo-science, but we will report on this in the future. However, even if this is true, mute swans impact native waterfowl in many ways and native birds do not depend on a symbiotic relationship with mute swans during any part of their life cycle. In other words, native birds feed themselves just fine without mute swans and have been doing for eons before the swans were introduced to this continent; the only significant impacts mute swans have on native waterfowl are all negative. What a two year moratorium will do, however, besides allow population growth and distribution of mute swans to increases, along with the associated impacts; is it will allow anti-hunters to organize, recruit new members, and influence politicians and public opinion. Since an overwhelming amount of research, as well as common sense, support mute swan eradication, it is still doubtful the antis will be able to ultimately block this. However, they will have increased their following and thereby their ability to influence public opinion and politicians, which will affect future policy decisions on matters less cut and dry, including the morality of hunting in general…
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