Syracuse.com - Failed antler restriction bill amounts to unsuccessful 'end run' around the DEC

[HuntingNY-News]

It would have put antler restrictions on deer hunters in parts of Onondaga, Cortland and Madison counties.

The politics in this state involving hunting, fishing and trapping continue to amaze me.

In recent years, there's been a trend of small, vocal special interest groups that have figured out how to get their way by beating the system. Legislation on such issues as hunting with crossbows and antler restrictions for deer hunters are prime examples.

The system involves the state Department of Environmental Conservation, which by legislative mandate, is supposed to set the rules and regulations for these activities. The DEC is responsible for maintenance and oversight of the state's fish and game. To do that, the DEC's fish and wildlife staff is paid almost entirely from the state's Conservation Fund, which consists of money collected each year from fishing, hunting and trapping licenses.

There are isolated incidents when the DEC puts emergency regulations in place, with little or no discussion. However, most changes put in place involve a transparent process that involves public comment sessions and additional periods of time where feedback is taken in from sportsmen and women .

How do you beat the system? A special interest group can deluge its local state legislator with calls, emails or petitions and convince them to sponsor a special local law that essentially does an end run around the DEC's rule-making process. In doing so, the lawmaker often ignores or is ignorant of established sportsmen advisory groups at the local or state level that number-wise carry more weight in the outdoor sporting community on such issues.

I've written about this trend before, and I saw it almost happen again this spring involving a law sponsored by two Southern Tier lawmakers who sponsored a bill that would have put antler restrictions for deer hunters in certain sections of Central New York. The original bill, S4806 and its Assembly counterpart, A7550, was authored by Sen. Thomas Libous , R-Binghamton, and Assemblyman Cliff Crouch, R-Guilford, respectively.

The original bill, if it would have passed, would have implemented antler restrictions on hunters in DEC Wildlife Management Units 7M and 7P, covering parts of Onondaga, Broome, Chenango, Cortland and Madison counties. The bill read "the taking of antlered deer shall be prohibited (in the designated areas) except when an antlered deer is taken with at least one antler with at least three points; each point must be at least one inch measured from the main antler beam."

The bill would have expanded antler restrictions currently in place in Sullivan, Ulster and Orange counties in the Mid-Hudson area. If passed, the new law would have taken effect "immediately."

The rationale? "This will protect the majority of yearling bucks, 1.5 year old bucks, with their first set of antlers (in the designated areas). This allows them to get older, which means hunters see more bucks and harvest larger bucks."

There's no reference in this bill to the DEC, or the DEC's five-year, state-wide deer management plan.

In addition, Libous and Crouch do not represent any parts of Cortland, Onondaga or Madison counties. Evidently, that point was brought up as the bill was subsequently revised during the 11th hour to only cover sections of Unit 7P in Chenango County, which they do represent.

The end result is the law, as of late Friday, failed to make it out of either the Assembly or the Senate. I'm not going to debate the issue of antler restrictions here. That's the subject of another column on another day.

What I feel needs to be emphasized is this increasing trend of state lawmakers doing end runs around DEC, which is supposed to be, and is paid to be, the experts on matters of fish and wildlife.

Let the DEC do what we pay it to do. It's as simple as that.

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog