Syracuse.com - Why are state lawmakers doing end runs around the DEC?

[HuntingNY-News]

Why not let the state Department of Environmental Conservation sign off on all laws regarding fishing and hunting?

Talk about a slippery slope — again.

I mentioned in a column last week that there are new deer-antler restrictions for hunters in several downstate counties. In Delaware, Sullivan and Ulster counties, hunters are now prohibited from killing spikehorn deer. Deer must have at least one antler with three points.

Without taking sides on the issue, I wrote that the bigger issue was the way it all came about. Essentially, it was the result of politicians micro-managing the hunting and wildlife scene.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation and its wildlife biologists, who normally come up with such regulations, lobbied against the new law. They said it was an end run around the DEC’s regulatory process and undermined its authority.

I also wrote recently about how new legislation governing hunting with rifles in Cortland ended up banning hunting with crossbows in that county during the regular firearms season — the only place in the state where that’s the case. Once again, the DEC did not sign off on this.

This week, a reader, Jeff Barkley, wrote to me about yet another crossbow-related problem.

“I’m really upset about the new laws regarding crossbows in the DEC hunting regulation book this fall (page 12 ),” he said. “After talking about it for a year, crossbows finally became legal this year. I feel they should be allowed in any season. My complaint is now they have put a maximum draw weight of 200 pounds on them. Most top-of the-line crossbows are 200- to 250-pound draw weights.

“A large number of us bought crossbows last spring and began practicing throughout the summer. Now out of nowhere comes this max draw-weight limit making our crossbows not legal to use!”

The bill was sponsored by State Sen. David J. Valesky, D-Oneida, and Assemblywoman Francine DelMonte, D-Lewiston.

I talked this week with Chuck Dentes, a DEC wildlife biologist from Albany, who wrote the DEC hunting guide regulations for crossbows. He said his department’s hands are tied.

“That’s the way it came down from the state legislators,” Dentes said. “The only thing in the law that we could manipulate was hunter training. As far as the size of the crossbow, the physical characteristics — the legislators made that happen.”

Isn’t the DEC responsible for managing wildlife and hunting in this state? If that’s so, why not just let the DEC do its job?

Three poles allowed

State lawmakers aren’t stopping with hunting.

Freshwater anglers in this state are now allowed to use three rods per person, the result of legislation recently signed into law by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The old limit was two poles.

The rationale behind the change is economic. If an angler can use three rods, either from land or from a boat, it will increase his or her chance of success. Charter boat captains on Lake Ontario and other big waterways were particularly supportive of this change.

“Catching a fish enhances angler satisfaction more than any other factor and is the prime determinant in deciding whether or not to make return visits to the fisheries of New York,” according to the “justification” section within the law, which was sponsored by Assemblywoman Addie Russell, D-Theresa, and Sen. Thomas W. Libous, R-Binghamton.

“Return visits to the fishery are a boon to the local economies. Return trips mean more money spent locally for fuel, food, lodging, launches, parking, and rentals,” the wording in the law added.

Will this change affect the health and quality of the state’s fishery? Supporters of the change say it will not, noting “exploitation is constrained by creel limits that would still be in effect.”

I asked David Lemon, fisheries manager for the DEC’s Region 7, if his department had a hand in the law change and whether he agreed that it would have no impact on the state’s fishery.

“That law didn’t come from us,” he said.

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog