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SUNDAY BOW HUNTING BILL PASSES OUT OF COMMITTEE ACTION NEEDED NOW!
As the number of hunters continues to dwindle, the Division of Fish
& Wildlife tries to increase the number of days to hunt. Their
thinking is that hunters won't have to take off time from work and
those working on Saturday would have Sunday to hunt. First, it's bow
hunting, then muzzle loaders, and finally shotguns.
So, it's not unusual that a Sunday bow hunting bill rear has been
introduced and has passed out of committee. What also is not unusual
is the opposition to opening Sunday, a day of peace, up to yet more
killing.
Since the bill has passed out of committee, the next step is a full
vote by the Assembly. We must take action now to ensure that this
bill does not get to the floor. Please take action now and stay
tuned for more alerts if the bill passes out of the Assembly. Here's
what's happened so far:
On Monday, February 14, the Assembly Agriculture and Natural
Resources Committee voted an amended Sunday hunting bill out of
committee by a 4 to 1 vote. The votes were:
Smith (sponsor and chair of the committee) Yes
Fisher (vice-chair of the committee) Yes
Dancer Yes
Gibson Yes
Conaway Abstain
The original bill stated that Sunday bow hunting would be allowed
period -- no mention of locations. No doubt they received, and
anticipated, a lot of opposition so an amendment was made that
limited Sunday bow hunting to Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs, also
known as killing fields) and private property. Their thinking was
probably that restricting killing to those areas would silence us.
Well, not by a long shot!
Please go to: www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/wmaland.htm. Take a deep
breath and note the following:
. As of January 2005, there were more than 295,000 acres in 117
areas, in virtually every county.
. Look through the list and see if you use any of the areas to
appreciate nature.
. Of the total acres, the vast majority (185,900.37) were bought by
Green Acres Bonds between 1961 and 2004. Fish & Wildlife acquired
99,150.31 acres. Yes, every time we voted to protect the
environment, little did we realize that the money could be used to
provide more land for hunting. In the Public Question, the use of
the land is disguised with the word "active" recreation.
. Also note who partners with Fish & Wildlife in acquiring these
lands. They include: New Jersey Conservation Foundation, Hackensack
Meadowlands Development Commission, Natural Resource Council, The
Nature Conservancy, and PSE&G.
Outraged? Well, turn that into action by taking the following steps:
1. Please call and then send a short fax, asking for a reply, to:
Assemblyman Albio Sires, Speaker of the Assembly. He determines
which bills are posted to the entire Assembly for a vote. Politely
ask him not to post the bill.
Assemblyman Albio Sires
303 58th Street
West New York, NJ 07093
PHONE: 201-854-0900
FAX: 201-854-4818
2. Call and fax your assembly people and ask them to vote NO if this
bill is posted for a vote. Their names and contact information can
be found at: www.njleg.nj.us/members/legalsearch.asp
When you get a response, please let me know.
Thanks to all of you, we stopped this bill before; we can do it
again!
Terry Fritzges
Government Affairs Coordinator
New Jersey Animal Rights Alliance
As the number of hunters continues to dwindle, the Division of Fish
& Wildlife tries to increase the number of days to hunt. Their
thinking is that hunters won't have to take off time from work and
those working on Saturday would have Sunday to hunt. First, it's bow
hunting, then muzzle loaders, and finally shotguns.
So, it's not unusual that a Sunday bow hunting bill rear has been
introduced and has passed out of committee. What also is not unusual
is the opposition to opening Sunday, a day of peace, up to yet more
killing.
Since the bill has passed out of committee, the next step is a full
vote by the Assembly. We must take action now to ensure that this
bill does not get to the floor. Please take action now and stay
tuned for more alerts if the bill passes out of the Assembly. Here's
what's happened so far:
On Monday, February 14, the Assembly Agriculture and Natural
Resources Committee voted an amended Sunday hunting bill out of
committee by a 4 to 1 vote. The votes were:
Smith (sponsor and chair of the committee) Yes
Fisher (vice-chair of the committee) Yes
Dancer Yes
Gibson Yes
Conaway Abstain
The original bill stated that Sunday bow hunting would be allowed
period -- no mention of locations. No doubt they received, and
anticipated, a lot of opposition so an amendment was made that
limited Sunday bow hunting to Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs, also
known as killing fields) and private property. Their thinking was
probably that restricting killing to those areas would silence us.
Well, not by a long shot!
Please go to: www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/wmaland.htm. Take a deep
breath and note the following:
. As of January 2005, there were more than 295,000 acres in 117
areas, in virtually every county.
. Look through the list and see if you use any of the areas to
appreciate nature.
. Of the total acres, the vast majority (185,900.37) were bought by
Green Acres Bonds between 1961 and 2004. Fish & Wildlife acquired
99,150.31 acres. Yes, every time we voted to protect the
environment, little did we realize that the money could be used to
provide more land for hunting. In the Public Question, the use of
the land is disguised with the word "active" recreation.
. Also note who partners with Fish & Wildlife in acquiring these
lands. They include: New Jersey Conservation Foundation, Hackensack
Meadowlands Development Commission, Natural Resource Council, The
Nature Conservancy, and PSE&G.
Outraged? Well, turn that into action by taking the following steps:
1. Please call and then send a short fax, asking for a reply, to:
Assemblyman Albio Sires, Speaker of the Assembly. He determines
which bills are posted to the entire Assembly for a vote. Politely
ask him not to post the bill.
Assemblyman Albio Sires
303 58th Street
West New York, NJ 07093
PHONE: 201-854-0900
FAX: 201-854-4818
2. Call and fax your assembly people and ask them to vote NO if this
bill is posted for a vote. Their names and contact information can
be found at: www.njleg.nj.us/members/legalsearch.asp
When you get a response, please let me know.
Thanks to all of you, we stopped this bill before; we can do it
again!
Terry Fritzges
Government Affairs Coordinator
New Jersey Animal Rights Alliance