Media Coverage - The State Ballot Proposals
Published October 27, 2006. Editorial. Kalamazoo Gazette
When Michigan voters go to the polls on Nov. 7, they'll be asked to decide a number of social, fiscal and rights issues. We've studied the ballot issues. We've heard from their proponents and opponents.
We offer the following recommendations (excerpt):
Proposal 3: No.
Mourning doves are not overpopulating Michigan. They are not disease carriers. They don't damage agriculture, landscaping or wild areas.
Both sides have argued an economic impact from the outcome of this decision. If approved, proponents say, this proposal would support hunting; if defeated, opponents say, this proposal would support birdwatching.
While we don't feel any special affinity for these birds, we just don't buy the argument that it has become necessary to hunt them.
After the Legislature reclassified the mourning dove as a game bird, the first hunt was held in September and October 2004. There has been no dove hunting since, because those who wanted to restore the hunting ban on doves collected enough signatures to place the matter before the voters.
A ``yes'' vote would reinstate the dove-hunting season. A ``no'' vote would permanently reinstate the ban.
Michigan has an abundance of game birds -- from pheasants, woodcocks and turkeys, to ducks, geese and coots. We see no compelling reason to add doves to the hunt.
