Media Coverage - Proposal 3: Dove Hunting Does Not Fly
Published November 8, 2006. By Tina Lam. Detroit Free Press
Michigan voters spared the state's doves.
Proposal 3, the ballot measure to allow mourning dove hunting, went down by a margin of nearly 2-1 Tuesday, based on 51% of votes counted statewide early this morning and polling for the Free Press and WDIV-TV Local 4. Voters also approved by a 4-1 margin Proposal 1, the measure to give constitutional protection to hunting, fishing and recreation fees, even if future legislatures find themselves in search of extra funds.
Colleen Katarzynski of Milford said she voted against dove hunting "because they're songbirds. ... I don't see how anyone can find a reason to hunt them."
Glenn Harbaugh, a 70-year-old retiree from Sterling Heights, called his no vote on the proposal "a no-brainer."
"I feed them all winter," he said. "Taking a life for target practice is wrong, wrong, wrong. What will they do, shoot robins next?"
Ann McGowan of Farmington and her husband, Jeff, both voted for dove hunting. "We're a hunting and fishing family," said Ann McGowan, who teaches environmental education to Girl Scouts and other groups.
The Free Press polling showed sharp differences between men and women, with 79% of women voting against dove hunting, compared to 56% of men, who said no. Until 2004, Michigan had banned hunting mourning doves for 99 years. That year, the Legislature passed a bill allowing a dove hunting season in a limited area, and Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed it. That season, hunters shot 28,000 doves in six counties.
The next year, dove enthusiasts and animal protection groups collected enough signatures to suspend dove hunting and put the measure on the statewide ballot.
Hunters who wanted to bag doves argued that it's allowed in 40 other states. Some charged that animal rights groups were using the Michigan vote to start down the path of ending all hunting.
The coalition in favor of hunting doves included Michigan United Conservation Clubs, the National Rifle Association and the U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance.
The Committee to Keep Doves Protected, which included the state and national Humane Societies and the Michigan Audubon Society, said dove hunting was unnecessary. They denied any intention to stop all hunting.
Proposal 1 was put on the ballot by the Legislature and backed by the Michigan United Conservation Clubs, after the Engler administration raided the state Waterways Fund in a tight budget year in 2002.
