The only good news I've heard about this decision was in listening to the Outdoor Talk last Sunday. The hosts mentioned that hunting cranes is a very difficult business, as they are quite wary and quick learners so will be a very tough quarry to get...that in itself may be a discouragement especially combined with the restricted bag limits. A downside may be that cranes become even more skittish and hard to view by non-hunters.
As an occasional hunter, I don't understand this decision either and have absolutely no interest in shooting a crane (unless it's with my camera). -- Sincerely, Jim Ryan Saint Paul's Westside ---- "A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability and beauty of the biotic community" - Aldo Leopold “There has been a tremendous renaissance in nature study in recent years; it has been called a form of escapism, and perhaps it is in a way, but not an escape from reality; but rather, a return to reality; a flight from unreal things.” - Roger Tory Peterson ---- On Thu, Jul 22, 2010 at 11:29 AM, John Green <[email protected]> wrote: > This is a message from Jan Green > > As far as anyone can tell there was no DNR public process of noticee and > comment for creating a hunt for Sandhill Cranes in Minnesota. The decision > was directly from Commissioner Mark Holsten. > > Last spring it was rumored at DNR that they were considering this change. > I naively assumed that it could not be done without a hearing because > Sandhill Cranes are not listed as a game bird species in Minnesota statutes > (97A.015 - definitions). Instead the Commissioner relied on statutes > 97B.803 and 97B.731 for regulating migratory game birds. These relate to > the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service and their classification of "webless > migratory game birds". That classification covers species that are not > taxonomically waterfowl. > > In Minnesota, species that may be hunted under that federal program, which > flows from the Migratory Bird Treaty Acts, are: King Rail, Virginia Rail, > Common Moorhen, American Coot, Sandhill Crane, Wilson's Snipe, American > Woodcock, White-wing Dove and Mourning Dove. There is not a DNR rule for > King Rail, Common Moorhen and White-winged Dove, but the rest are legally > hunted in Minnesota. So is American Crow but I am not sure how that fits > into the regulatory structure. > > Regardless how one feels about hunting, and I am not philosophically > opposed, this was a terrible decision. It was done without any analysis of > the science or the management implications for the several crane > sub-species. Outrage is appropriately expressed to the DNR Commissioner. > > Jan > > ---- > Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net > Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html > ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
