Yaaaay!! Iowa dove-hunting bill vetoed!!!

[Guest guest]

Governor Tom Vilsack vetoed the Iowa dove-hunting bill tonight!! Many

thanks to everyone who responded! Power in numbers... The Governor said

that the number of calls his office received against the bill

influenced his decision.

 

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104 & STORY=/www/story/01-30-200\

1/0001416136 & EDATE=

 

Wildlife Legislative Fund of America: Governor Betrays Sportsmen -

Vetoes Legislation Permitting Dove Hunting

 

DES MOINES, Iowa, Jan. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- In a final act of betrayal to

sportsmen, Governor Tom Vilsack tonight released a veto message of the

Game Management Bill that would have permitted mourning dove hunting.

 

Although Vilsack had previously indicated that he would veto the

bill, the move surprised both sportsmen and legislative leaders because

the bill had not yet been sent to the governor's office. He had

previously attempted to derail the bill prior to a vote in the Iowa

Senate on January 25, 2001 by claiming that the bill was improperly

written, a charge refuted by national wildlife legal experts.

 

The veto message was released less than one-half hour after Rick

Tebbs, chairman of the Iowa Committee for WLFA, invited the governor to

a Wednesday morning rally held by sportsmen in favor of the bill. The

Iowa Committee has coordinated the coalition of conservation

organizations behind House File 43, the Game Management Bill.

 

" It's obvious that Governor Vilsack made this move to avoid facing

the sportsmen of Iowa at tomorrow's rally, " said Tebbs. " He

miscalculated. I have already spoken with people all over the state

who are now coming to the Statehouse tomorrow morning to protest the

veto. "

 

Other members of the Iowa Committee were equally outraged.

 

" We made it through the hard part by getting the bill through the

House and Senate, " said Rick Sharp, East Iowa Coordinator for the Iowa

Committee. " We apparently just have the wrong governor. "

 

The governor stated that the number of calls his office received

against the bill influenced his decision. Unfortunately, national

anti-hunting groups such as the New York based Fund for Animals called

on their members around the country to contact the governor's office.

Iowa sportsmen noted that the governor's staff did not ask whether the

callers were Iowa residents.

 

" Iowa sportsmen need to know that their governor made this decision

based on calls from all over the U.S., " said Rob Sexton, Director of

State Services for the Wildlife Legislative Fund of America, an

organization that monitors anti-hunting activity across the country.

" We will make sure that people know what has taken place. "

 

Supporters of dove hunting were shocked to find out that the

governor was listening to out-of-state interests and not Iowa citizens.

 

" Short of voting twice, I will work tirelessly to make sure that we

get a new governor in 2002 that supports the rights of hunters, " said

Sharp. " Many of us found it strange that Vilsack was not present at

the annual Governor's deer hunt and pheasant hunt, both longstanding

traditions in our state. Now we know why. "

 

Tomorrow morning's rally will take place at 10:30 AM in the first

floor rotunda at the Statehouse.

 

Iowa Committee members would like to thank the multitude of

conservation organizations representing hundreds of thousands of Iowa

citizens who favor professional wildlife management and mourning dove

hunting.

 

Those organizations include Iowa Chapters of the nation's leading

conservation organizations: Foundation for North American Wild Sheep,

Furtakers of America, Izaak Walton League, National Wild Turkey

Federation, Pheasants Forever, Safari Club International, Whitetails

Unlimited, Wildlife Legislative Fund of America and Wildlife Society.

 

Iowa's statewide sportsmen organizations were proponents as well:

Iowa Bowhunters Assoc., Iowa State Coonhunters Assoc., Iowa Hunter

Education Association, Iowa Sportsmen Federation, Iowa Taxidermists

Assoc., Iowa Trappers Assoc., Iowa Turn-In-A-Poacher program and the

Iowa Wildlife Federation.

 

 

SOURCE Wildlife Legislative Fund of America

Web Site: http://www.wlfa.org

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Srikanth,

 

This is great news!!!! Thanks for sharing it.

 

Sharon