Smarting
from being at the receiving end of heavy flack against its proposal
to establish a season on the taking of coyotes, the Ohio Division of
Wildlife has bailed out on the matter.
At
least for now, anyway.
“We
are pausing the coyote proposal while we gather more input,” said
Kendra Wecker, chief of the Wildlife Division in an e-mail to “Ohio
Outdoor News.”
Wecker
went on to say the agency has received “several suggestions we need
to explore before filing an official proposal.”
“The
filing deadline is (February 21st) for this rule package, and I
don’t want to rush any changes, Wecker said.
Thus,
Wecker said also, “we will prepare a revised proposal for this
summer.”
“We
are listening and appreciate the interest and dialog on coyotes,”
she said.
Wecker
did not respond to a request for expansion or clarification of her
remarks.
The
affair to establish a season on coyotes was inserted as part of a
January 15th set of proposals for small-game and waterfowl hunting to
the eight-member Ohio Wildlife Council, which approves such matters.
Along
with the proposed season was a requirement that anyone hunting
coyotes – including individuals who might opportunistically want to
kill one while hunting deer or some other species – would first
need to buy a fur-takers/trapping permit.
Agreeing
the matter deserves further review is Jim Samuel of Adams County and
one of the Council’s members.
“This
is an example of how the process works,” Samuel told “Ohio
Outdoor News. “A proposal is brought by the Division of Wildlife,
feedback is received and then things happen.”
Opposition
quickly arose, however. Advocates against the proposal said the
Wildlife Division poorly vetted the matter, failing to adequately
consult with hunting groups but rather looking at trappers almost
exclusively.
The
parent Ohio Department of Natural Resources also came under further
criticism for its poorly worded January 16th press
release. This document jumbled run-on sentences that blended coyote
trapping requirement proposals with proposed coyote hunting
requirements.
So
severe was the overall appraisal of the agency’s coyote proposal
that a change.org petition was started. In just a few weeks this
petition had collected 27,000 or so signatures in opposition to the
Wildlife Division’s coyote proposal.
Among
those opposed to the Wildlife Division’s coyote proposal is the
powerful Ohio Farm Bureau.
In
a February 18th update to a February 5th
statement, the group’s director of livestock, Roger High said:
“The
Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ proposal to restrict coyote
trapping dates would create an undue burden on Ohio’s poultry and
livestock farmers.
“The
inability to properly control coyotes by trapping during calving,
lambing and kidding could very well cause livestock and poultry
farmers whose production system is primarily pasture-based to be at
risk of higher losses due to coyotes.”
Consequently,
the Wildlife Division backtracked and now has temporarily anyway, put
the issue on hold.
Which,
even Samuel says, is not a bad thing. Even though while much of the
feedback was negative more
than some
was positive in favor of the proposal, resulting in “strong
opinions” on both sides, Samuel said.
“I’m
not going to second guess the Division,”
Samuel said also.
“I
will say this, though, from all of the positions on the issue I have
heard, almost everyone has a recommendation as to how (the proposal)
could be better or different, and for that reason it was good to pull
the proposal and get more input,” Samuel said.
According
to the Natural Resources Department, a statewide
hearing on all proposed rules will be held at the Division of
Wildlife’s District One office on March 25th
at 9 a.m. The office is located at 1500 Dublin Road, Columbus.
- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischk@Ameritech.net
JFrischk4@gmail.com
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