Conservation group will support dog-hunting legislation
The South Carolina Camo Coalition will oppose any effort in the state legislature to transfer wildlife law-enforcement officers from the S.C. Department of Natural Resources to the S.C. Department of Public Safety (highway patrol).
Meeting in late October to draft legislative priorities for the 2010 General Assembly, the Coalition, which represents 23 conservation and outdoor organizations and has 4,500 members, said it will strongly oppose a bill introduced by Rep. Dan Cooper of Anderson to move SCDNR officers out of the agency.
“This move would separate this excellent group of dedicated conservation law enforcement officers from our traditional sportsmen’s agency and our DNR Board and place it in an agency that is run by a secretary appointed by the Governor,” the coalition said in its statement of legislative priorities.
“Hunters and fishermen pay for the services provided by DNR law enforcement through licenses and fines. We fear that the conservation mission will be eroded and funding will be diverted to the Highway Patrol, which is also constantly in need of resources. Overall, the Camo Coalition, along with other sportsmen’s organizations, view this as a potentially devastating action.”
The Cooper bill, introduced in the 2009 session, has been sent to the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.
The Coalition will support and hopes to improve a senate bill providing for surface-water permitting and protection introduced by Sen. Paul Campbell. The bill, currently in the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, would regulate the withdrawal and use of water from the state’s rivers, lakes and streams.
The Coalition is working to build support for amendments that would make it more friendly to wildlife and boaters.
The coalition also supports a bill introduced by Rep. Jeff Duncan of Laurens that would provide for an additional permit for hunting deer with a dog, provide additional requirements and designate fines for violations.
“We’ve got some renegades, and if we are not careful, they are going ruin hunting for all of us,” said Rep. David Umphlett of Moncks Corner, chairman of the House Agriculture and Wildlife Subcommittee. “If we don’t do something, we will all lose.”
The Coalition will support prescribed fire legislation that protects the use of fire as a management tool, support full formula funding for the Conservation Bank (which has protected more than 152,000 acres, with 54,000 acres going directly into the Wildlife Management Area program), and support increased funding for resource agencies, including SCDNR, the S.C. Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism, the S.C. Commission of Forestry and the S.C. Department of Agriculture.
The Coalition will oppose legislation that would allow deer baiting in the Piedmont and another bill to set a statewide turkey season from March 15 through May 1. The SCDNR’s Breck Carmichael said studies have shown that opening the season that early is not biologically sustainable, especially in the upcountry.
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