Date: Tue, 22 Jan 2002 08:38:22 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Gail Mackiernan Subject: Sunday Hunting bill hearing Mime-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Hi all -- There will be a hearing on House Bill 9, to extend the firearms deer hunting season and allow hunting on Sundays during that period, on Wednesday, January 23, at 1:00 in Annapolis. This is under the aegis of the House Environmental Matters committee, I do not have the room number at this time. Here is a synopsis of the bill, sponsors, also a web site where the complete text (and hopefully, more details on the hearing) can be obtained: "HOUSE BILL 9 File Code: Hunting and Fishing Sponsored By: Delegates Owings, Taylor, Hurson, Arnick, Busch, Conway, Dewberry, Doory, Hixson, Howard, McIntosh, Menes, Montague, Rawlings, Rosenberg, Vallario, and Wood Entitled: Deer Management Plans - Increased Harvest Synopsis: Requiring the Department of Natural Resources to manage the harvest of deer in specified ways; extending the firearms season to at least 21 days, including up to three Sundays; exempting a specified region from Sunday hunting provisions; authorizing specified harvest methods under specified circumstances; requiring the Department to report to specified persons on its deer management plans; etc. History by Legislative Date House Action 08/21 Pre-filed 1/9 First Reading Environmental Matters 1/16 Hearing 1/23 at 1:00 p.m. Senate Action No Action Sponsored by: Delegate George W. Owings, III, District 27B Delegate John S. Arnick, District 7 Delegate Michael E. Busch, District 30 Delegate Norman H. Conway, District 38 Delegate Thomas E. Dewberry, District 47B Delegate Ann Marie Doory, District 43 Delegate Sheila E. Hixson, District 20 Delegate Carolyn J. B. Howard, District 24 Delegate John A. Hurson, District 18 Delegate Maggie McIntosh, District 42 Delegate Pauline H. Menes, District 21 Delegate Kenneth C. Montague, Jr., District 43 Delegate Howard P. Rawlings, District 40 Delegate Samuel I. Rosenberg, District 42 Delegate Casper R. Taylor, Jr., District 1C Delegate Joseph F. Vallario, Jr., District 27A Delegate John F. Wood, Jr., District 29A" The full text can be obtained at: http://mlis.state.md.us/2002rs/billfile/hb0009.htm If you wish to contact your delegates on this legislation, and aren't sure about phone, fax or email, these can be gotten from the web site at: http://mlis.state.md.us My MOS (Montgomery Co.) chapter opposes this legislation because of the equitable access to public lands issue, the incompatibility of firearms hunting with other outdoor recreation in same location at same time, also because this may set a precedent for expanding Sunday hunting throughout the deer hunting season, which would impact Christmas Counts as many fall during black-powder and bow seasons. We are, however, in favor of state efforts to reduce the deer population, just feel that this is not the way to do it. Gail Mackiernan MC/MOS Conservation Chair ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================