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Pro-hunting rule changes pending March 16 to speak up

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mike rossi:
Watch for more information and how to speak up in upcoming emails. Until then, please digest this email and the cited research paper.

Birding organizations, particularity the American Birding Association (ABA) actively encourage bird watchers  to purchase duck stamps to “make bird watcher's voices heard” in federal habitat conservation efforts. However, there is neither tracking of the number of duck stamps purchased by non-hunters nor data to estimate the proportion of birders who buy it.The ABA reported that it sold $17,000 worth of duck stamps to birders in 2015. This is a welcomed, but minuscule contribution to the Federal Migratory Bird Conservation Fund.

Nevertheless, anti-hunters and "conservationists"  argue passionately that this number only reflects bird watchers who purchased the duck stamp through the American Birding Association, and bird watchers are really the majority contributors to the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund - because they purchase them en masse at refuges, online, at post offices and gun stores...

Despite the original and contemporary purpose of the Federal Duck Stamp, is reflected in the former title; which was, through political reasoning, changed recently from the Federal Migratory Bird HUNTING and Conservation Stamp; only five out of 85 duck stamps featured hunting since 1934. In 2018, the art contest rules for that year only, required art submissions to include hunting elements and be hunting themed. That is a stark contrast to an Obama era proposal, that fortunately was rejected, to feature non-game birds on the duck stamp.

At this time, the Trump appointed heads of the DOI (Department of Interior) and FWS (Fish and Wildlife Service) which run the Duck Stamp Program and administer the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund that receives duck stamp revenue; have proposed that the 2018 contest rules be made permanent, and, in addition, require all contest judges to be waterfowl hunters, or at least be satisfactorily familiar with waterfowl hunting.

Since regulation and rule changes, including this one, are subject to the Administrative Procedures Act, the federal government is required by this law (AP Act), to open the proposed change to public scrutiny, in which by way of newspapers and such, in addition to the federal register, the people know they can right in about it, for or against. Every year there are hunting - related proposals and every year hunters are out - voiced. The duck stamp proposal comment period is open until March 16, 2020, and most of the 200 plus comments are anti-hunting. (Several of the comments submitted by hunters clearly show lack of understanding of the matter at hand, so you need to read the background document and comprehend it before you comment). Nothing fuels anti-hunters and liberals/progressives in general more than something that makes them feel they are smarter than us. So, if you open yourself up they will stick it to all of us.

Also in 20I8, a pertinent social study was published. Social Scientists Conclude: " Our research examined whether the duck stamp is an effective tool for engaging bird watchers in wildlife conservation. Our results suggest that, at least currently, the answer to that question might be “no.”Only 14% of birders in our sample were non-hunters who purchased duck stamps. Logistic regression models indicated, perhaps not surprisingly, that the best predictor of duck stamp purchasing was purchasing a hunting license".

The above exert is from the referenced  research paper published in September 2018:

Do birdwatchers buy the duck stamp?

Nathan J. Shipley, Lincoln R. Larson, Caren B. Cooper, Kathy Dale, Geoff LeBaron & John Takekawa (2018): Do birdwatchers buy the duck stamp?, Human Dimensions of Wildlife

Link to this article:  https://doi.org/10.1080/10871209.2018.1517227

Watch for more information and how to speak up in upcoming emails. Until then, please digest this email and the cited research paper.

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