HUNTING IN LENAWEE CO.
House Bill 4519
Sponsor: Rep. Doug Spade
Committee: Conservation and Outdoor
Recreation
Complete to 11-16-00
A SUMMARY OF HOUSE BILL 4519 AS INTRODUCED 4-20-99
Currently, Public Act 1 of 1931 prohibits hunting game on Sundays in Lenawee County. House Bill 4519 would amend the local act, subject to the approval of the affected county electorate, to allow Sunday hunting of predators by livestock producers.
Predator Hunting. House Bill 4519 would specify that the prohibition against Sunday hunting did not apply to a person engaged in the production of livestock on a parcel of land in Lenawee County, nor to his or her designee if either had a Sunday hunting exemption permit, issued under the provisions of the bill, and was hunting predators of that type of livestock on that parcel, or on a contiguous parcel, owned or leased by that person or by an immediate family member, which would be defined under the bill to mean an individual's spouse, father, mother, father-in-law, mother-in-law, child, stepchild, sibling, or half sibling. "Livestock" would be defined under the bill to mean the term as defined in the Animal Industry Act (MCL 287.705). Under that act, livestock includes cattle, sheep, new world camelids, goats, bison, captive cervidae, ratites, swine, equine, poultry, aquaculture, and rabbits.
Exemption Permit. A livestock producer in Lenawee County could obtain a Sunday hunting exemption permit by submitting a written request to the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). The DNR would have to verify that the person actually was a livestock producer in Lenawee County. The exemption permit would be valid for one year, but could be reissued.
Ballot . Notice of the ballot question would have to be phrased as specified in the bill, and submitted to the qualified electors of Lenawee County at the next regular election, to be held not less than 60 days after the effective date of the bill, or at a special election called for that purpose by the Lenawee County Board of Commissioners. If approved by a majority of the qualified electors, the provisions of the bill would take effect 10 days after the election results were certified.
Analyst: R. Young