Legislature rejects bear ammendment

I just got this e-mial from DNR commisioner Landwehr

(quote)

Thank you for your note. As you may know, the conference committee last night did not include the Rep. Kahn provision requiring DNR to send letters to hunters. Hence, the legislature did not take any additional steps towards protecting radio-collared bears. You should know, however, that DNR had previously committed to send letters to bear hunters, and will do a larger public information initiative prior to the hunting season to make hunters aware of the presence of collared bears. We will continue to work cooperatively with Dr. Rogers in that regard. Thanks again for your note.
Tom Landwehr
Commissioner
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
(unquote)

You can all relax for now. BUT - I will try again next session, to get the DNR, to make it illegal to kill a radio collared research bear when hunting. So keep your comments coming to me. I will save every comment I receive, and they can be presented to the legislators, the DNR Commissioner and the Governor again, next session. I truely believe we can achieve our goal.

If you have not written an e-mail yet, please be sure to word it to reflect the fact that the Legislature did not choose to bring this up for a vote. If I were some of you, I would be a little upset with my State Representative and Senator, because they did not get behind this campaign. I would let them know you are not happy about that. We need to keep trying to educate them, try to get them to see our side - about why we feel these bears should be receiving complete protection from hunting. .

We need to educate thelegislators about the impact the bears have on people around the word, including school children, so that they become interesed in, not only the bears, but also in natures andconservation. Who knows, they may become our next generationof scientists as aresult of the bears, or become conservationsts who protect our fragile environment.

We need to educate them about the economic impact, not only on the City of Ely and its surroundng areas, but also on the economy of Minnesota as a whole, as peole from around the world visit Minnesota to see the natural beauty of our great state, and visit the Bear Center, the Wildlife Research Institure and the International Wolf Center all in Ely. If we educate both the tourists,and the legislators, about the fact that Minnesota and Wisconsin are the two most popular birding destination in North America, with the Witer Birding Festival at the world famous Sax-Zim Bog, we may increase tourism even further.

They may not know that we have some of the most fantastic and beautful Native American Petroglyphs (rock art) in North America near Jeffers, and the quarries of the red pipestone that was traded across America by the Naive Americans for peace pipes, in Pipestone. Not to mention Lake Supeior, one of the two largest freshwater lakes in the world, plus our 10,000+ lakes and our great fishing. The notoriety that the bears have given Minnesota, may open up new tourism opportunities for small business in the state. The Governor, the DNR Commissioner and the legislators need to know how the bears already have, and can continue to have, a huge impact on tourism in the state of Minnesota.

If you need me to speak to any group of peple, organization, or any legislator, onany of the above issues, just let me know - and I will be there.

We need to ask the Minnesota Deer Hunter's Association to get behind this, they are the largest hunting/conservation organization in the state, We also.need to get more Minnesota hunters behind this, and get them to become more vocal about it. You can remind them, that at least in part, it was my article in the MDHA Whitetales magazine, that was influential in changing the deer hunting dates, so that more older, trophy class bucks would survive the rut, with the result that hunters can eventually harvest more trophy class bucks.

Remember, enjoy our great outdoors, take along a family member or a friend, and bring along a pair of binoculars or a spotting scope and a video or still camera, for memory's sake. You never know what natural beauty you will see in our great state,or where you will see it. And - if you see something interesting, let me know, I may include it here, and I more than likely will want to see it too..