MOHA Announces New Leadership of the Minnesota Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus
Senator Satveer Chaudhary, Fridley, MN, has been selected as the Chair of the Minnesota Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus and Representative Larry Howes, Walker, MN, has been selected Vice Chair. The Caucus Executive Committee as well as additional members will be selected in the near future. This caucus is a bipartisan group of legislators from both the Minnesota Senate and House who have an interest in issues that are important to the sportsmen and women of Minnesota. The Minnesota Caucus is a member of the National Assembly of Sportsmen’s Caucuses. Minnesota is one of 36 state sportsmen’s caucuses throughout the country and is one of the oldest.Senator Chaudhary attended a recent meeting of the National Assembly of Sportsmen’s Caucuses in December which was held in Clinton, SC where he had an opportunity to present our successfully passed outdoors amendment to the group. One of the goals of the National assembly is to support and enhance state fish and wildlife habitat management and conservation which fits in very nicely with the goals of the recently passed constitutional amendment in Minnesota. We welcome both Senator Chaudhary and Representative Howes to the Caucus.
Legislative Activity Report
As you all know, Minnesota passed an amendment to our Constitution that dedicated 3/8 of one percent of new sales tax revenue to the outdoors and cultural activities. The vast majority of this fund will go to the outdoors to enhance our fish and wildlife habitat and clean up our wetlands and waterways. Through some rather intense lobbying efforts, on the part of sportsmen and women in Minnesota, we were able to create a citizen’s oversight committee, the Lessard Outdoor Heritage Council (LOHC), to make recommendations on what will be close to 100 million dollars a year for projects to enhance habitat and secure habitat for hunting, trapping and fishing in Minnesota. The LOHC is made up of twelve people of which four are legislators from both political parties. The other eight council members come from the hunting and conservation community and the chairman is a professor and expert on forestry at the U of M. We are very happy with the appointments is almost all cases. There are a couple of legislators on the council who are not totally with us on our issues but the majority rules so I believe that we will continue to see sound recommendations from this group.There are some bills that have been introduced in the current legislative session that are anti-hunting and anti-gun. There are bills in the Senate and House to eliminate dove hunting in Minnesota. This is being promoted by HSUS, as usual. The anti-dove hunting bill is SF 1710 authored by Senator Dibble and Senator Doll in the Senate. The House bill is HF 1321 and is authored by Reps Clark,Kahn,Huntley, Loeffler, Greiling and Mariani. The antigun bill is HF 953 which would severely limits the transfer of pistols and semi-auto firearms in Minnesota. That bill is authored by Reps Paymar,Johnson, Hayden, Lesch, Kelliher, Ruud, Lillie, Mullery, Bly, Champion, Slocum, Hausmen and Mariania. The Senate companion bill is SF 1165 and is authored by Senators Prettner-Solon, Foley, Dibble, Doll and Anderson. Note the fact that some of the same names show up on both antigun bills and anti-hunting bills. If you are a constituent of any of these legislators please contact them by e-mail, phone or letter and let them know how you stand on these issues. Even if you are not a constituent, your contact will be effective. It is very easy to get contact information on all legislators simply by using and internet search for “Minnesota Legislature”. Representatives from MOHA member groups will be offering testimony before relevant committees in the legislature if any of these bills appear to get any traction. We are fortunate in Minnesota to have the majority of legislators from both political parties on our side, in regard to our issues, as well as the Governor and his administration.
Don McMillan President,
MOHA
MOHA Says Citizen Council Critical to Passage of Dedicated Funding
February 15, 2008“We applaud the hard work of the legislature, the citizens and stakeholders who supported the dedicated funding amendment yesterday,” said Don McMillan, Minnesota Outdoor Heritage Alliance (MOHA) president. “This dedicated fund will guarantee that our children and grandchildren have places to hunt, and fish. It will ensure Minnesota’s outdoor heritage and our way of life.”
MOHA joined with Senator Bob Lessard and others in 1999 to secure a constitutional amendment to fund conservation of Minnesota’s game, fish, and wildlife. At the very beginning of this campaign, we set out three principals we believe to be essential to accomplish our objectives; a) A guaranteed income stream for fish and game management, habitat conservation and related programs, b) That this revenue be constitutionally guaranteed, and c) that there be a citizen/stakeholders council to manage the fund.” These elements have been in nearly every bill in the House and Senate since then.
McMillan said, “Now the most important part of this campaign is to gain the public support for passage at the ballot in November. Critical to gaining the support is a citizen/stakeholders council representing hunting, fishing, and conservation interests that would provide assurance that the money raised will go towards the intended purpose. Last year the language introduced in the Senate and House included a council for the Heritage Fund. Final language in the Senate had a Council. The House version did not. Therefore MOHA looks forward to working with the legislature to pass language to establish the citizen/stakeholders council, this session, before the statewide vote.”
In addition it was announced, the Minnesota Outdoor Heritage Foundation is being formed to emphasize MOHA’s commitment to the future of these outdoor traditions. “Members of MOHA believe it is very important to focus attention on the core challenges within the outdoor community,” said Jim Klatt, president of the new Foundation. “We are losing a whole generation of older participants, and young people are not filling the gaps.”
Klatt points out that as participation in hunting, fishing and trapping declines, the revenue generated by these activities and associated funds going into general revenue also decline, leading to even bigger problems for wildlife and habitat. “The Foundation intends to focus a laser beam on efforts to turn around this decline, so Minnesota can remain the national leader in conservation and one of the best states in the country for hunters and anglers.” The new Foundation board of directors is still being assembled. It will include representatives from a broad spectrum of interests involved with outdoor and youth program statewide.
For more information about MOHA, dedicated funding, and the Foundation, please contact Don McMillan at 612-940-0823 or Jim Klatt at 952-933-5939.
MOHA Helps Students Get a Chance to Hunt Pheasants
November 2, 2007Watertown-Mayer Middle School held an "Exploratory Day" where several students participated in a pheasant hunting experience at Major Avenue Hunt Club near Glencoe. The event was organized by middle school teacher Bill McDonald with assistance from DNR Southern Region Director Mark Matuska, and others. A safety clinic was conducted and then a discussion followed about pheasant hunting laws, group hunting safety, and pheasant habitat. Each student was required to have completed a firearms safety course and have a parent in attendance during the hunt.
The DNR, Pheasants Forever, Carver County Soil and Water District, Federal Cartridge, and the Minnesota Outdoor Heritage Alliance (MOHA) supported the event. Meiller presented a $250 donation on behalf of the Carver County Pheasants Forever Chapter and MOHA donated $80 while Federal Cartridge contributed 16 boxes of shotgun shells.
MOHA MEMO
To: MOHA Board Members And FriendsFrom: Jim Klatt
Re: Minnesota Sesquicentennial
Date: October 31, 2007
First, Happy Halloween. I hope fall hunting has been good for everyone so far. Good luck with deer season.
As many of you already know, MOHA has been selected by the State Sesquicentennial Commission to be the designated hunting/fishing/trapping organization at the big 150 year celebration next Spring.
Our major responsibility will be to organize a pavilion exhibit at the Capitol in May that will focus on 150 years (and more) of hunting, fishing, trapping and conservation in this state. In that capacity we’ll be sending applications to all MOHA Governing Board groups, and to many others who aren’t on the Governing Board, later this year – or right after Christmas. The goal will be to have each organization create a display of their own history for the pavilion (probably one really big tent).
We are awaiting details from the Sesquicentennial executive director in order to put together an accurate plan for you to look at – i.e. space available, potential cost, dates, hours of the exhibit.
The Commission is planning a 2-day celebration at the Capitol, and will do extensive pre-event publicity. This is an opportunity to really draw attention to what an important role hunting, fishing and trapping has played in the cultural and economic formation of this state – plus we can push hard for dedicated funding to protect these traditions in the future.
This memo is your “early alert”. Stay tuned for more details.