Month: January 2014

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Senator Yoder passes on 2nd Reading of Canned Hunting Bill

Today, SB 404 was up for 2nd reading which included the opportunity to amend and to engross (put the bill in final form) and to move the bill to 3rd reading and final vote.

The process will repeat itself on Monday, the final day for 2nd reading.  There is still time to contact your Senator and express your views. SB 404 will come up again on 2nd reading to see if it progresses. The Senate calendar hopes to finish all bills (3rd reading) on Tuesday.

The introduction in Indiana of Chronic Wasting Disease is thought to have come from Pennsylvania (over the interstate highway in a truck). Click here to see why this disease is so difficult to track in the video on our Fact Sheet page.

INCA member Indiana Wildlife Federation shares the following on their website.

Canned Hunting bill SB404 passed the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee with a vote of 6-1.

Update on SB404 – The bill passed the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee with a vote of 6-1.  We thank Sen. Tim Skinner of Terre Haute for taking a stand for wildlife and voting no.  The bill was amended to add a few features that would help reduce the likelihood of captive deer escaping.  That said, this is still a bad bill no matter how you look at it.  The major concerns fall into two categories:  1. Health of the wild deer herd, and 2. Fair chase and hunting ethics.   While the opposition may propose things like double fencing to keep wild deer and captive deer from interacting, there’s no way to dress this up to be fair chase hunting.

Action that you, your friends, family, and affiliate members can take to speak up for wildlifeand stop legalization of high fence shooting/canned hunting:

  1. Contact the people who have the power to address this and make the right decision that canned hunting is not good business for Indiana:
    • Gov. Mike Pence:  317-232-4567
    • Sen. David Long, Senate President Pro Tempore: 317-232-9416, Senator.Long@iga.in.gov
    • Speaker of the House, Brian Bosma:  317-232-9657, h88@iga.in.gov

2. Sign the on line petition to oppose canned hunting in Indiana: http://www.change.org/petitions/ban-canned-hunting-in-indiana

January 28th Editorials from the Journal Gazette:

http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20140128/EDIT07/301289995/1021/edit

http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20140128/EDIT07/301289984/1021/edit

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10th Annual INCA Conservation Day a Success

Yesterday’s Conservation Day at the Statehouse, despite the bitter cold which closed Indianapolis’ City Government Offices, saw most of the 90 people registered and INCA organizations attend. 2013 Legislator of the Year awards were given to Senator Long and Representative Karickhoff and former Lt. Governor Becky Skillman updated the group on the Bi-Centennial Trust. 

We are nearing the halfway point of this fast moving session and there are still bills and resolutions in play that affect Indiana’s conservation future – stay tuned. In addition to this website you can also follow us on Twitter @INConservation.

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INCA Recommends Caution Tomorrow if you Travel to Indianapolis

The City of Indianapolis has announced its offices will be closed Tuesday, except for essential services. The State has not made such an announcement, nor has the General Assembly, which is a separate branch and thus would make any announcement about their status.  At this point we believe it is unlikely the legislature will be closed.  Well over half of the members stay in Indianapolis during the week.

We caution you to use your own judgment and do not feel pressured to come to Conservation Day if you are concerned about the commute.

We will still post cancellation if we find out that the Legislature or Statehouse indeed is closed.

 

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Weather Update for Conservation Day at the Statehouse

2014 Conservation Day at the Statehouse will stay on schedule tomorrow.

However … if the Governor should close state offices due to the weather obviously the event would be cancelled – this is pretty unlikely but check news outlets just in case.

Weather is extremely cold and some roads problematic. Please be safe and careful whether you are coming to Conservation Day or not.

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We need you to call now …

SB 404, “Canned Hunting” or a bill to allow the shooting of deer in a pen (for sport?) with little or no regulation of the operators is back on schedule for a committee hearing and eventual passage by the Senate this week.

Contact your Senator at (800) 382-9467 and tell him you don’t agree with this egregious and unneeded legislation.

Click here for the background on this “sport” and its potential impact on Indiana prepared by IWF.

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Conservation Day – Not too late to register

If you haven’t registered yet, do so now! Your interaction with your legislators is what makes INCA work. Register at the link above, and call your senator and representative and ask to meet them on the 28th. Do it now, while it is fresh in your mind and on your screen.

(We will have a weather advisory as to go or no go on this site if conditions warrant)

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Social Media and the Legislature

As the way we all consume media continues to evolve, it seems the Indiana State Legislature has gone all “a-Twitter”. Each legislative caucus has its own Twitter account and they seem to be quite active. If you wish to follow the action here are the accounts:

  • INSenDems
  • INSenateGOP
  • INHseDems
  • INHouseGOP

Also the new legislature website provides a shining new interface, plus there seems to be a lot more video of committee hearing this time around. As with any new website there are some bumps, 404 errors, plus a learning curve. The “Billwatch” system that previously provided email updates on bills including results of votes, seems to not be quite as functional in 2014, if it works at all. If “Billwatch” isn’t going to be maintained it would be best to just remove it so as to not tempt people to lean on a broken crutch.