FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 15 JULY 1999
CONTACT: Teresa Gloden 517-373-2352

PUBLIC COMMENT SOUGHT ON DEER FEEDING

LANSING-The Natural Resources Commission and top managers of the Department
of Natural Resources will host a public comment session in the Upper Peninsula on deer feeding in
Michigan.
The meeting, at Michigan Technological University's Memorial Union Building, Ballroom #1, will be hosted by NRC
Chairman Keith Charters, U.P. NRC Representative Nancy Douglas, DNR Director K. L. Cool, U.P. Field Deputy Jim
Ekdahl and DNR staff. The meeting will take place Wednesday, July 21, starting at 7 p.m.
"As the NRC and DNR assess the deer feeding issue, we feel it is very important to hear the opinions of all
interested citizens," said Rebecca Humphries, Chief of the DNR Wildlife Division. "Deer management issues are of great
interest to the people of the Upper Peninsula, so we are eager to hear comments from area residents, as we did at the
NRC meeting held earlier this month in Sault Ste. Marie."


Persons wishing to comment, who register in advance,
will be given five minutes to speak. Individuals who have
not preregistered will be provided three minutes to voice
their opinion. To register, contact Teresa Gloden, Assistant
to the NRC, at 517-373-2352, or Katie Rydquist at 906-228-
6561.


Written comments also are welcome. Please address
comments to: Teresa Gloden, Michigan DNR, Box 30028,
Lansing, MI 48909.


An additional meeting is being scheduled in Escanaba
on August 17 to present draft deer and elk feeding
regulations and to take public comment.

 

Date: Monday, July 19, 1999

 

TO: Teresa Golden, Michigan DNR, Box 30028, Lansing , MI 48909

From: Jeffrey M. Forth, Plymouth, MI

Subject: Comments on NRC Actions on baiting, specifically regarding the banning of automatic feeders.

As a Michigan archery deer hunter, I support the use of bait in ANY FORM. However; I can live with regulations to limit daily baiting to 5 gallons per day, since it levels out the playing field for small landowners vrs. the large hunt clubs. However, I take great exception to the current banning of automatic grain feeders. I would respectfully request that the Natural Resources Commission re-examine the amendments and changes, which requires:

"(c) The bait must be scattered directly on the ground by the person doing the baiting. The person doing the baiting may use a device to scatter the bait, such as a yard or fertilizer spreader, only if the device is operated exclusively by human power. "Scattered" means that the bait is dispersed or thrown over a minimum of a 10 foot by 10 foot or equivalent area so that individual pieces of bait are separated and not placed in piles. The purpose of scattering is to mimic natural feeding conditions."

As a resident of southern Michigan (Plymouth) and an owner of uninhabited hunting land in central Michigan (Weidman,) with over 2.5 hours of driving time, I find myself put into a position of being severely discriminated against and disadvantaged by paragraph (c) above. Paragraph (c) allows "local" people (those living close to or on their hunting property) to dump out 5 gallons of bait (daily) while I (and others) obviously can not. However; if mechanical feeders were allowed (as they have in the past) several things would occur that would eliminate this disadvantage while meeting NRC goals:

  1. A small, but "attractive" amount of grain can be distributed daily, in accordance with your guidelines to attract (and possibly hold) wildlife. Suddenly the "weekender" or remotely located individual has the equal ability to deploy bait on a "daily" basis.
  2. NRC goals of distributing only grain seeds and commercially pelletized foods are met.
  3. The feed is distributed (scattered) in as large of a pattern as desired which encourages grazing by deer, rather than munching on a massive pile in a single location.
  4. The negative economic impact to businesses that produce, sell and distribute mechanical feeders is eliminated.
  5. Baiting can still occur just during the required dates of October 1 through December 15th. (Which should be extended to December 31st.)
  6. Bait volume is easily adjustable and would certainly not exceed the 5-gallon daily limit imposed, which is again in keeping with NRC proposals.

 

I absolutely do not understand why automatic feeders have been banned. They seem to be a very positive and useful tool for meeting NRC goals while achieving equality for all and eliminate the "dumping" of huge bait piles. Feeders are cheap and available to all; it’s easy to build your own.

Please put all Michigan hunters on an equal footing by allowing automatic feeders.

Thank you,

 

Jeffrey M. Forth

 

 

Michigan Department of Natural Resources · Wildlife Division

Date: Thu, Apr 8, 1999 2:23 PM

Subject: Natural Resources Commission Action on Baiting

FROM: Rebecca A. Humphries, Chief, Wildlife Bureau

The Natural Resources Commission approved baiting regulations at its meeting this morning. Option 3 was approved with three amendments to subsection (5). The changes to subsection (5) are provided below:

"(5) A person may engage in baiting only if all of the following conditions apply:

(a) The baiting occurs only from October 1 through December 15.

(b) The bait material is:

(i) Composed exclusively of grain seeds, commercially pelletized food, or both, if the baiting is done within that portion of the Lower Peninsula east of highway I-75 and north of highway M-55. Commercially pelletized food shall not be construed to mean pelletized salt, salt tablets, or salt in any form except for the nominal amount normally included in the manufacture of pelletized food.

(ii) Composed of any type of food material, if the baiting is done outside that portion of the Lower Peninsula east of highway I-75 and north of highway M-55.

(c) The bait must be scattered directly on the ground by the person doing the baiting. The person doing the baiting may use a device to scatter the bait, such as a yard or fertilizer spreader, only if the device is operated exclusively by human power. "Scattered" means that the bait is dispersed or thrown over a minimum of a 10 foot by 10 foot or equivalent area so that individual pieces of bait are separated and not placed in piles. The purpose of scattering is to mimic natural feeding conditions.

(d) The volume of bait scattered on the ground does not exceed 5 gallons at any 1 hunting location at any 1 point in time.

(e) The volume of bait used does not exceed 5 gallons per day at any 1 hunting location."

In addition, two motions were approved unanimously by the Natural Resources Commission:

A motion was made to direct the Department of Natural Resources to establish a working group with the Department of Agriculture to examine the potential disease aspects of various bait materials and make specific recommendations to the Natural Resources Commission on what baiting materials should be allowed, for the year 2000 hunting season, by December 1, 1999.

The second motion stated that it is our [Natural Resources Commission] intention and belief that foods such as sugar beets, mangles, and fodder beets will not be permitted after the 1999 deer season.