Letters to the Editor and Others
Take hunting out of the 'Patriot Plan'
Wildlife Watch Inc.
Committee To Abolish Sport Hunting
Helping People, Environment, and Wildlife
PO BOX 562, NEW PALTZ, NY 12561
Voice:(845) 256-1400; Fax:(845) 622-7999
e-mail: wildwatch@earthlink.netContact: Joe Miele, Vice President 201-368-8271
The Honorable Joseph L. Bruno
368 Broadway
Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
June 27, 2003,Dear Senator Bruno:
A bill dubbed the "Patriot Plan" is being promoted by Governor George Pataki and the Assembly's Republicans that is meant to protect National Guard or armed forces Reservists from discrimination in the housing and job markets. As part of this plan, free hunting licenses will be included as part of the benefit package. On behalf of our 11,000 New York supporters, Wildlife Watch Inc./The Committee to Abolish Sport Hunting respectfully urges you to do what you can to prevent hunting and fishing licenses from being part of the Patriot Plan’s package.
While helping our men and women in uniform is a noble cause, further enabling them to destroy our wildlife is not. As the head of New York State, Governor Pataki has the responsibility to ensure that the state’s wildlife is managed through reasonable means, and protected from those who seek to do nothing but harm them.
According to the July 2003 issue of Field and Stream magazine, the number of hunters in the United States has fallen over the last five years from 27 million to 13 million. Hunters now make up only 4.6% of the population, compared to the 31% of the public who are wildlife watchers – those who appreciate our native wild animals without killing them.
More than ten years ago T.A. Heberlein and E.J. Thomson, hunting demographics experts at the University of Wisconsin, concluded that by 2050, sport hunting could cease to exist. It is very possible that the end of sport hunting in America is only a generation away, and the recent data quoted by Field and Steam confirms this hypothesis to be sound.
Instead of catering to a special interest group that consists of the small minority of New York’s residents who insist upon committing violent acts as a source of entertainment and recreation, Governor Pataki, the Assembly’s Republicans, and all lawmakers should be hastening the demise of hunting and the spread of this extreme violence. We look forward to the day when sport hunting is condemned to a dark chapter in American History textbooks.
Sincerely,
Joe Miele
Cc: Governor George Pataki
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver
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Copyright © 2003 Committee to Abolish Sport Hunting
