Sun Chronicle
When people think hunting in Massachusetts, they think westward - the deep woods and wide open space of the Berkshires lures thousands of eager hunters each season.
For the second year in a row, according to reports from MassWildlife this July, the highest numbers of deer taken in during the 2007 hunting season were in Zones 10 and 11 - which together include all the towns in The Sun Chronicle area.
And despite having led the state in the number of deer sacked, MassWildlife said it's not enough.
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Boston Globe
WASHINGTON - George B. Hartzog Jr., a former director of the National Park Service, who led an unprecedented expansion of the nation's system of parks, wildlife refuges, and historic sites and who helped secure passage of the National Historic Preservation Act in 1966, died June 27 at Virginia Hospital Center of complications from diabetes and kidney disease. He was 88 and lived in McLean, Va.
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Boston Herald
A report card for national parks gave them an average grade of 70 out of 100 for natural resources such as air and water quality, wildlife and ecosystems.
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The Patriot Ledger reports: QUINCY — The deer population on the South Shore has more than doubled in the past decade, wildlife officials say, and it is showing up in nibbled shrubs, chewed-up vegetable gardens and more close calls and collisions for motorists.
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Overall, deer populations are down from the all-time highs reached in 2005, state officials say, but development, fewer hunters and more restrictions on hunting are keeping the number of deer up in many local communities.
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CHICAGO - The voyage may sound improbable, but wildlife officials say that a DNA test should reveal whether a cougar killed Monday in Chicago took a 1,000-mile trip from the Black Hills of South Dakota through Wisconsin before being shot by police in the Roscoe Village neighborhood.
Chicago Tribune / Boston Herald
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AMESBURY — The town's animal control officer is trying to raise awareness about the dangers and consequences of animal leg traps after a great horned owl was found in a Main Street backyard with one secured to its leg this past weekend.
Newbury Port News
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SHELBURNE - Wildlife officials say an animal killed in Shelburne last fall was an endangered eastern gray wolf, a species long extinct in the region.
Boston Herald
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The Joint Committee On Public Safety & Homeland Security will be holding a public hearing on bills pertaining to "Gun Trafficking and Gang Violence". The hearing is scheduled to take place at 1:00 PM in room A-1. The following list of bills is set to be heard:
H2293 An Act Establishing a System of Ballistic Identification
H2340 An Act to Improve the Tracing of Guns Used in Crimes
H2342 An Act Protecting Children and Adults from Unsafe Handguns
H2343 An Act to Close a Loophole in the Assault Weapons Ban and Further Reduce Gun Violence in the Commonwealth
S1354 An Act Regarding the Prevention of Illegal Gun Trafficking and Gun Violence Among Youth in the Commonwealth
S1383 An Act Preventing Illegal Trafficking of Firearms
http://www.mass.gov/legis/comm/dljan23.htm
The Massachusetts Sportsmen's Council, County Leagues of Sportsmen's Clubs, and GOAL all stand in
OPPOSITION to each of these bills. Please take the time to write your Representative and Senator today.
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Please Contact Your State Legislator Today!
House Bill 783 and
Senate Bill 558 introduced by State Representative Jay Kaufman (D-15th Middlesex) and State Senator Steven Tolman (D-2nd Suffolk & Middlesex) would create a more restrictive policy regarding the use of "toxic chemicals" in the Commonwealth. Hidden within the proposal from environmental and anti-gun extremists is what amounts to a ban on all common rifle and handgun ammunition.
"The Safer Alternatives Proposals" will create a program to replace ten "chemicals" with what proponents claim are safer alternatives. On the top of the list of targeted substances is lead, the common element used to make virtually all bullets. As proposed, this legislation could virtually shut down all shooting ranges as well as ban the sale and use of lead ammunition for self-defense, hunting and target practice in Massachusetts. Non-lead alternatives exist for ammunition but are significantly more expensive and, in many instances, have sub-standard performance characteristics. Shooting ranges already fall under federal EPA regulations concerning environmental impact and recent science and EPA guidelines show that lead ammunition on shooting ranges can be managed without detrimentally affecting the environment. Predictably, this legislation does not account for the serious impacts on shooting ranges and the sportsmen and gun owners who use them.
Please call or write your State Legislator and respectfully request that the lead ammunition be completely excluded from the scope of the legislation. This step is essential in order to protect the future availability of ammunition commonly used for self-defense, hunting and the shooting sports in the Commonwealth! Contact information for your State Legislator can be found at
http://www.mass.gov/legis/.
Please note, that both of these bills look like they're being rolled into
Senate Bill 2406.
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Due to inclement weather, today’s Eagle Count has been postponed until Wednesday, January 16.
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