Sen. Ed McBroom

LANSING — The Michigan State Senate passed Senate Bills 276 and 277, Tuesday which includes increases to hunting and fishing license fees. The vote was 23-13, and one of the most vocal of the 13 “no votes” was Senator Ed McBroom, R-Vulcan, who had a lot to say in his opposition to the bills. McBroom spoke at length on the Senate floor after the vote Tuesday and again in a telephone interview with the Daily Mining Gazette Thursday.

“My main objection is that the department is asking for more money without addressing a number of accountability issues that I and other legislators have been bringing up over the course of the last nine months, at least for some of us, like me, even over the last 10 years,” McBroom told Gazette. “And so my frustration that I was trying to express to them was, it’s always ‘give us more money, but don’t hold us accountable.'”

McBroom was upset and frustrated as he addressed the Senate after the vote, and listed what he views as accountability issues. He cited the DNR ordering the euthanasia of a rescued fawn named Peanut, multiple litigations with the Detroit Animal Welfare Group over a coyote named Kota and the DNR’s approach to the Invasive Species Order regarding farm pigs as times the DNR has gone too far.

“After 15 years of being here and seeing this department out of control under Republicans, out of control under Democrats, persecuting some farmers out there who raised some pigs that happen to be uglier than somebody else’s pigs — we’re going to give them exactly what they want: more money. A department that has a history of hiding money, of coming to us for a fee increase and then suddenly the legislature gets off of its butt, discovers that they’re sitting on a pile of money,” McBroom said on the Senate floor. “That’s the history of this department, and yet here they are. ‘Give us more money, we need more money so we can send more people out to the woods to persecute some guy who finally got a day off of work, sets himself up in a blind.’ And the DNR shows up, blasts that in with a megaphone, ‘Come out here, we need to check your license,’ and ruins his whole day of hunting.”

McBroom told the Gazette sportsmen and sportswomen are frustrated with the DNR and certain elements need to modernize, such as DNR Conservation Officers obtaining warrants or other documents to allow them onto private property to pursue crimes if evidence suggests such. He said he wants more common sense when it comes to the issues of the pigs, fawn and coyote and would like more nuance to these situations instead of the DNR managing all deer and all coyotes. McBroom gave another example of where he believes the DNR needed a better approach to a situation.

“A couple years ago, a guy in Ontonagon, his boat was stolen,” McBroom said. “It was found washed up on the shore of the Keweenaw. He got cited for bringing gasoline out to the boat, going through a creek through the woods. There’s no roads to get to his boat. They cite him for hauling gasoline out there so he could get his boat brought back home. That makes no sense. What did they expect the guy to do?”

These and other incidents are the main reason McBroom is opposed to these price increases, though he is not opposed to never increasing them again. McBroom explained having increases every now and then can be easily justified since the department runs on a fee-based system which has been successful and worked for many years. But he believes it is not appropriate without some reforms and recognition of the problems he spoke of.

“Law enforcement needs to be looking for poachers and for those who are doing serious impairment to natural resources, not to some poor guy who’s just trying to rescue his boat off of the shore, or some farmers who the courts have said numerous times are doing something that’s totally legal,” McBroom said.

He is also skeptical of the Department prioritizing science over money. On the Senate floor McBroom brought up Proposal G passed by 69 percent of Michigan citizens in 1996, which he said required the Natural Resource Commission be given the power to regulate the game and they do it with the principles of sound scientific management.

“‘Sound scientific management.’ We did this to eliminate politics as much as possible from decisions that comes from hunting and fishing, and yet the department has made it very clear in the passage of 276 and 277 that the need for money trumps science. It trumps the principles of sound scientific management. How does it do that? It does it by getting rid of the feeding and baiting ban, something we were told had to be done because science justified it,” McBroom said. “But now it’s just going to evaporate away, and I’m not against it going away. I don’t think science dictated it, I don’t think science hasn’t proved that it’s necessary. But because they’re getting the money, they’ve agreed to let it go away?”

He also acknowledged his objections are not aimed at everyone in the DNR.

“While there’s good people in the department, people I have appreciated and have good working relationships with, the current head of Wildlife and even Director Bowen who I like very much and I believe is very sincere, these issues within the department cannot remain unaddressed,” he said.

Though the bills have passed the Senate, Speaker of the House Matt Hall said numerous times the bills will not pass in the House. McBroom said he is working with his colleagues in the House to see if they can get some of the accountability from the DNR and look at the bill in a much more thoughtful way.