Camo Coalition Take Action

		Issue: Dump the Pumps!   The Final EIS for the Yazoo Pumps has been released. You can go on-line here to download the information. The Corps has scheduled a public meeting (the only one) on the final EIS for November 29 at 7 pm at the Mayersville courthouse. PLEASE PLAN TO ATTEND IF AT ALL POSSIBLE. If you cannot attend, please take action by following the instructions below. Your action is very important. This project has the potential to negatively impact thousands of acres of important wetlands and cost taxpayers over $200,000,000 to construct and over $2,000,000 in maintenance on a yearly basis. Please Take Action Today to stop this environmentally disastrous project. Stop the Corps of Engineers from using your tax dollars to drain wetlands! The Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) wants to spend $211 million of your tax dollars on a project that could drain and damage more than 200,000 acres of wetlands in the heart of the Mississippi River flyway, an area that contains some of the richest natural resources in the nation. The Corps has recommended spending at least $211 million of your tax dollars to build the world's largest hydraulic pumping plant in one of the most sparsely populated regions in the state of Mississippi. In a throwback to another era — and contrary to federal policy — the Yazoo Pumps would be used to drain wetlands and ultimately allow agribusiness to intensify production on marginal crop lands. The Corps has released its final recommendation for the Yazoo Pumps, and we need your help today to put a stop to this wasteful and destructive project. Contact the Corps of Engineers, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of the Interior today and tell them to dump the Pumps! Please go to the Camo Coalition website here and click on TAKE ACTION. The website will do the work for you by emailing each of the following when you click submit. Or, if you prefer, you may use the print option to mail to each recipient below. Marvin Cannon Vicksburg District of the Corps Corps of Engineers 4155 Clay Street Vicksburg, MS 39183-3435 Colonel Michael C. Wehr, District Engineer Vicksburg District of the Corps Corps of Engineers 4155 Clay Street Vicksburg, MS 39183-3435 Mr. Stephen Johnson Administrator Environmental Protection Agency Ariel Rios Building 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20460 Mr. Dirk Kempthorne Secretary Department of Interior 1849 C Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20240 Mr. James Connaughton Chairman Council on Environmental Quality 722 Jackson Place, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20503 To read more on the subject, please click here .

		Issue: Lease of State Park Lands for Commercial or Residential Development   If House Bill 1492 becomes law, the Mississippi Development Authority (MDA) and the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, with the approval of the Commission on Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, may identify certain lands within the state parks and under the jurisdiction and control of the department that may be leased to third parties for COMMERCIAL and/or RESIDENTAIL development; however, only lands within J.P. Coleman State Park, John W. Kyle State Park, Hugh White State Park, George P. Cossar State Park, Percy Quinn State Park and lands under the jurisdiction and control of the commission and the department surrounding Legion Lake in Simpson County may be leased and developed under the provisions of this act. The MDA and the commission shall establish criteria for identifying such land which shall include, but which shall not be limited to, whether or not such lands are owned by the state, in fee simple, and may be improved for commercial, residential or other development, or, whether such lands are leased from the federal government or an agency thereof, such as the United States Army Corps of Engineers, and are restricted by federal law or federal regulations or by the terms of such lease to limited development purposes. Sixteenth section or lieu lands shall not be subject to lease under the provisions of this act. Before approving any state park lands for lease and development, whether such lease is for COMMERCIAL or RESIDENTIAL purposes, the commission must make an affirmative finding and enter upon its official minutes a statement that the development of such land will not be incompatible with the outdoor recreational purposes and opportunities existing at that park.

		Issue: Hunting Over Bait   We recognize that the issue of feeding/baiting wildlife (especially white-tailed deer) is complex. We understand the dilemma presented by the current ambiguity of the law, and the difficulty of enforcing current law. We understand the pressures and frustrations that law-abiding hunters face when neighboring landowners feed and/or bait deer. Under current statute, feeding is not restricted in any way, and the fine line between what constitutes a feeding program and what constitutes baiting can be vague and depends upon subjective interpretation in many cases (ie., distance from feed that an individual may hunt, etc.) However, we believe that amending current law to allow indiscriminate baiting that may include piling of bait, scattering on trails or in concentrated locations without protection from the elements, etc. would have the following harmful implications: 1. Jeopardize the tradition and sport of hunting in Mississippi We believe relaxation of restrictions that would allow hunters to harvest game animals with the aid of bait will further widen the opinion and perspective gaps between citizens who support and participate in the sport of hunting and the citizens who do not hunt but also do not oppose the sport. The non-hunting, as well as the anti-hunting publics, will view hunting with the aid of bait as unethical and inappropriate. This will serve only to further compromise our efforts to perpetuate and preserve our hunting tradition in the face of increasing public sentiment against the sport. Additionally, the use of bait by hunters may increase the incidence and severity of illegal harvest, including bag limit violations, gender and antler size violations. Such illegal harvest will have implications not only upon the property upon which the action takes place, but can have a detrimental effect upon surrounding properties that lie within the normal home range of the game animals. Such impacts could be detrimental to the management efforts of these adjoining landowners/managers. Moreover, the use of bait is contrary to the spirit of fair chase, and the majority of both the hunting and non-hunting publics consider such use of bait as unethical. 2.Create biological and wildlife population problems The increased density of game animals at, or in the vicinity of, bait sites will increase the likelihood of wildlife disease transmission. The risk of disease transmission directly from the bait is well documented, as target and non-target wildlife ingest wet, moldy or fungus infected grain or other feedstuffs. Such acceleration in the speed and efficiency of disease transmission will affect many species, and can potentially result in epidemic situations in wildlife populations. Additionally, there is potential increased predation that will be facilitated by these aggregations of game animals, both through the density increase and the increased exposure that results when prey species are lured out of protective cover. 3.Create habitat problems that pose significant threat to long-term sustainability of the wildlife and forest resources. Supplemental feeding and baiting has the potential to artificially increase animal populations above natural carrying capacity of the habitat. Such artificially high populations invariably result in habitat degradation and, long-term, reduction in carrying capacity. Like the disease implications, the effects of habitat degradation will have a landscape level impact, and could affect a broad array of both plant and animal populations.

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