Federal Court Rules to Stop Pheasant Hunt on Cape Cod- (09/26)
Massachusetts
(Columbus) - A federal court’s ruling today halted a decades old pheasant hunt on the Cape Cod National Seashore while allowing other forms of hunting there to continue. The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation Sportsmen’s Legal Defense Fund (SLDF) had intervened in the lawsuit on behalf of sportsmen to protect hunting on Cape Cod and all federal lands.
A lawsuit filed by anti-hunting groups against the National Park Service (NPS) sought to stop all hunting on the Seashore. Judge Patti Saris’ ruling stops only the pheasant stocking program for 2003 while an environmental assessment is completed. The NPS will have 60 days to submit a schedule for the study. Other hunting seasons will continue as planned.
The SLDF argued that the pheasant stocking program was in compliance with environmental laws and disagreed that hunting was causing environmental damage. Government lawyers’ concessions in court regarding federal environmental regulations undermined the sportsmen’s case.
The SLDF strongly encourages the NPS to move forward on completing the environmental assessment within the framework outlined by Judge Saris so that the pheasant hunt can be reinstated in 2004.
In October 2002, anti-hunting groups filed suit against the National Park Service to ban pheasant hunting on Cape Cod National Seashore. In November, they amended the lawsuit to include all hunting on the 43,000-acre national recreation area. Judge Saris rejected an anti’s request for a temporary restraining order to stop the hunt in 2002.
The Massachusetts Sportsmen’s Council, Inc., Barnstable County League of Sportsmen’s Clubs and sportsman Michael Veloza of Manomet, Massachusetts joined the SLDF in the case. Plaintiffs in the case include the Humane Society of the United States, Fund for Animals and Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation protects and defends America’s wildlife conservation programs and the pursuits – hunting, fishing and trapping – that generate the money to pay for them. The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation is responsible for public education, legal defense and research. Its mission is accomplished through several distinct programs coordinated to provide the most complete defense capability possible. For more information about the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation and its work, call (614) 888-4868 or visit its website,
www.ussportsmen.org
this is kind of old but pisses me off none the less. and it turns out that the court overruled the case and hunting will continue
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