This commentary is by Dan Galdenzi of Stowe.
In a tired platitude of inaction, Rep. Katherine Sims has said representatives didn’t want to move S.258 forward because the bill “might divide their community.” Is this the same Katherine Sims who recently appeared in a pro-trapping propaganda film alongside the lobbyists for sportsman groups who spread misinformation about S.258?
If you want to talk about dividing communities, how about those Vermonters who took personal risk of retaliation to testify that coyote hounders consistently violate their private property rights by ignoring their posted signs and personal requests to stop hounding on their property. And in two cases that we know of through testimony, threatened and harassed home owners who dared to complain. How does that not divide a community?
This was not about Vermonters being split on an issue. We are talking about 36 people (registered coyote hounders in Vermont) who, for recreation, terrorize our neighborhoods at all hours and on weekends, to chase and kill coyotes with a pack of hounds while they sit in their trucks and track the movement of their dogs on GPS devices — as they traverse private properties, roads, and anywhere they want. As the Fish & Wildlife Department will often say, “dogs can’t read signs,” in their not-so-subtle nod of approval to coyote hounding. You may wonder, why would we let the will of 36 inconsiderate coyote hounders create a “culture war” in our communities? Is it because at least one of the game wardens and a Fish & Wildlife Board member are themselves, coyote hounders? Make no mistake, this is an old boys club replete with cronyism.
The Rural Caucus, which Sims chairs, didn’t vote on S.258, not because it was “lighting rod,” as Representative Sims called it, it was because Vermont sportsmen lobbyists were at the statehouse every single day spreading misinformation about what the bill actually said. If legislators would have just read the bill, they would have known what was in it. The Senate read the bill and passed it in a 21-8 vote. But the House members mostly didn’t bother to read it and instead listened to the sportsmen lobbyists who gleefully implored everyone to “clutch their pearls” because the flatlanders were here to take away our guns.
It’s worth noting how few actual coyote hounders testified in favor of their practice during the S.258 hearings. We heard a lot from the sportsmen’s lobbyists about classism, elitists and the slippery-slope fearmongering of an attack on their hunting rights, but very few defended the actual act of coyote hounding. I suppose it’s because even they know their hobby is indefensible, so they used a hired hand to create a culture war instead of talking about the facts.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Dan Galdenzi: Opponents of S.258 fostered division and avoided facts.