LANSING — An Ingham County judge ruled last week in favor of the state Natural Resources Commission’s coyote hunting policy, a decision that conservation groups say they disagree with.
The commission voted last year to shorten coyote hunting season from year-round to nine months. That three month hiatus is currently in effect through the summer.
Justin Tomei, policy and government affairs manager for the Michigan United Conservation Clubs, says his group believes the commission overstepped its legal boundaries.
“From our perspective, they focused far too much on unsubstantiated social and political pressures in their decision making,” Tomei said.
MUCC filed their lawsuit against the NRC last year.
“This is about a cornerstone issue for our organization, and that our biological game management decisions should be separated to the greatest extent possible from social and political pressures — and they should instead be focused on science, on what’s best for the resource and what’s best for outdoor heritage,” Tomei said.
Tomei says that the ruling was expected and that he will continue to ask the commission to overturn their previous decision.
MUCC could appeal the decision and trigger another review of the policy, but Tomei says they would still push for a new vote from the commission.