STATEMENT OF HON. BILL BREWSTER, A U.S. 

 REPRESENTATIVE FROM OKLAHOMA 



Mr. Brewster. Mr. Chairman, I had an appointment at 11:00 

 waiting in my office that I was hoping to get back for. What I 

 would Uke to do is turn in my statement. I would like to make just 

 a couple or three very quick comments, if I could. 



I appreciate you and my friend from California, Mr. Miller, for 

 having this hearing. One thing that I would like to point out to my 

 friend from California is that there are speed limit signs on the 

 highway. So, if you are speeding, you certainly know what the 

 speed limit is. The main problem that I see with the baiting law 

 is the inability to determine if you are breaking the law. Mr. Mil- 

 ler, I know you are a bird hunter and get invited places to hunt 

 from time to time just as I. If you go to the Berry Patch in Califor- 

 nia, you have no way of knowing if the owner of that property has 

 put something out on that place or if they have not or any other 

 place that you might attend, and that is where the problem lies. 



I think what we have to do is make fines very severe for those 

 who intentionally break the law. It is not the lack of knowledge of 

 the law. I think most everybody knows that it is illegal to bait mi- 

 gratory waterfowl or doves for that matter. However, the inability 

 to determine whether the place is baited and the conciseness of the 

 law becomes a problem. My place in Oklahoma, I have a deer feed- 

 er set up that I feed year-round on one end of the place. I dove 

 hunt on the other end of the place a mile away. It is all under one 

 fence. Am I in violation of the law? Is it my fault if a dove stops 

 at the feeder a mile away where the deer feeder is and then comes 

 onto an area where I may be hunting by a pond? Under the strict 

 definition of the law, I guess I am probably baiting. 



So, what we need to do is clarify it so someone who accidentally 

 hunts on my place would not be punished if I broke the law. The 

 landowner should be punished severely, but not someone who inad- 

 vertently, with no intent, ends up in a trap situation. 



I would hope that we could clear the definition up and clarify it 

 to the point that anyone could understand and could consult with 

 a landowner, ask if a place has been baited. If the landowner says 

 no, then, you could look at it and determine if that is the case, the 

 proximity ratio or some kind of mechanism where you can deter- 

 mine so that you do not have 80 or 90 innocent people who are 

 caught in this type deal. 



A few years ago, there was a similar happening in Oklahoma. 

 The editor of our major newspaper was caught in the deal, with 

 certainly no intent to be out on a baited field. Our governor hap- 

 pened to be there. Our governor had a medical condition, went to 

 sleep and never loaded his gun. Consequently, he was not ticketed. 

 But you had many people who were ticketed who had no knowledge 

 or intent of being on anyplace that was baited. And so, I think we 

 need to clarify the law to make sure that we truly penalize those 

 who do break it with intent, but someone who is out there as an 

 innocent victim is quite different than intentionally speeding when 

 you know what the speed limit is. 



So, I would urge the Committee to look forward to working with 

 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to come up with a concise definition 



