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statement of Randy l_ Vogel 



Chairman Young and members of the committee. Thank you for the opportunity to 

 comment on the federal hunting regulations regarding baiting. It is my understanding that these 

 regulations date bacic to the 1930's when the dumping of large quantities of com in marshes and 

 backwater lakes resulted in a terrible overharvest of waterfowl. Today, however this regulation 

 is being interpreted to cover a wide variety of management practices and the original intent 

 appears to have been lost. Worse yet, the interpretations appear to be constantly changing. 



Moist soil management for waterfowl is a practice which over the past several years has 

 been strongly encouraged by State and Federal waterfowl biologists and managers alike. Last 

 year here in Illinois, the Fish and Wildlife Service even sponsored and held workshops to teach 

 private land managers (primarily duck clubs) how to use moist soil management on their 

 property and offered a grant program to assist in utilizing the practice. I will not take the time to 

 extoll the virtues of moist soil management as there appears to be unanimity of opinion regarding 

 it's value. Unfortunately at the same time this promotional effort is taking place, sites employing 

 this practice are being shut down and hunters arrested for mowing the vegetation in front of their 

 duck blinds to facilitate hunting even when the practice does not result in waterfowl being more 

 susceptible to the gun or in increased harvests. 



This regulation is written, as many are, in very broad terms to allow for a wide range of 

 circumstances. What has happened, however, is that literal interpretations of the verbiage are 

 now being made with no consideration as to the original intent of the regulation. I personally 

 have suffered the consequences of such an interpretation. On October 27, 1994, on opening day 

 of the waterfowl season 9 people including myself were arrested for hunting in an area where 

 openings had been mowed in front of the duck blinds These openings, which constituted far less 

 than one percent of the total area were mowed in late August and early September while the 



