LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) — Michigan’s pause on spring and summer coyote hunting will stand, after a state judge ruled that regulators acted within the law—and on sound science—when they moved to protect coyotes during pup-rearing season.
In a June 3 opinion, Judge Morgan E. Cole of Ingham County Circuit Court upheld the 2024 decision by the Michigan Natural Resources Commission (NRC) to ban coyote hunting from mid-April to mid-July. The decision followed extensive public comment and a 3,000-page administrative record, according to The Detroit News.
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“The NRC did not violate the Michigan Constitution or any statute,” Cole wrote.
The ruling dealt a blow to Michigan United Conservation Clubs (MUCC) and the Michigan Trappers and Predator Callers Association, which had sued separately but were later combined into one case. Both groups alleged the NRC bowed to social pressure and failed to follow Proposal G, a 1996 measure that requires game decisions be based on science.
Justin Tomei, MUCC’s policy director, said his group still believes the commission misstepped.
“The public record was clear,” Tomei said. “the principles of sound scientific management were not adhered to.”
On the other side, conservation and animal welfare groups applauded the court’s decision.
“We’re not trying to end hunting completely or anything close to that,” Mitchell Nelson, state director for Humane World for Animals, said. “What we’re trying to do is just have policies that are reasonable and sensible and in the best interest of conservation as well as our communities.”
Tomei said MUCC has not yet decided whether to appeal.