Minutes 09-20-2011 - Laserfiche WebLink

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the progress the county has made —and hope you will continue to work with us to secure an outright ban in Orange County. Here's some background. o The dog hunting line is 70 years old. In the 1940s, the legislature drew the dog deer hunting line. (handout) Areas west of the line are controlled by the Wildlife Resource Commission. Areas east of the line are controlled by the legislature. The WRC banned dog deer hunting in the areas under its control. o The line ran along I-85 and initially cut Orange, Durham an Alamance in half. In the 1979, Alamance County secured a countywide ban; Durham did the same in 2001. Chatham and most of Wake County was always west of the line. o When the line was drawn in the 1940s, the county population was somewhere between 30- 40,000 residents— now it's four times that. Your action in 2010 was the first time that we know of where Orange County attempted to secure a ban. If you recall, staff inet several times with the public and there was much public comment to the board. People said that o Hunters illegally shoot from the road o Dogs trespass and disturb people and livestock o Guns are fired onto private property and several residents complained about damage to property and livestock. You decided that northern Orange County is now too densely populated to safely allow dog deer hunting and sought a ban as part of your legislative agenda. Despite Senator Kinnaird's efforts, the county was not successful. We were unprepared for the dog hunting lobby. • Over 85% of North Carolina's population lives west of the line — so most of our legislators don't understand dog deer hunting. • There's a strong and well organized lobby— led by Joe McCleese —that's protecting dog hunting rights in North Carolina and keeping our legislators in the dark. o Citizen comment at the legislature will be needed to counter the influence of the lobbyists. We're ready Special thanks to Commissioner Foushee who has been instrumental in getting us this far. And to Sheriff Pendergrass and his team for stepping up their efforts to curtail loitering, firearm and other laws that the dog hunters are violating. Things are better. Thanks also to Senator Kinnaird for bringing a local bill to the senate. We're disappointed that Representative Faison has not taken action in support of the county's wishes. So tonight—in addition to pursuing the county's educational proposal, please vote to continue to pursue an outright ban on dog deer hunting in Orange County as part of your legislative agenda." Senate Bill 35 "Orange County: No Deer Hunting with Dogs" Orange County is seeking a countywide ban on hunting deer with dogs. Legislative action in the 1940's, banned dog deer hunting in the southern half of Orange County. The legislature extended the ban for all of Alamance County (1979) and all of Durham County (2001). Orange County now wants to extend the ban to the northern section of its