FROM THE PRESIDENT when that fails , take the case to court or try to buy an election .
hope you enjoy this month ’ s look into the playbook of
I the anti-hunting movement . Over the past four decades , the Sportsmen ’ s Alliance has fought hard against these tactics . During that time , trends have emerged that indicate where the next attack will come .
In the Maine bear campaign of 2013-14 , for example , the Humane Society of the United States hoped to capitalize on their 2012 victory to ban bear hunting with dogs in California . They turned their sights to the east coast . Maine stands out as a major hunting destination , but southern Maine has slowly become a de facto suburb of Boston – and HSUS thought they could exploit the influx of people from Massachusetts to steal hunting rights from all Mainers .
First they tried to pass a bill to ban bear hunting . Fortunately , the legislature saw through the emotional rhetoric and sided with science . Following their game plan , HSUS turned their attention to the public ; launching a public-relations campaign followed by a petition drive to place the issue before voters .
After spending nearly $ 3 million to ban bear hunting , it became clear that HSUS would not win . So they filed a lawsuit to try to force our campaign ’ s television advertisements off the air .
This is straight from their playbook : try to convince unsuspecting legislators to pass their radical agenda , and
MESSAGE
FROM THE PRESIDENT when that fails , take the case to court or try to buy an election .
The ground-work for the next round of battles is being laid out West right now . These organizations are in the early stages of pushing a PR campaign on mountain lions – hoping to capitalize on the “ Cecil ” the lion fervor – and have released a propaganda-filled “ report ” identifying five states in their sights .
They ’ re probing state wildlife agencies with Freedom of Information Requests looking for weak spots . Next , I bet they ’ ll take this campaign to Western state legislatures , the courts and eventually the ballot box . After all , that ’ s their game plan .
Evan Heusinkveld | President and CEO
May | 2016 SPORTSMEN ’ S MONTHLY
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