One vote.
One vote was the difference between reclassifying captive deer as livestock, or leaving them as wildlife under the control of the Missouri Department of Conservation. For a brief moment, the 109 votes needed to override Senate Bill 506 were secured. Then Representative Jeff Roorda, who is running for the State Senate in District 22, changed his voted and secured a huge victory for conservation.
But the one vote margin to stop the override of SB 506 doesn't represent the true legislative sentiment regarding captive deer. And it is in complete opposition to how the vast majority of Missouri citizens and especially conservationists feel about the captive deer debate.
You see, what really happened was a few captive industry champions, led by Senator Brian Munzlinger, and Representatives Casey Guernsey, Jay Houghton and Sandy Crawford, knew the captive deer legislation couldn't pass on its own during the regular legislative session, so they came up with a plan to include the captive cervid language in agriculture omnibus bills (Senate Bill 506 and House Bill 1326) that they thought were too good to fail. They were wrong. The Governor called their hand and vetoed the legislation. This past week the House of Representatives sustained his veto.
In the end, good agriculture bills failed because Munzlinger and Guernsey gambled them away. So now the Dairy Farmers are left without their Revitalization Act, livestock hauling limits remain the same and some scholarships for students were lost because a couple of politicians tried to backdoor bad legislation to support a tiny special interest group that is very willing and able to spread money around. What a shame for the farmers who needed the good agriculture bills to pass.
Thankfully for sportsmen and the millions of Missourians who appreciate wildlife, 52 state representatives were willing to stand against intense lobbyist pressure, and make a very hard decision to vote against overriding the Governor's veto.
Representative Jay Barnes of Jefferson City is one of the most sensible state legislators I've had the pleasure of knowing. And he especially proved it on this issue by conducting himself the way the people who elected him would expect their representative to act. Instead of taking bribes, trading votes or buying into lobbyist lies, he examined the legislation and turned to the Missouri Constitution. In the end, he was one of the republicans who voted to sustain the veto.
Representative Barnes wrote a Jefferson City News-Tribune column that explained his position. He wrote, "First, "wildlife" means those animal species that were wildlife in Missouri in 1936, when the provision was added to the Constitution. Second, "wildlife" is not all that Conservation has exclusive authority to regulate. Conservation's constitutional mandate extends to "game" as well. Many deer-breeders in Missouri run their operations for hunters to shoot deer on their ranches. When a word is not defined in the Constitution or a statute, courts look next to the dictionary for a definition. Merriam-Webster's online dictionary defines "game" as "animals under pursuit or taken in hunting."
Senator Brian Munzlinger disagrees. He doesn't believe captive deer fall under MDC's constitutional authority. But then, Senator Munzlinger is a farmer and Representative Barnes is a constitutional lawyer.
Representatives Chris Kelly of Columbia and T.J. McKenna of Festus were two who stood on the floor and fought to sustain the veto.
McKenna turned to commonsense when he said, "The Department of Conservation and the Department of Agriculture both testified against this bill. I don't know why we as a legislature continue to do what the people that take care of things tell us is not the right thing to do."
Great question. Maybe it had something to do with the checks the Missouri Deer Breeders and Hunting Ranch Association doled out. Representative Nate Walker told me he received an unsolicited check for $500 from them. Although Walker did vote to override the veto, he said it was because of the good agriculture portions of the bill, and he would have voted against the deer legislation had it been a stand-alone bill. If he received $500 without advocating for the captive industry, you have to wonder how much their champions pocketed.
Every conservation minded Missourian, from deer hunters to bird watchers, needs to thank the 52 state representatives who stood up to protect conservation and the wildlife of our state.
Collin O'Mara, the CEO of the National Wildlife Federation said, "This is a victory for wildlife and Missourians. Governor Nixon's veto of legislation that would have transferred regulation of deer farms to the state agriculture department sends a message that the people's wildlife is a benefit to everyone, not for privatization and profit. We hope that this victory provides other states facing the same challenges with a clear path forward based upon sound science and protecting wildlife."
The unfortunate result of this entire situation is any animosity between the agriculture and conservation communities of Missouri. Conservationists know, by and large, agriculture is whom we have to thank for the wildlife of our state. A large percentage of wildlife lives on private agricultural lands. And it is on agricultural lands where most hunting takes place. Conservation appreciates agriculture, as the two more often than not overlap.
The plea of conservationists to the agricultural community is to place blame where it is due. Do not blame the conservation organizations that fought against the captive deer transfer. Remember, the Missouri Department of Agriculture fought the transfer, too. Blame the politicians who took your good bills and knowingly jeopardized them with senseless, special interest legislation.
Be proud Missouri. It was an intense battle full of political maneuvers, but in the end conservation and the masses prevailed. Missouri is recognized as a national leader of conservation, and this win further boosts our status. Take the time to thank the representatives who sustained the veto. They too often only hear from concerned or upset constituents. You need to give thanks when thanks are due.
See you down the trail...
Brandon Butler is an outdoors columnist for the News Tribune. Contact him at [email protected].