INDIANAPOLIS — What many Hoosiers have called a “death sentence” on Indiana’s bobcats, raccoons, coyotes and opossums has been stayed.

Before the state’s Natural Resources Commission could vote on proposed rules at its Tuesday morning meeting, Department of Natural Resources Director Cameron Clark withdrew two proposals: the first that would create a bobcat hunting season and the second that would require animal control workers to euthanize all raccoons, coyotes and opossums they capture.

These motions — passed unanimously by the nine of 12 commission members present — were met with great applause from the nearly 100 people attending the meeting at Fort Harrison State Park.

“As we all know, that is a rather sensitive topic to a number of people and we have heard from you and appreciate the interest and always appreciate people getting involved in the process,” Clark said at the meeting of his motion to withdraw the rule on bobcat hunting. “We feel we need to work more with our constituencies on sensitive issues like this.”

The DNR and NRC, an autonomous board that addresses issues pertaining to the natural resources agency, heard from more than 200 people at public hearings and received nearly 3,000 public comments on the then-proposals during the months-long input process — the majority in opposition. A petition on Change.org in opposition to the nuisance wildlife rule also had more than 150,000 signatures.

The hearing officer overseeing the rule process released last week her recommendations that the Commission adopt the proposed new rules and amendments with the exception of the two contentious proposals.

In her report, NRC administrative Law Judge Sandra Jensen wrote that DNR’s response to the public comment on these proposals “is minimal and does not fully address the concerns expressed by the public.”

“With respect to these administrative rule proposals,” she continued, “the Hearing Officer recommends additional enlightened discussion and thorough consideration by the Commission.”

Clark has promised that for future rule processes, committing to the NRC and those citizens in attendance at the meeting that the DNR will engage with the public earlier in the process if they choose to propose a bobcat hunting season in the future. DNR spokeswoman Tara Wolf could not say whether the agency had any plans to suggest such a season in the future.

At Jensen’s recommendation, the Commission voted to adopt the remainder of the rule package — which included some rules that would add certain animals to Indiana’s endangered species list as well as or allow the hunting of squirrels from the water.

Many of the organizations and folks in the crowd who have vocally opposed the proposals — including the Indiana Wildlife Federation, the Humane Society of the United States, the Hoosiers Environmental Council and the Sierra Club’s Hoosier chapter — said they were encouraged at the meeting’s events.

“Clearly the thousands of comments that came in made quite a difference in this case,” said Erin Huang, Indiana state director of the U.S. Humane Society. “They know that we’re all paying attention and that we’re listening and that we care about these wildlife issues and there are thousands of non-consumptive users that want to see our wildlife protected.”

Source: IndyStar