Michigan hunters will have an easier time donating their game to the hungry if a recently passed House bill becomes law.
The bill, introduced by Rep. Sal Rocca, R-Sterling Heights, would create a statewide program to collect meat contributions or a voluntary $1 donation each time hunters apply for a hunting or fishing license.
"There are a lot of people who are in need," Rocca said, adding that he enjoys hunting. "Had there been a system in place, that would certainly be something that I would have done - I would have taken the game to a local soup kitchen."
Rocca said there is interest in the program.
"What this bill seeks is to make it easier to establish a statewide system," Rocca said. "There's a group out there that already does this on a volunteer basis."
The volunteer group, called the Michigan Sportsmen Against Hunger, takes game donations and has them processed into useable forms of meat, Vice President Neal Easterbrook said.
Easterbrook said most hunters who donate don't want to pay for the $50-60 processing fee. Under Rocca's bill, hunters wouldn't have to, he said.
"There won't be any money out of a sportsman's pocket," Easterbrook said.
He said the group deals with about 50,000 pounds of game a year and uses all volunteer effort.
"Our only limitation to letting that go further is money," Easterbrook said. "We want the DNR to contract this out to us."
Under the bill, the program would be administered by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, but they have the option to contract out the work to a nonprofit organization.
The bill passed unanimously in the House. In the Senate, however, the bill was not taken up by the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs on Tuesday and will die.
The two-year session is scheduled to end today, and bills do not carry over into the new term. It can be reintroduced when the new session begins in January.
The DNR has some concerns about the bill, Legislative Liaison Rodney Stokes said.
"This is requiring us to get this program up and administer this program," he said. "If you kill a deer or any other animal, we have to set up a place for you to drop it off, which we currently don't have. It has to be refrigerated."
There are about 860,000 licensed hunters in Michigan, however, not all are residents of the state, Stokes said.
"It's our opinion that it's hard to be against a program to help feed people in need," he said. "We just feel this is a role for a different nonprofit organization to take."
No matter who organizes the program, meat products are needed and appreciated, said Beth Hinshaw, the development director for the Food Bank Council of Michigan. The council helps stock the state's regional food banks.
"Wild game is actually very helpful to our food bank because it gives us one of the things we often lack, which is protein," she said. "Protein products are always one of the most expensive things to buy and they're donated very rarely."
