I wrote the Step Up or Shut Up post a few days back and I am proud to announce that I made my first effort to make the general idea in that post a reality.

A few weeks back I wrote a post about Clinton Township here in Michigan and how the DNR overrode a decision by the township to ban bowhunting on private land within the township.  I considered this a victory for the good guys until I found out recently that the township decided to take another step towards their ultimate goal of banning bowhunting entirely by banning bowhunting in the township’s public parks.

To be honest the old Arthur would have just sat back and said “I don’t live in Clinton Township so no big deal”.  Not this time.  I did a little research and read quite a few articles from the Detroit Free Press as well as from a few other sources and it finally made the light bulb come on.

Then I found the Clinton Township site on the web and decided I would write a well articulated email, via their website, to the township supervisor.  Mr. Bob Cannon is the supervisor and this is the email that I sent to him today to voice my displeasure of their bowhunting ban:

Dear Mr Cannon,

I just wanted to voice my displeasure about your recent decision to ban bowhunting in your township parks.  I am extremely disappointed that you and the township would go against the DNR’s decision to not prevent bowhunting in your area, and go against the facts, or lack thereof, and still decide to ban bowhunting, thus preventing citizens from being able to participate in a ritual that they love and that has continued for years.

Bowhunting is not a dangerous sport and does not pose any sort of threat to anyone in the township.  This point is backed up by the simple fact that there have been no reported bowhunting accidents or incidents in the last ten years.  It is also backed up by the fact that there were not many citizens in attendance to voice their displeasure in township meetings.

I hope that you and the members of your council will reconsider their decision to ban bowhunting in the township parks and let your citizens continue to participate in a safe, respectable tradition.

Sincerely,

Arthur Summer

http://www.simplyoutdoors.net

I tried to keep the email short and to the point while also backing my points with a few facts.  I know it seems like such a small thing for one person to send an email, but for me it at least makes me feel like I did something.  It only takes one voice to start the ball rolling and hopefully my email will at least make them stop for a second and think.  I can’t wait to see what kind of response I get.

I encourage all of you to not sit back any longer, and even if you do something as simple as write a letter, at least you are doing something.  So many of people sit back and let everything crumble around them without making their feelings and opinions known and for me those days are over.

I will let everyone know if and when I get a response.  Hopefully Mr. Cannon does send a reply. If any of you are interested in contacting Mr. Cannon about this issue you can do so here.

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