Arkansas wants to short stop your ducks

Washington is going to help them.

House bill could protect duck hunting on Arkansas rice fields

By Peter Urban
Stephens Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — Arkansas could decide for itself if duck hunting can occur on rolled rice fields under a bill approved Wednesday by the House.

The House voted, 268 to 154, in favor of legislation to promote hunting and fishing on federal lands that was amended a day earlier to resolve an ongoing dispute between U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Arkansas rice farmers over “baited” fields.

Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Jonesboro, offered the amendment on Tuesday explaining that in 2012 the agency warned rice growers that some of their fields that had been rolled – as farmers often do after harvest – could be off limits to waterfowl hunting.

“That summer’s drought led to an early rice harvest in several parts of the country, and heavy rainfall then caused a rare secondary “ratoon” crop to sprout,” he said. “The Fish and Wildlife Service cautioned that should rice heads emerge in those fields, their guidelines stated that any field work, such as rolling, would make it a baited field where waterfowl hunting would be unlawful.”

Crawford’s amendment, which was approved by a voice vote, would carve out an exemption to the prohibition if such fieldwork were determined to be a normal agricultural practice by state agricultural authorities.

Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Oregon, spoke against the amendment saying it appeared to be “an open license on the Migratory Bird Act.”

In Arkansas, many farmers have longstanding relationships with waterfowl hunters, who lease their fields during duck season. In 2012, some farmers returned waterfowl leases for fear that the duck hunters could be exposed to federal penalties for hunting over baited fields.

“My state-specific amendment protects both farmers and hunters by granting states the power to get past this federal ‘one size fits all’ mentality. It allows farmers to produce our country’s needed food and fiber without having fields banned for hunting, and it allows hunters to hunt without facing fines, or worse,” Crawford said Wednesday.

The overall legislation would open more federal lands to hunting and fishing, expand online sales of duck stamps and allow licensed gun owners to transport weapons on Army Corps of Engineers projects.

Reps. Crawford, Tom Cotton, R-Dardanelle, Tim Griffin, R-Little Rock, and Steve Womack, R-Rogers, voted in favor of the legislation. Crawford said that he hopes the Senate will approve the bill.

Sens. John Boozman, R-Ark., and Mark Pryor, D-Ark., have sponsored legislation seeking the same hunting exemption for rolled rice fields.

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