Our Cats are in Trouble
Throughout this unit, our class on Policy has dealt with the structure and history of the Legislative branch and examples of good and bad policies the country has decided on over its many decades. During our time we traveled to a memorial and had a kind of cross over with another one of our core classes Urban Planning, thinking about the significance of design when it comes to commemorating import pasrt of the past that aren´t to be forgotten. The task assigned though, challenged us in a different way. We were to find a bill that hasn´t made official law yet specific to Illinois that caught our interest and then write up a script for a voicemail to leave for a person in the position to vote on the bill.
The topic I had chosen for my voicemail was the banning of hunting and trapping of bobcats in Illinois. Our representative who has the position to vote on this bill is Lakesia Collins, our State Representative of Illinois. Her office number if I was to ever call up her office to address this issue is 217-782-8116.
Hello, this is DN calling as a student from GCE Lab School in Chicago,
Did you know that the state of Illinois has quite a considerable bobcat population? I am calling to address House Bill 1827 which was introduced to help ban the hunting and trapping of bobcats in the state of Illinois. Bobcats play an important role in keeping Illinois’ ecosystems in balance, and although their species has made a good recovery over the years from its almost complete extinction in the late 1990s, I believe it would be more beneficial to stop the purposeful killing of bobcats altogether. I have done some personal research on the status of bobcats in the state and have found that nearly 1,700 have been killed since 2016, an estimated 5,000 are left as of this year. If this trend continues, it might be not only damaging to farmland but the building of important ecosystems.
While their numbers are seemingly fine now, these animals are mostly hunted for sport or their pelts. This means they aren’t hunted for meat, bobcats are already protected by the Pittman Robertson Act of 1937 and a few others but habitats and numbers are nonetheless going down. The season ended with a total of 290 gathered.
It’s only been since 1999 when they were considered an endangered species. I may not have much authority in such an issue but I am sharing the view of a concerned citizen and someone who plans to do their work to protect the natural world as the next generation of scientists steps forward. I’ve been infatuated with nature and the earth for as long as I can remember and as I’m starting to become someone who can make more of an impact as I grow older it’s becoming more clear what issues are most important over all others. Bobcats are predators but are rarely considered to be aggressive. They are very shy, reclusive animals, and attacks on humans are very unlikely unless the cat is directly antagonized. They can be very affectionate and are no larger than the size of a big house cat.
The law is set so you can only kill one per year but if permits keep being signed by the hundreds each year that will only mean more and more deaths. Simply because the bobcat population is classified as least concerned by the IUCN should not necessarily mean that the hunting of these animals should be legal.
These animals do not only hold the job of keeping our Illinois forests in balance but also have the timidest nature you will ever find from a predatory cat. Their numbers are dropping and are gradually being put into more and more danger. I am asking for your support as a constituent of Illinois to support this bill and its efforts to prevent the killing and trapping of our bobcats.
Thank you for your time, goodbye.
A recording of my voicemail:
While researching our bill we had to identify stakeholders who had something to gain or lose as a result of this bill passing. The five groups or organizations I thought of/ found are listed below:
This project overall was very slow moving for me, it took really long finding a topic that I was interested in and even longer to track down all the information. By the end of the project I had grown very tired and that just meant it would take longer to write everything out. This opportunity was one that really stood out though. While I didn´t take advantage, we had the option of actually calling the office of these officials to see if we could talk to them. It was very interesting learning about another bit of our wildlife that we have in the state, I hope I hear some positive news for this bill in the near future.
Sources:
Board, CST Editorial. “End Bobcat Hunting in Illinois.” Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Sun-Times, 3 Apr. 2022, https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache%3AIfecCydYRJYJ%3Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fchicago.suntimes.com%2F2022%2F4%2F4%2F23006405%2Fend-bobcat-hunting-in-illinois-humane-society-editorial%2B&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us.
“Bobcat Hunting and Trapping.” State of Illinois Main Site, https://www2.illinois.gov/dnr/trapping/Pages/Bobcat-Hunting-and-Trapping.aspx.
“Illinois Bobcat Season Concludes with 290 Harvested.” State of Illinois Main Site, https://www2.illinois.gov/dnr/news/Pages/Illinois-bobcat-season-concludes-with-290-harvested-.aspx.
“Illinois HB1827: 2021-2022: 102nd General Assembly.” LegiScan, https://legiscan.com/IL/bill/HB1827/2021.
Comments
Post a Comment