In a victory for the people and wildlife of Michigan, all 83 counties in the Wolverine State rejected a proposal in the recent elections that would have opened the first target shooting season on the mourning dove—the state's official bird of peace—which has been a protected species since 1905.

Sixty-nine percent of Michigan voters said "no" to shooting doves, with the campaign receiving more votes than any statewide candidate.  The "no" votes exceeded the "yes" votes by more than 1.3 million. 

The crushing win at the polls culminated a two-year grassroots campaign by The Committee to Keep Doves Protected, a coalition of Michigan humane, conservation, farming and faith-based groups, including The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), which represents more than 300,000 Michigan members.

This campaign became necessary when extremely well-funded, out-of-state hunting groups like the National Rifle Association, the U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance, and the Safari Club International aimed a powerful lobbying blitz at the state legislature. These outside special interests were seeking to overturn a 100-year-long Michigan tradition of protecting doves.

In 1998, the people of Michigan reaffirmed the special place these beautiful and gentle birds hold in their esteem when the legislature honored the mourning dove as "Michigan's State Bird of Peace."

But in 2004, under heavy pressure from these out of state lobbyists, the legislature passed—and Governor Jennifer Granholm signed, after first promising to veto it—a bill reclassifying mourning doves from song birds to game birds. In the fall of 2004, an estimated 3,000 hunters killed more than 28,000 doves.

In response, The Committee to Keep Doves Protected launched a signature drive to return mourning doves to their former protected status. Volunteers collected 275,000 signatures, 73 percent more than the 159,000 needed to place a statewide measure on the ballot to give Michigan voters the final say on the issue. Their efforts bore fruit as the people of Michigan decisively and emphatically told the politicians, the lobbyists, and the out-of-state special interest groups to keep their hands off of Michigan's mourning doves.

The HSUS worked with local organizations like the Michigan Humane Society, the Michigan Audubon Society, and the Michigan State Grange to carry this campaign to victory.

"The question of whether to hunt doves in Michigan, which has been a policy debate for years, has been settled once and for all," said Mike Markarian, executive vice president of the HSUS.

"It was a long, tough campaign, but the faith and determination of Michigan volunteers and advocates carried the day. In the final analysis, though, it is the people of Michigan who really deserve the credit. They saw through the propaganda from the out of state supporters of the dove hunt, and they spoke up on Election Day for wildlife, and for the century-long Michigan tradition of caring for doves."

Kudos to everyone in Michigan who stood up for their Bird of Peace.

And what have you done in your home state lately to help protect your wildlife?

We all can make a difference in this world, if only we choose to do so.