Grannis responds
02-26-2007, 08:24 AM
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Typical Buck
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Grannis responds
ALBANY - Pegged as a liberal Upper East Side lawyer who wouldn't know a trap if it caught him by the ankle, Assemblyman Alexander "Pete" Grannis says he would like to disabuse hunters, fishermen, and trappers of the notion that he's averse to the sportsman's life.
"I grew up with guns," Mr. Grannis told The New York Sun. "I used to hunt with my father and brothers."
Last month, Governor Spitzer nominated Mr. Grannis to be commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation, a state agency that administers fish and wildlife laws, among other responsibilities such as promoting recycling and managing oil spills.
Mr. Spitzer's choice of Mr. Grannis, who has represented the Upper East Side in the Assembly for 32 years, provoked an immediate outcry among some outdoors enthusiasts and New York gun rights groups who fear the lawmaker would use his position at the department to promote an anti-hunting and anti-trapping agenda that would cripple the industries.
The groups are waging a grassroots campaign against Mr. Grannis, collecting thousands of signatures for a protest petition and writing and phoning the Republican-controlled Senate to urge the body to block the confirmation. With relations between Republicans and the governor frayed by Mr. Spitzer's efforts to win Democratic control of the Senate, the conference is split over whether to approve the nomination, according to lawmakers.
In a telephone interview yesterday, Mr. Grannis, who said he received an e-mail from one critic calling him "the devil," said he is not a threat to sportsmen but was an active hunter throughout his childhood and early adulthood.
Growing up in the Midwest, he often joined his father and two brothers on hunting expeditions in the rural parts of Michigan's lower peninsula where they shot quail, ducks, and pheasants, he said. He killed those animals with a shotgun and bagged deer with a bow and arrow. "We ate what we shot," Mr. Grannis said.
He said he hunted in Eastern Maryland during his law school days and gave up the hobby 10 years after graduating because of a lack of time. In a letter he wrote last week to the New York State Conservation Council in response to a query made by the group, Mr. Grannis said he still enjoys "getting out on a river with my fly rod as often as possible."
"I'm certainly not anti-hunting," Mr. Grannis told the Sun. "I've never been anti-hunting."
Mr. Grannis is less enthusiastic about trapping. He said he never practiced it and expressed concern about the usage of steel leg-hold traps, which catch animals by their feet.
"He doesn't know anything about trapping," said Rich Davenport, a Buffalo-based hunter, fisher, and trapper who started an online petition opposing the nomination that has collected more than 3,500 signatures in three weeks. "It's kind of scary to have a guy like that in charge of the DEC."
Mr. Davenport accused Mr. Grannis of sponsoring legislation that would drive away hunters and trappers in the state, citing one bill that would extend the coverage of the felony animal cruelty law to cover wildlife and another bill that would allow counties to restrict or ban trapping within their borders.
He said Mr. Grannis could cause problems for outdoor sportsmen by releasing the department's database of hunting and fishing licenses to the public and by seeking to increase license fees. He also warned that Mr. Grannis would deplete the revenue that flows to the New York State Conservation Fund, which supports the management and protection of fish and game resources, by driving away hunters and anglers whose fees help raise money for the fund. And he said he feared Mr. Grannis would ignore problems caused by the migration of bears from New Jersey to the southern tier of New York.
Mr. Grannis says he sponsored the trapping bill because he's received complaints from New Yorkers about their pets caught in traps. He also argued that county-level decisions are a better reflection of the local sentiment toward trapping. He said his bill banning wildlife torture wouldn't affect hunters but is intended to stop "depravities" such as setting squirrels on fire.
Mr. Grannis, who has sponsored several bills that would tighten gun possession regulations, said, "I'm not opposed to guns," saying the "department has nothing to do with gun regulation."
Senate Republicans interviewed said they had concerns about Mr. Grannis's record on hunting, trapping, and gun control issues but said the conference has not made a decision on the confirmation.
"This guy is anti-guns, anti-everything," said Martin Golden, a Republican senator from Brooklyn. "Could it stop his approval? Yes. Will it? I don't know."
Mr. Grannis said the Senate has an "obligation to review my nomination" and suggested that Republicans were stonewalling for political reasons. "What they are focusing on is stuff beyond my qualifications," saying Republican opposition to his confirmation may have to do "with this continuing feud between the governor and the Legislature."
He said if the Senate delays, he would consider resigning his Assembly seat and assuming the role of acting commissioner of the department.
"I grew up with guns," Mr. Grannis told The New York Sun. "I used to hunt with my father and brothers."
Last month, Governor Spitzer nominated Mr. Grannis to be commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation, a state agency that administers fish and wildlife laws, among other responsibilities such as promoting recycling and managing oil spills.
Mr. Spitzer's choice of Mr. Grannis, who has represented the Upper East Side in the Assembly for 32 years, provoked an immediate outcry among some outdoors enthusiasts and New York gun rights groups who fear the lawmaker would use his position at the department to promote an anti-hunting and anti-trapping agenda that would cripple the industries.
The groups are waging a grassroots campaign against Mr. Grannis, collecting thousands of signatures for a protest petition and writing and phoning the Republican-controlled Senate to urge the body to block the confirmation. With relations between Republicans and the governor frayed by Mr. Spitzer's efforts to win Democratic control of the Senate, the conference is split over whether to approve the nomination, according to lawmakers.
In a telephone interview yesterday, Mr. Grannis, who said he received an e-mail from one critic calling him "the devil," said he is not a threat to sportsmen but was an active hunter throughout his childhood and early adulthood.
Growing up in the Midwest, he often joined his father and two brothers on hunting expeditions in the rural parts of Michigan's lower peninsula where they shot quail, ducks, and pheasants, he said. He killed those animals with a shotgun and bagged deer with a bow and arrow. "We ate what we shot," Mr. Grannis said.
He said he hunted in Eastern Maryland during his law school days and gave up the hobby 10 years after graduating because of a lack of time. In a letter he wrote last week to the New York State Conservation Council in response to a query made by the group, Mr. Grannis said he still enjoys "getting out on a river with my fly rod as often as possible."
"I'm certainly not anti-hunting," Mr. Grannis told the Sun. "I've never been anti-hunting."
Mr. Grannis is less enthusiastic about trapping. He said he never practiced it and expressed concern about the usage of steel leg-hold traps, which catch animals by their feet.
"He doesn't know anything about trapping," said Rich Davenport, a Buffalo-based hunter, fisher, and trapper who started an online petition opposing the nomination that has collected more than 3,500 signatures in three weeks. "It's kind of scary to have a guy like that in charge of the DEC."
Mr. Davenport accused Mr. Grannis of sponsoring legislation that would drive away hunters and trappers in the state, citing one bill that would extend the coverage of the felony animal cruelty law to cover wildlife and another bill that would allow counties to restrict or ban trapping within their borders.
He said Mr. Grannis could cause problems for outdoor sportsmen by releasing the department's database of hunting and fishing licenses to the public and by seeking to increase license fees. He also warned that Mr. Grannis would deplete the revenue that flows to the New York State Conservation Fund, which supports the management and protection of fish and game resources, by driving away hunters and anglers whose fees help raise money for the fund. And he said he feared Mr. Grannis would ignore problems caused by the migration of bears from New Jersey to the southern tier of New York.
Mr. Grannis says he sponsored the trapping bill because he's received complaints from New Yorkers about their pets caught in traps. He also argued that county-level decisions are a better reflection of the local sentiment toward trapping. He said his bill banning wildlife torture wouldn't affect hunters but is intended to stop "depravities" such as setting squirrels on fire.
Mr. Grannis, who has sponsored several bills that would tighten gun possession regulations, said, "I'm not opposed to guns," saying the "department has nothing to do with gun regulation."
Senate Republicans interviewed said they had concerns about Mr. Grannis's record on hunting, trapping, and gun control issues but said the conference has not made a decision on the confirmation.
"This guy is anti-guns, anti-everything," said Martin Golden, a Republican senator from Brooklyn. "Could it stop his approval? Yes. Will it? I don't know."
Mr. Grannis said the Senate has an "obligation to review my nomination" and suggested that Republicans were stonewalling for political reasons. "What they are focusing on is stuff beyond my qualifications," saying Republican opposition to his confirmation may have to do "with this continuing feud between the governor and the Legislature."
He said if the Senate delays, he would consider resigning his Assembly seat and assuming the role of acting commissioner of the department.
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