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April 13, 2006
Volume 4, Issue 14
State Caucus Update
Maryland Sportsmen’s Caucus Posts Another Stellar Session
Kentucky Legislators Close Session With Wins for Sportsmen
Georgia Assembly Ends Session with Passage of Positive Boating and Hunting Laws
Louisiana Legislators Pass Hunting Law Changes and Recognize Hunter Charity Programs
Florida’s No Net Loss Bill Amended to Protect Parks Before House Vote
Connecticut Senate Overwhelmingly Passes Sunday Hunting Expansion
Iowa Governor Signs Sportsmen’s Bills into Law
Texas Caucus Hosts Successful Spring Meeting
Beyond the Caucuses
Arizona Protects Hunters from Harassment with New Law
New Jersey Enacts Internet Hunting Ban
Sportsmen’s Excise Taxes Deliver More Than $523 Million to State Fish & Wildlife Agencies
Maryland Sportsmen’s Caucus Posts Another Stellar Session
Maryland’s hunters and anglers had many reasons to celebrate at the close of the Maryland General Assembly’s legislative session thanks to the work of the Maryland Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus and Maryland Legislative Sportsmen’s Foundation. The Caucus and Foundation took advantage of several opportunities to be proactive, but also found themselves once again facing attacks from their backyard neighbor, the Humane Society of the United States.
Caucus Co-Chair and NASC Executive Council President Senator John Astle (D-Annapolis) led the charge to pass S.521 to ban internet hunting. The measure overwhelmingly passed and was quickly signed into law by Governor Robert Ehrlich, who was a member of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus during his tenure in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Members of the Sportsmen’s Caucus were called to intervene this year when Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources announced that two rivers would be open for commercial fishing of yellow perch in the fall. The state recreational fishing community loudly voiced its opposition and sought help from the Caucus in reconciling the matter. Sportsmen lawmakers prevailed in securing language in the state’s 2007 budget that requires the DNR to work with specific organizations – commercial and recreational interests – on enhancing the method of managing tidal fisheries. In the meantime, the plan to open commercial fishing on the two rivers has been put on hold. For more information about the accomplishments of the Maryland Caucus, click here.
Kentucky Legislators Close Session With Wins for Sportsmen
The Kentucky Legislature adjourned yesterday with several pro-sportsmen’s bills supported by the Kentucky Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus headed to Governor Ernie Fletcher, a former Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus member. Among those victories is NASC model legislation to ban internet hunting, H 289, introduced by Caucus Co-Chair Representative Robin Webb (D-Grayson). The Kentucky version includes a provision to protect technology that gives handicapped hunters opportunities to get out in the field to enjoy the sport. The Governor has indicated he will sign the legislation. “Internet hunting is unsportsmanlike and sportsmen around the country have condemned it as violating the fair chase ethic we value so much,” commented Rep. Webb.
Tuesday, the Governor received S.120, introduced by Caucus Co-Chair Senator Robert Stivers (R-Manchester), to ensure that the Game and Fish fund will not be transferred in a budget bill to the general fund. This effort to defend dedicated funding for fish and wildlife programs will protect sportsmen’s dollars when legislators may be tempted to raid the fund in future budget crunches. To read more about the highly successful session in Kentucky, click here.
Georgia Assembly Ends Session with Passage of Positive Boating and Hunting Laws
The Georgia General Assembly considered a variety of pro-sportsmen issues during the recently closed legislative session. The Georgia Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus sent Governor Sonny Perdue H 338 to outlaw remote hunting via the internet. The bill was introduced by Representative Pete Warren (D-Augusta) to allow the use of scopes when hunting with muzzleloaders during primitive weapon season. However, the ban on internet hunting and a provision to restrict the importation of deer and elk from states with confirmed cases of Chronic Wasting Disease were amended to the legislation before passage.
The General Assembly also passed H 1490 which was drafted with the support of the Department of Natural Resources. The measure eases boating restrictions on state park lakes and strengthens boat registration requirements in an effort to reduce boat theft.
Later this year, Georgia sportsmen will vote on a state constitutional amendment to “provide that the tradition of fishing and hunting and the taking of fish and wildlife shall be preserved for the people and shall be managed by law and regulation for the public good.” The language passed the General Assembly last year in SR67 and will be sent to the voters this November.
Louisiana Legislators Pass Hunting Law Changes and Recognize Hunter Charity Programs
In the Sportsmen’s Paradise, lawmakers in the House of Representatives have passed legislation from Caucus Co-Chair Representative Bryant Hammett (D-Ferriday) to make internet hunting illegal. They also passed HB 824 from Representative Mickey Frith (D-Kaplan) to allow seniors and those with disabilities to use crossbows or bows that are drawn, held, and released by mechanical means. The Caucus also helped send HCR73 to the Governor to commend Louisiana’s “many hunters, sportsmen's associations, meat processors, and hunger relief organizations for their cooperative efforts to help feed those in need through the many Hunters for the Hungry and Project Venison programs across the state.”
Florida’s No Net Loss Bill Amended to Protect Parks Before House Vote
In preparation for an anticipated vote on the House floor, Florida’s HB 265, a “no net loss” of hunting lands protection, was amended on Tuesday to keep state parks from being considered in the annual survey of acreage open to hunting that would be required under the bill. Hunting is not allowed in state parks, but without the protection amendment, the bill faced opposition. The Senate is expected to take up their version, S.430, next week.
Connecticut Senate Overwhelmingly Passes Sunday Hunting Expansion
On Tuesday, the Connecticut Senate passed S.605 to allow limited Sunday hunting by a vote of 27-8. The measure will allow the Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner to designate bow hunting on Sundays on private property. The DEP has been supportive of efforts to open Sunday hunting in the Constitution State.
Iowa Governor Signs Sportsmen’s Bills into Law
Governor Thomas Vilsack signed two bills to expand fishing and hunting opportunities for the elderly and teens. HB 2171 allows residents of elder group homes and assisted living facilities to fish without individual licenses during supervised trips with the group. In a similar fashion, HB 2611 makes it easier to introduce high school students to angling by allowing teenage students taking part in Department of Natural Resources programs to fish without a license as part of a school program.
Texas Caucus Hosts Successful Spring Meeting
This week, the Texas Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus hosted its annual spring meeting with conservationists, hunters and anglers from around the state. More than 80 sportsmen showed up to the Texas Disposal Systems Exotic Game Ranch to meet with a dozen legislators active within the Caucus. The group enjoyed opportunities to hunt pheasant and quail, fish and pull the trigger during rounds of sporting clays and skeet. When it came time to conduct business, NASC gave an overview on the efforts of caucuses around the country and invited Lone Star State leaders to work with the NASC in new ways. Caucus Co-Chair Senator Craig Estes (R-Wichita Falls) delivered a speech on local Caucus efforts to the attendees at a dinner sponsored by the state chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation.
Arizona Protects Hunters from Harassment with New Law
A bill is heading to the governor’s desk in Arizona that will make hunter harassment a crime. Introduced by Representative Jerry Weiers (R-12), who attended the NASC Annual Meeting in 2005, HB 2130 will make it illegal to impede a hunter who is legally trying to take game. Examples of harassment banned include getting in the line of fire, planting bait to lure animals away or planting human scent to drive them away from hunters, and stealing the property of a hunter.
New Jersey Enacts Internet Hunting Ban
On Tuesday, A.764 was signed by the Governor to ban internet hunting in the Garden State. New Jersey becomes the 21 st state to outlaw the practice considered unethical by many in the hunting community.
Sportsmen’s Excise Taxes Deliver More Than $523 Million to State Fish & Wildlife Agencies
Excise taxes paid by the nation’s hunters, shooters, archers, anglers and boaters will provide more than $523 million for state fish and wildlife agencies this year. The funds, collected on hunting and fishing equipment purchased by sportsmen, are distributed to the states for conservation and education programs, including species protection, habitat improvement, hunter/angler access, and hunter safety. Also referred to as the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration and Dingell-Johnson/Wallop-Breaux Sportfish Restoration programs, these sportsmen-supported funding mechanisms have been the foundation for conservation efforts in the country for more than a half century. Since the launch of these programs, anglers and hunters have paid more than $10 billion for state fish and wildlife management.
To see the breakdown of the 2006 Wildlife Restoration distributions, click here.
To see the breakdown of the 2006 Sport Fish Restoration distributions, click here.
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