PrintAnglers, hunters and shooters have reason to celebrate as the sportsmen's caucuses in their states continue to advance their issues and protect our outdoor heritage. The National Assembly of Sportsmen's Caucuses (NASC) continues to arm these caucuses with timely resources and information to assist them in their efforts.
Many state legislatures have adjourned for 2008 with states caucuses passing over 200 sportsmen's bills. That's an impressive 10 percent increase over 2007. But, that's only part of the story. Scores of anti-sportsmen's efforts ranging from animal cruelty legislation and encoded ammunition bills were successfully defeated by the legislative sportsmen's caucuses.
And, for the fourth consecutive year, Safari Club International selected a sportsmen's caucus member for their prestigious State Legislator of the Year award. This year state Senator Joe McPherson of Louisiana received the award.
NASC Network Continues to Grow
Two new state caucuses, Alaska and Kansas, became part of the NASC network of now thirty-five caucuses. The newly formed caucuses set partisan politics aside and worked in a unified manner to inform and work proactively on sportsmen's legislative issues they saw every day.
In Alaska, one of the key pieces of legislation this year was HB267, which began the process to enroll Alaska as a member state in the Wildlife Violators Compact. The Wildlife Violators Compact establishes the mechanism that allows fish and wildlife agencies to share information about fish and wildlife violators between the member states. The other, HJR31 opposes the enactment of the federal so-called Protect America's Wildlife Act (PAW-H.R. 3663) that would prohibit aerial hunting of wolves which is essential for predator control in Alaska. PAW is awaiting action in the 110th Congress.
Read the Alaska Press Release
Kansas legislators passed SB475 to provide funding provisions for Kansas Hunters Feeding the Hungry, a non-profit organization that pays the processing fees for hunter-donated venison that flows from local meat processors to food banks and shelters. Other legislation that the caucus was engaged in, but did not pass, included a Hunting Heritage Protection Act and a bill to provide youth ‘hunt of a lifetime' deer permits.
Read the Kansas Press Release
Expanding NASC's Federal Participation
The last 18 months NASC has carried out a more coordinated effort of informing state caucuses of federal issues that affect sportsmen nationally and in their respective states. One aspect of this initiative has been increased participation of the NASC program by signing onto sportsmen's community group letters being sent to Capitol Hill and the administration after consulting the NASC Executive Council. Moving forward NASC will look for more opportunities to assist the increased engagement between state sportsmen's caucus leaders and their congressional colleagues. NASC is also assisting with state caucus engagement on some state specific issues. This includes an issue concerning access to the Cape Hatteras National Seashore due to a lawsuit filed because of the failure of the National Park Service to create an off-road vehicle management plan. Read the letter to the NC delegation
Read more about Hatteras, NC Beach Access
NASC 2008 Mid-Year Executive Council Meeting
The Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation (CSF) held its NASC Mid-Year Executive Council Meeting in Islamorada, Florida the first week of June. The purpose of the mid-year meeting was for CSF/NASC staff to engage in dialog with the NASC Executive Council (EC) about issues important to sportsmen across the nation. Nine of the ten EC members and one alternate attended as did members of the CSF Board of Directors. The diverse group represented an array of perspectives on sportsmen's issues from all sections of the country.
Read more about the NASC EC Mid-Year Meeting
