Why It Matters: An essential component in defending and expanding our rights and/or privileges to recreate outdoors is public recognition for the cultural significance of traditional sportsmen’s activities and sportsmen’s contribution to conservation. Measures highlighting the significance of sportsmen, like Idaho House Bill 652 (HB 652), which named hunting as the official state sport of Idaho, are one such way to celebrate our outdoor heritage. Sportsmen were the original conservationists and remain conservation’s main source of funding and some of its loudest advocates and champions to this day.
Highlights:
- ID HB 652 was passed in the 2026 Idaho Legislative Session and signed into law on April 7, 2026.
- This bill was made hunting for the official state sport of Idaho.
- The idea for HB 652 came from 9-year-old Betty Grandy of Twin Falls, ID.
As the Idaho legislature adjourns Sine Die, sportsmen in Idaho are celebrating a win that’s the first of its kind in the nation, with hunting now the official state sport. The bill also declares that “the State of Idaho values the rights to hunt, fish, and trap and has enshrined such rights in the Constitution of the State of Idaho” and that “the sport of hunting is historically and culturally representative of these traditions”.
The concept for HB 652 comes from 9-year-old Betty Grandy of Twin Falls, Idaho. In her elementary school history class, she realized that Idaho does not have a state sport and decided to take matters into her own hands. She runs a local newsletter called the “Grandy Gazette”, which she started at the age of 7. She ran a poll for her subscribers asking for their input on what the state’s sport should be, and hunting was the winner by a large margin. She then approached Governor’s Sportsmen’s Caucus (GSC) member Governor Brad Little’s office, who worked with her to find a sponsor. Betty Grandy also had the opportunity to testify in committee support of HB 652.
Legislative recognition of sportsmen’s history and contributions to conservation and wildlife management are a key component of educating the non-sportsmen public about the value of our most cherished activities. Sportsmen were the original conservationists, and even today, they fund the majority of conservation efforts, through the “user-pays, public-benefits system” of the American System of Conservation Funding (ASCF). Sportsmen are also significant contributors to wildlife management, through the seven principals laid out in the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation. HB 652 is a significant recognition of the value of sportsmen in the 21st century.
The bill sailed through the House and the Senate, supported by members of the Idaho Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus, before being proudly signed by Governor Little. The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) thanks members of the Idaho Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus, as well as Governors Sportsmen’s Caucus member Governor Little, for their collective support of HB 652. CSF will continue to work with the National Assembly of Sportsmen’s Caucuses (NASC) network and GSC members to ensure sportsmen are properly recognized for their social and historical contributions to conservation, and to society.