By Joel Hodgdon, Central Midwestern States Coordinator
On May 31, the Illinois General Assembly finished its spring legislative sessions and is now in recess until mid-November.
Thanks to the support of the bipartisan Illinois Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus, several pieces of positive hunting and fishing legislation are on their way to Governors Sportsmen’s Caucus Member Governor Bruce Rauner who has 60 days to sign or veto the bills. These bills include:
Illinois’ 1.3 million hunters and anglers spend over $2.34 billion annually on their outdoor pursuits. This spending supports close to 32,000 jobs. In 2017 alone, Illinois hunters and anglers contributed over $64 million towards conservation funding in the state.
* Bills bolded above are sponsored by members of the Illinois Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus.
Studies conducted at both the state and federal level have found that the number of hunters and trappers have been on a generally declining trend over the past several decades. To increase recruitment, retention, and reactivation (R3) of hunters and trappers, which initiative do you think would have the greatest impact?
