Contact: Nick Buggia, Upper Midwestern States Manager
On July 16, Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) Upper Midwestern States Manager Nick Buggia testified in front of the Indiana Natural Resources Commission and advocated for keeping two state forests under the state forest management system.
The Commission held the meeting in response to a citizen’s petition that would re-designate the Salamonie River and Francis Slocum State Forests into small state parks. The petition language would prohibit the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) from properly managing these forested areas using scientific management practices and would also notably prohibit all hunting on the two properties.
CSF testified in opposition to adopting the petition for the following reasons:
After hearing testimony from both sides, the Commission decided to vote on the petition instead of tabling it for review until their next meeting. As a result of the work by CSF and other conservation and forestry groups, the Commission voted down the petition. This was a strong win for sportsmen and women in the state of Indiana and for the health of their forests and wildlife.
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?
