On April 4, the Kansas Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus hosted a reception in Topeka, Kansas. The event brought together Caucus members, the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks, and Tourism, Kansas Lieutenant Governor Dr. Jeff Colyer, and the state’s sportsmen’s community for a forum covering issues impacting sportsmen and women. Caucus Co-Chairs Representative Ken Corbet and Senator Mike Petersen addressed the attendees and spoke about the state’s strong sporting traditions.
“The nice thing about this event is that you get to hear a lot of hunting and fishing stories,” said Rep. Corbet. “People forget about how big of an impact hunting and fishing has here in Kansas. It’s a huge industry for Kansas.”
During the reception, attendees also discussed federal legislation of interest to Kansas’s sportsmen and women. This included the recent progress of the Bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act, which was advanced out of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee just three days after introduction, and the Hearing Protection Act.
The Sunflower State has almost 530,000 hunters and anglers that annually spend upwards of $629 million and help support nearly 10,000 jobs through the American System of Conservation Funding.
Sponsors included Ducks Unlimited, the Kansas Automobile Dealers Association, Pat Hubbell & Associates, Pheasants Forever, and Whitney B. Damron P.A.
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?
