On Tuesday, February 4, HB 1290 was heard in New Hampshire’s House Fish and Game and Marine Resources Committee. Sponsored by New Hampshire Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus member and Chairman of the Committee, Representative Benjamin Lefebvre, HB 1290 would create a new license for full time non-resident college students attending an accredited university in the state.
The new license will be priced at the resident rate, which will eliminate a potential barrier to participation in an often cost-sensitive demographic. Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation’s Northeastern States Director, Brent Miller, testified in support of the bill as a potential hunting and angling recruitment and retention tool. An amendment to the bill specifies that the new license will be available for purchase at the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department’s headquarters in Concord, but that the agency shall have the authority to sell licenses at other vendors in college towns throughout the state. If passed, New Hampshire would join 16 other states throughout the nation that offer some form of a discounted license for students.
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?
