Contact: John Culclasure, Southeastern States Assistant Director
On February 18, the Florida Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus held its annual dinner with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWCC) at the Tall Timbers Research Station in Tallahassee.
More than 50 people, including roughly two one dozen state legislators and legislative staff, FWCC Commissioners, FWCC and Florida Forestry Service executive leadership, and representatives from sportsmen’s groups and Tall Timbers, enjoyed a wild game dinner cooked by local sportsmen and discussed conservation issues impacting sportsmen and women in the Sunshine State.
“The event provided a great venue for facilitated interaction among a wide array of conservation partners that are critical to protecting and advancing sporting traditions in Florida. Many thanks to the FWCC, Tall Timbers and the Florida Forest Service for the partnerships that support continued participation in our sporting pastimes,” said Florida Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus Co-Chair Representative Jayer Williamson.
Eric Sutton, Director of the FWCC, presented an award to the Florida Forest Service Director Jim Karels in recognition of the agency’s exemplary work managing the state’s forest resources to reduce the risk of catastrophic fire and improve wildlife habitat through active forest management and working with the sportsmen’s community to provide access for hunting and fishing on state forests.
The bipartisan, bicameral Florida Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus works to protect and advance hunting, angling, trapping and recreational shooting for Florida’s 3.15 million sportsmen and women who spend more than $5.9 billion and support more than 94,880 jobs in the state.
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?
