Why It Matters: The 2024-2025 New Jersey legislature adjourns on January 12th, and the 2026-2027 session quickly starts the next day on the 13th. Due to the final push of the 2024-2025 session and to prepare for 2026-2027, just before Christmas the New Jersey Angling and Hunting Conservation Caucus held an event with the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) and the New Jersey Outdoor Alliance (NJOA) in the New Jersey Annex Building in Trenton to reinvigorate legislative and outdoor partners for upcoming conservation efforts. This bipartisan event successfully brought in a number of legislators from both sides of the aisle to discuss upcoming priorities and the future of the New Jersey Angling and Hunting Conservation Caucus in the Garden State.
Highlights:
- Before general party caucus meetings, legislators from both parties took precious time out of their day to meet with CSF, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJ DEP), NJOA, and others.
- Many staffers and legislators showed enthusiastic interest in joining the New Jersey Angling and Hunting Conservation Caucus.
- Caucus member Senator Bob Smith addressed all attendees, stressing the importance of further communication with NJ DEP and efforts to support state conservation efforts.
Under the Administration of Governor Murphy, support from the executive branch for sportsmen and conservation issues has been limited in New Jersey. Although newly elected Governor Mikie Sherrill has yet to be sworn in or nominate a new director of NJ DEP, legislators and fellow conservation leaders are hopeful the new Administration will present improved opportunities to discuss outdoor issues with the incoming Governor’s office, opening previously shut lines of communication and bringing hope for important movement on conservation priorities.
New Jersey Angling and Hunting Conservation Caucus Co-Chairs have been strong allies of sportsmen and women by introducing legislation that aligns with CSF priorities. Acknowledging the need to recruit, retain and reactivate (R3) hunters, anglers, trappers and recreational shooters, new efforts like mirroring the South Carolina Conservation Education Act to support youth engagement outdoors and continuing support for “sportsmen-voter” legislation by providing voter registration opportunities at the point of sale of hunting and fishing licenses gathered strong interest from Caucus leadership in Co-Chair Assemblyman Inganamort. With the interest in these issues from legislators and the opportunity that comes with a new administration, there are plenty of openings for New Jersey’s sporting-conservation community to make significant strides in the 2026-2027 legislative session.
The New Jersey Angling and Hunting Conservation Caucus’ renewed effort towards gathering the support of other legislators and new members is underway. Growing the membership of the Caucus will help strengthen conservation efforts in Trenton as well as provide educational pathways between the sporting community and additional New Jersey legislators.
CSF continues to work with Caucus members and other legislators to support conservation in the Garden State. Efforts to connect the legislative branches with conservation organizations, NJ DEP, and the New Jersey Fish and Game Council (a council that holds certain regulatory powers in protecting and developing populations of fish and game for recreational and commercial purposes) are essential in the regulatory and legislative process in New Jersey.
