By John Culclasure, Central Appalachian States Manager
On May 17, the Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) of North Carolina presented North Carolina Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus Co-Chair Representative Larry Yarborough with the 2017 CCA North Carolina Legislator of the Year award at the Triangle Chapter Annual Banquet in Raleigh.
Since his election to the North Carolina House of Representatives in 2014, Rep. Yarborough has established himself as an ardent champion for sportsmen’s rights and conservation.
Rep. Yarborough joined the North Carolina Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus in 2014 and in 2015 he co-sponsored the historic Outdoor Heritage Act (HB 640), which allowed Sunday hunting with firearms on private property for the first time in over 100 years. He also co-sponsored legislation (HB 559) that further expanded Sunday hunting opportunities in 2017.
In 2017, Rep. Yarborough also sponsored coastal fisheries management reform legislation (HB 867), which was a legislative priority for CCA North Carolina, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, and other members of the NC Sound Economy coalition.
Executive Director of CCA North Carolina David Sneed said, “Where other North Carolina legislators have adopted the philosophy of ‘if it has fins, fur or feathers, stay away from it,’ Representative Yarborough has been a leader on sportsmen’s issues and a fighter for fisheries management reform.”
An avid hunter and angler, Rep. Yarborough was selected to Co-Chair the North Carolina Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus in 2017. He is also Chairman of the House Environment Committee, Vice-Chairman of the House Regulatory Reform Committee, and received the North Carolina Wildlife Federation’s Legislator of the Year award in 2017.
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?
