On May 31, the Oregon State Senate voted unanimously to pass House Bill 3158A, which would require the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission to implement a program to encourage the reporting of wildlife law violations.
On April 24, the bill passed the House unanimously, and was carried on the Senate floor by Oregon Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus Member Senator Herman Baertschiger. The bill now awaits the signature of Governor Kate Brown before becoming law.
House Bill 3158A – sponsored by Oregon Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus Member Representative Mike McLane and Caucus Co-Chairs Representatives Brad Witt and Sal Esquivel – would offer preference points towards future hunting tags or cash rewards for information leading to citations or arrest for unlawful take, possession or waste of wildlife species.
The Oregon Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus has made the bill a priority piece of legislation for the Caucus to support during the 2017 session, and urged passage of the bill with support letters on both the Senate and House floors. With the increased sophistication of poachers and other wildlife violators, many states (like Oregon) are examining innovative approaches for encouraging further coordination between citizens and state fish and wildlife agencies to report wildlife law violations.
Each year, Oregon’s 703,000 hunters and anglers spend $929 million and support 14,769 jobs. For more information on conservation funding provided by sportsmen and women in the Beaver State, see CSF’s American System of Conservation Funding fact sheet for Oregon.
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?
