The 2015 Oregon Legislature adjourned on July 6, after passing several bills affecting the sportsmen’s community. Topics addressed during the 2015 session included predator management, the Oregon Hatchery Research Fund, and sporting license fee increases, among others.
Regarding predator management, the legislature passed House Bill 2182, which requires that the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) develop a predator management plan for the state. The bill was sponsored by the House Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources (chaired by Oregon Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus member Representative Brad Witt), and will require that the yearly results of studies relating to ODFW’s predator management plan be reported before interim legislative committees that deal with issues relating to the environment and natural resources.
Another bill receiving significant attention during the session was House Bill 3012, sponsored by Oregon Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus Co-Chair Representative Wayne Krieger. The amended bill, which passed unanimously in both the House and Senate, creates the Oregon Hatchery Research Center Fund. It will be funded by a surcharge on angling licenses, and will primarily fund research projects recommended by the Oregon Hatchery Research Center Board, in addition to hatchery construction projects.
Finally, the legislature passed an amended version of Senate Bill 247, which implements Oregon Governor Kate Brown’s recommended budget for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. SB 247 provides for incremental increases in license and tag fees relating to hunting, angling, and commercial fishing, in addition to establishing new fees. The fee increases are scheduled to be phased in over a six-year period beginning in 2016, though the proposed fee increases beginning in 2020 will not take effect if the legislature can develop and implement alternative ODFW funding measures. House Bill 2402, which also passed at the end of the session, creates a task force charged with developing such alternate funding mechanisms.
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?
