By John Culclasure, Central Appalachian States Manager
Recently, the bicameral and bipartisan Tennessee Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus (Caucus) announced the addition of Representative Bob Freeman as the new Co-Chair of the Caucus.Representative Freeman joins National Assembly of Sportsmen’s Caucuses Executive Council member Senator Mike Bell on the leadership bench for the Caucus.
“I’m excited to help lead the Tennessee Sportsmen’s Legislative Caucus and look forward to working with the TWRA, the Tennessee sportsmen’s community, and my colleagues in the Caucus to address issues, like CWD and Asian carp, impacting the sportsmen and women of Tennessee,” said Rep. Freeman.
Since his election to the Tennessee House of Representatives in 2018, Rep. Freeman has been an active member of the Caucus through his participation at Caucus events including the Ron Lollar Memorial Wild Game Dinner in Nashville and the Caucus Dove Hunt in Erin. A lifelong hunter and angler, Rep. Freeman brings a wealth of outdoor knowledge to the Caucus.
Rep. Freeman has also been engaged on pro-sportsmen’s policy initiatives including co-sponsoring legislation (HB 367) that would allow honorably discharged veterans to purchase permanent sport combination hunting and fishing licenses upon payment of a one-time fee.
The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation looks forward to working with Rep. Freeman and the other leaders of the Tennessee Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus to protect and advance the interests of Tennessee’s 994,000 sportsmen and women who contribute more than $2.9 billion to the state’s economy and last year alone generated more than $62.9 million for conservation through the American System of Conservation Funding.
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?
