Why It Matters: In recent years, there has been an increase in legislation proposed to allow landowners to transfer or sell their limited landowner hunting permits. Allowing landowners to profit from access to public trust wildlife resources on the basis of landownership contradicts foundational conservation principles that have guided American fish and wildlife management policies. The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) has been active in opposing these pieces of legislation and upholding the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation.
Highlights:
- Nebraska Legislative Bill 1197 (LB 1197) would allow landowners to sell their limited landowner tags.
- This framework would essentially privatize public wildlife resources and undermine the conservation principles that have guided management decisions in America for centuries.
- The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation has worked to oppose the legislation and will continue to do so.
Legislation introduced in Nebraska, LB 1197, would allow landowners to sell their limited landowner hunting tags. Currently, the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission (NGPC) offer discounted hunting permits for landowners that own or lease 80 or more acres of land. The ability to transfer these tags would essentially privatize wildlife, which is in direct violation of the Public Trust Doctrine – a longstanding tenet of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation.
CSF submitted testimony to the Natural Resources Committee in opposition to LB 1197, emphasizing that, while landowner tags are a valuable tool to incentivize and thank landowners for their wildlife conservation efforts, especially in states like Nebraska, allowing the sale of their limited tags undermines that effort. Wildlife is managed by state fish and wildlife agencies, like NGPC, for the benefit of the public, not for the profit of private individuals.
The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation will continue to oppose legislation that violates the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, undermines longstanding, successful conservation practices, and shifts the focus of conservation away from what is best for the management and pursuit of public fish and wildlife resources.
