State: AZ

Why It Matters: The 2026 Arizona Legislative Session is already off to a strong start, with several proposed bills that are relevant to sportsmen and women across the state. This includes complimentary licenses for veterans which would impact conservation funding in Arizona and membership requirements for the Arizona Game and Fish Commission, which could potentially restrict access and opportunity for sportsmen and women.   Highlights:  Arizona Senate Bill 1155, currently assigned…

Why It Matters: Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) that impacts members of the cervid family including deer, elk, caribou, and moose. This highly transmissible neurological disease is always fatal to infected animals, complicating wildlife management efforts. While there is currently no evidence that CWD can be transmitted from deer to humans, the CDC does not recommend consuming meat from known CWD-positive…

The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) announced today that Kaylee Mortensen has joined the organization as the Southwestern States Coordinator. In this role, Kaylee will work closely with the state legislative sportsmen’s caucuses under the National Assembly of Sportsmen’s Caucuses (NASC) and members of the Governors Sportsmen’s Caucus (GSC) in Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, and Utah…

Why It Matters: For most hunters, reaching for a favorite rifle or shotgun is part and parcel of getting ready to head out for our favorite season opener. Of course, guns play an integral role not only in our hunting pursuits, but recreational shooting too. In fact, around eighty percent of the revenue in the…

Why It Matters: The use of dogs is not only a deep-seated component of our hunting heritage, it is also a critical tool in the toolbox of science-based wildlife management. A petition brought before the Arizona Game and Fish Department Commission (Commission) sought to ban hunting with hounds in Arizona, which would have severely limited…

Why It Matters: The use of dogs is a deep-seated component of our hunting heritage. Naturally, this includes hunting for a variety of upland species and even larger game such as mountain lions and bears and, without dogs, sportsmen’s success afield would be severely limited for many types of hunting. Additionally, the use of tracking…

Defined as the distance from an occupied dwelling, public road, or city limits that is required to legally discharge a bow or firearm, legal discharge distances vary tremendously from state to state. Often enacted due to unfounded safety concerns, arbitrary and unnecessarily large discharge distances pose negatively impact hunter access in suburban and exurban areas….

Many sportsmen and women depend on federal lands managed by agencies such as the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for access to activities like hunting, fishing and recreational shooting. As these agencies develop strategies to manage federal lands, it is critical for those who support these activities…