State: MS

Why It Matters: The sale of hunting and fishing licenses makes up the bedrock of conservation funding in the United States. While efforts to provide certain groups of well-deserving individuals with a financial break on license fees are commendable, it threatens funding that benefits resources held in the public trust. Additionally, science-based wildlife management depends on reliable data to determine harvestable…

Why It Matters: Limiting access to Mississippi’s sportsmen and women through blanket bans on equipment, requiring individuals to have access to 2k contiguous acres of privately owned ground to hunt with, train, or utilize any hunting dog, and requiring people to obtain a depredation permit from the state to eliminate any nuisance animal is entirely unnecessary…

Why It Matters: Mississippi was the first state in the nation to implement a Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP). Their DMAP program went statewide in the 1980s, which became wildly successful and has resulted in Mississippi having one of the most robust white-tailed deer herds in the country. Ironically enough, Mississippi is the only state in…

Why It Matters: The National Assembly of Sportsmen’s Caucuses (NASC) Annual Sportsman-Legislator Summit, hosted by the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF), is the only conference for state legislators dedicated to protecting and advancing pro hunting, fishing, recreational shooting, and trapping policy. The NASC Summit provides an unmatched opportunity to connect with legislators, state fish and wildlife agency staff, sporting-conservation…

Why It Matters: For over 80 years, sportsmen and women have been the primary funders of conservation in North America. The “user pays – public benefits” structure of the American System of Conservation Funding (ASCF) relies on those who consumptively use the resource to pay for the privilege to do so. Today, most state fish…

Why It Matters: There was no shortage of legislation impacting hunters and anglers in the Magnolia State during the 2025 legislative session. Everything from protecting conservation funding from free and discounted hunting and fishing licenses, creating a new wild turkey stamp, ensuring that poachers pay restitution back to the state for illegally taking wild game held…

Red snapper are a popular sportfish in the South Atlantic, but despite having the healthiest population of red snapper in recorded history, recreational anglers have been met with severely restrictive season lengths. This punitive result to having more fish in the water can be attributed to a federal management system that relies on often variable…