The Right to Hunt, Fish and Trap...

In Idaho we have come to depend on hunting, fishing and trapping as a main form of control and management of species that the state is charged with managing. These actives not only provide that management and control opportunity, but provide economic and social benefits as well.

The economic benefit of these activities exceeds $5 billion each year in terms of stimulus of our local economies. Many rural communities are very dependant on those that visit their stores, hotels and cafes while partaking in these various activities.


Socially, our forefathers depended on the land to provide them subsistence and routinely this was a family or community activity that brought people closer together. Families still get together for fishing or hunting vacations that bonds those that are involved forever. Some of the fondest memories of my life were experienced with Moms and Dads, Aunts and Uncles and brothers and sisters while in the field hunting or fishing. These activities are an important cultural event that ties us together as Idahoans and has for generations.


I have worked with many people over the past few years trying to find a way to ensure that these activities will be protected for as long as we call this land Idaho. Hunting, fishing and trapping currently is not a right of the people, it's a privilege that is allowed by our state government.


In Europe and Asia, these privileges are now reserved for only the rich or the select few or not allowed at all. Those countries no longer have the cultural experiences that help to tie them to their lands and to their cultures because their governments have taken these privileges away.


I have introduced a bill, HJR002 (this is the 3rd bill I've been involved with) that will provide for the people of Idaho to vote in November on a state constitutional amendment that will create Hunting, Fishing and Trapping as a right of the people that will be treated like our 2nd amendment rights that can not be taken away except in cases where the individual has violated the trust of the state.


Of course, the state will still have management control over how these activities happen but if we ever experience a "perfect storm" of legislators and a governor that decides that these activities are no longer needed by "the state" we could loose these privileges like those countries that don't have protections.

Your thoughts?...