Fish and Game
Many pieces of legislation are coming down the pipe regarding the department. Below is an inventory of recent bills with a brief description:
- Trapping- a bill requiring at least six hours of education for trappers, mentioned last week. View bill here.
- Use of Drones for Hunting- a bill to prohibit the use of unmanned aircraft for hunting. View bill here.
- Poaching- a bill to increase fines on poaching, fines that haven’t been increased in 20 years. View bill here. View bill here.
- F&G Officer’s Badge & Gun- a bill to refuse distribution of gun and badge to retired officers. View bill here.
- Restricting Searches- a bill to restrict F&G searches of storage units to situations with strict consent or with a search warrant. View bill here.
- Minimum Standards for Check Stations- a bill setting minimum standards for check stations and limiting F&G searches to hunters and fisherman with licenses. View bill here.
For more on the last three bills, check out Betsy Russell’s recap of Wednesday’s Committee, Read more the article here.
Update on Oregon and Public Lands conflict
The illegal occupation in Burns, Oregon has continued to elevate the issue of state control of public lands. We worked hard last session to stop the efforts to take the lands out of public hands and will continue to do so throughout the session.
Check out this Op-Ed from retired BLM Director, Jim Caswell in the Idaho Statesmen on the subject.
Lands use issues aren’t going anywhere soon. There are rumors at the capital about attempts to privatize state land for profit by private out-of-state outfitters.
Stay tuned friends. We’re going to need you in the weeks ahead.