It's like a bad movie. SB 312 has been miraculously resurrected and will be reconsidered by the Senate Conservation Committee
tomorrow morning.
The bill has been revised (click
HERE to read the amended bill) to remove all of the language related to the outfitter pool and 90/10 quota. That's fantastic news for public land outfitters but don't be fooled this is still a terrible bill that needs to be stopped.
The amended bill continues to include a repeal of the Jennings Law (which allows landowners to protect their private property and income producing assets from wildlife depredation). Those enrolled in EPLUS understand that this is the first step to dismantling the EPLUS program. However, all private property owners should be very concerned for another reason. A repeal of the Jennings Law in conjunction with an expanded Game and Fish purview to protect all wildlife, could essentially prevent the killing of coyotes or other currently non-protected animals (i.e. skunks, prairie dogs, rabbits, etc..) on private land.
This bill also would still make the collection of shed antlers illegal among a number of other technical problems such as; the G&F purview would be expanded to cover all wildlife (where will the money come from for the expanded G&F responsibilities), there are potential legal implications of allowing the Commission to determine what is or isn't a game species, giving the Game Commission so much discretion could create a revolving door of policy that could change of each administration, and so much more...
The committee will be taking public comment
on Saturday morning but you must register in advance (by 5pm TODAY). Click
HERE to register for public comment.
Email the members of the Senate Conservation Committee and tell them you are still opposed to SB 312 as amended!