Forums.NitroExpress.com

LAW GIVES STATES HUNTING RULES SAY-SO

Statutes Favoring Residents are OK

Associated Press:

Reno, Nev. - A bill affirming the authority of states to regulate hunting and fishing has been signed into law by President Bush.

The legislation frees states to set their own regulations and in some - including Nevada - upholds rules that favor residents over out-of-state applicants.

The measure, sponsored by several Western lawmakers, was in response to a 2002 federal appeals court ruling that said states restricting nonresident hunting tags must do so in the "least discriminatory" way.

It was attached to an emergency appropiations bill that was signed by Bush late Wednesday, said Tessa Hafen, press secretary for Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev.

The hunting provision states it is in the public interest for the state to be able to regulate fish and wildlife programs within its boundaries, "including by means of laws or regulations that differentiate between residents and nonresidents" or fees charged, and declares the issue does not fall under the interstate commerce clause of the Constitution..

The law follows a ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in an Arizona case filed by three New Mexico outiftters (US Outfitters the lead) who claimed restrictions on nonresidents in some big game hunts were discriminatory.

Having prevailed in that case, the outfitters sued Nevada last July, alleging Nevada's draw system that reserves most big game tags for residents was illegal because it discriminated agains nonresidents.

National hunting groups have set out the fight.

"It's a tough one, a divisive thing. As an organization we don't have a position and are not likely to take one," said Dan Crockett, a spokesman for the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation in Montana.

"I understand the concern that if you live in New York or Nebraska and you have to pay roughly 148 times as much to hunt for the same elk I hunt for in Montana." Crockett said Thursday.

At the same time, "the last time I checked, Montana was 46th or 47th in per capita income, so sometimes people make a deliberate trade-off to live somewhere and have these sort of opportunities," he said.