UPDATE: 4/4/23- House Bill 1151 failed to pass with a Senate vote of 26 opposed, 21 in favor. Likely the most contentious bill of the legislative session for ND BHA, the bill passed the house but was fortunately killed in the senate. The chapter opposed this bill mainly upon the premise that it would have stripped the ND Game & Fish Department of their authority to implement their game management plans. Thank you to our partner organizations and everyone that contacted their Representatives and Senators!!
House Bill 1151 would strip authority from the North Dakota Game and Fish to implement their Chronic Wasting Disease Management Plan by prohibiting the Game and Fish from banning baiting practices in North Dakota.
We urge you to reject legislation that seeks to restrict or control the ability of the wildlife professionals at the North Dakota Game and Fish to do their job. That job, according to state law, is managing the wildlife resource on behalf of the public, for current and future generations. The legislature should not be overruling biological decisions made by a network of professional and experienced biologists and veterinarians who specialize in the subject matter of North Dakota wildlife.
While we understand that this is a controversial issue, and it is always difficult to change long used practices, the public’s deer resource must come first.
Article XI, Section 27 of the North Dakota constitution states, “Hunting, trapping, and fishing and the taking of game and fish are a valued part of our heritage and will be forever preserved for the people and managed by law and regulation for the public good.”
The hunting practices of one user group do not outweigh what is beneficial for the entire public resource. This bill is not in the best interest of the deer held in public trust, or the public, who are beneficiaries of that trust. H.B.1151 is in direct violation of the North Dakota constitution, North Dakota State Law, the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, the mission of the North Dakota Game and Fish, and a breach of the public trust doctrine that all wild deer in North Dakota belong to.
Please join the North Dakota Chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers in urging Committee members to reject House Bill 1151.
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