SLS 17RS-737 ORIGINAL
2017 Regular Session
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 67
BY SENATOR THOMPSON
COMMENDATIONS. Commemorates the eightieth anniversary of the American System
of Conservation Funding.
1 A RESOLUTION
2 To commemorate the eightieth anniversary of the American System of Conservation
3 Funding.
4 WHEREAS, more than a century ago, sportsmen and women were among the first
5 conservationists who realized America's natural resources were in peril and could not sustain
6 unregulated harvest and habitat destruction; and
7 WHEREAS, sportsmen and women took it upon themselves to support laws that
8 stopped excessive harvest of fish and wildlife, established game and fish agencies to protect
9 fish and wildlife and their habitat, and supported fishing and hunting license fees to help
10 fund the new agencies' efforts to provide for healthy natural resources for future generations;
11 and
12 WHEREAS, upon realizing that license fees alone were insufficient to restore and
13 sustain healthy fish and wildlife populations, sportsmen and women supported excise taxes
14 on firearms, ammunition, archery equipment, hunting equipment, and fishing equipment to
15 raise additional funds to support restoration and enhancement efforts of state agencies; and
16 WHEREAS, this "user-pays, public-benefits" system became known as the Wildlife
17 and Sport Fish Restoration Program, and it began eighty years ago with the passage of the
18 Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act in 1937, and then was bolstered with the passage of
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SLS 17RS-737 ORIGINAL
1 the Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Act in 1950, and the Wallop-Breaux amendment
2 to the Sport Fish Restoration Act in 1984; and
3 WHEREAS, the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program also permanently
4 linked revenue from hunting and angling licenses to conservation, creating the American
5 System of Conservation Funding as it exists today; and
6 WHEREAS, the combined contribution of the American System of Conservation
7 Funding to state fish and wildlife agencies exceeds fifty-seven billion dollars, more than any
8 other single conservation effort in American history; and
9 WHEREAS, the manufacturers of firearms, ammunition, and hunting, fishing and
10 boating equipment have collected excise taxes on firearms, ammunition, archery equipment,
11 manufactured fishing tackle, electric trolling motors, marine electronics, and motorboat fuel
12 and distributed these funds to the states through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; and
13 WHEREAS, this cooperative partnership between industry, hunters, anglers, trappers,
14 boaters, recreational shooters, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and state natural resource
15 agencies has resulted in the most successful model of fish and wildlife management in the
16 world, restoring populations from coast to coast and in Alaska and Hawaii.
17 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
18 does hereby commend America's hunters, anglers, trappers, boaters, recreational shooters,
19 industry, state fish and wildlife agencies, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for their
20 leading role in restoring healthy populations of fish and wildlife and other natural resources,
21 both game and nongame, to the abundance we see today, and does hereby commemorate the
22 eightieth anniversary of the American System of Conservation Funding.
23 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
24 secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and the director of the U.S.
25 Fish and Wildlife Service.
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Tammy Crain Waldrop.
DIGEST
SR 67 Original 2017 Regular Session Thompson
Commemorates the 80th anniversary of the American System of Conservation Funding.
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