SLS 25RS-483 ORIGINAL
2025 Regular Session
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 8
BY SENATORS CATHEY AND LUNEAU
COMMENDATIONS. Commemorates the 75
th
anniversary of the Sport Fish Restoration
Program as part of the American System of Conservation Funding.
1 A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
2 To commend the Sport Fish Restoration Program, a part of the American System of
3 Conservation Funding, on its seventy-fifth anniversary.
4 WHEREAS, more than a century ago, hunters and anglers 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 state agencies to protect fish,
9 wildlife, and their habitat, and supported special fishing and hunting license fees to help fund
10 the new agencies' efforts to provide healthy natural resources for future generations; and
11 WHEREAS, the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana then and now recognizes that
12 the primary authority to protect and manage fish within the state waters resides within state
13 agencies; and
14 WHEREAS, upon realizing that license fees alone were insufficient to restore and
15 sustain healthy fish populations, anglers supported excise taxes on fishing equipment to raise
16 additional funds to support restoration and enhancement efforts of state agencies; and
17 WHEREAS, the Sport Fish Restoration Program, which began seventy-five years ago
18 with the passage of the Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Act in 1950, and further
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SLS 25RS-483 ORIGINAL
1 expanded with the Wallop-Breaux amendment to the Sport Fish Restoration Act in 1984, is
2 a vital part of conservation funding in the United States; and
3 WHEREAS, a manufacturer's excise tax on fishing equipment, along with an excise
4 tax on motorboat and small engine fuels, are mostly distributed back to the states through
5 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for fisheries conservation, management, and angler and
6 boater access; and
7 WHEREAS, this cooperative partnership between the sportfishing industry, anglers,
8 boaters, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and state natural resource agencies has resulted
9 in the most successful model of fisheries management in the world, restoring and enhancing
10 populations across the United States and its territories; and
11 WHEREAS, since 1939, the combined contribution of the Wildlife and Sport Fish
12 Restoration Programs and license fees to state fish and wildlife agencies exceeds seventy-
13 eight billion dollars, more than any other single conservation effort in American history,
14 which constitute, collectively, the American System of Conservation Funding.
15 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
16 recognize America's anglers, boaters, the sportfishing industry, state fish and wildlife
17 agencies, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for their leading role in restoring healthy
18 populations of fish and aquatic resources, both game and non-game, to the abundance we see
19 today with the help of the Sport Fish Restoration Program, in its seventy-fifth year of the
20 program's establishment as part of the American System of Conservation Funding.
21 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
22 secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Senate Legislative Services.
The keyword, summary, and digest do not constitute part of the law or proof
or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
DIGEST
SCR 8 Original 2025 Regular Session Cathey
Commends the Sport Fish Restoration Program, a part of the American System of
Conservation Funding, on its 75th anniversary.
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