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HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 212
By Todd
HJR0212
003396
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A RESOLUTION to commemorate the seventy-fifth anniversary of
the Sportfish Restoration Program as part of the
American System of Conservation Funding.
WHEREAS, more than a century ago, hunters and anglers were among the first
conservationists who realized America's natural resources were in peril and could not sustain
unregulated harvest and habitat destruction; and
WHEREAS, sportsmen and sportswomen took it upon themselves to support laws that
stopped excessive harvest of fish and wildlife, established state agencies to protect fish, wildlife,
and their habitats, and supported special fishing and hunting license fees to help fund the new
agencies' efforts to provide healthy natural resources for future generations; and
WHEREAS, the Tennessee General Assembly, then and now, has recognized that the
primary authority to protect and manage fish within our State waters resides in our state
agencies; and
WHEREAS, upon realizing that license fees alone were insufficient to restore and
sustain healthy fish populations, anglers supported excise taxes on fishing equipment to raise
additional funds to support restoration and enhancement efforts of the state agencies across the
nation; and
WHEREAS, the Sport Fish Restoration Program, which began seventy-five years ago
with the passage of the Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Act in 1950 (further expanded with
the Wallop-Breaux amendment to the Sport Fish Restoration Act in 1984), is a vital part of
conservation funding in the United States; and
WHEREAS, a manufacturers excise tax on fishing equipment, along with an excise tax
on motorboat and small engine fuels, is mostly distributed back to the states through the U. S.
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Fish and Wildlife Service for fisheries conservation, management, and angler and boater
access; and
WHEREAS, this cooperative partnership between the sportfishing industry, anglers,
boaters, the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and state natural resource agencies has resulted in
the most successful model of fisheries management in the world, restoring and enhancing
populations across the United States and its territories; and
WHEREAS, since 1939, the combined contributions of the Wildlife and Sport Fish
Restoration Programs and license fees to state fish and wildlife agencies exceed 78 billion
dollars (more than any other single conservation effort in American history), which constitute,
collectively, the American System of Conservation Funding; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENT ATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED
FOURTEENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE, THE SENATE
CONCURRING, that we commemorate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Sport Fish
Restoration Program as part of the American System of Conservation Funding, applauding
America's anglers and boaters, the sportfishing industry, state fish and wildlife agencies, and
the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service for their leading role in restoring healthy populations of fish
and aquatic resources, both game and non-game, to the abundance we see today.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a certified copy of this resolution be provided to the
Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, each member of the Tennessee congressional
delegation, and the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service.