State Legislature Considers Several Bills Impacting Sportsmen

On Tuesday, June 21^st, the Public Safety Committees in both the Senate and Assembly heard several bills opposed by the California Outdoor Heritage Alliance (COHA) that would impact hunters and other sportsmen and women. These bills included:

i) SB 917, which would prohibit the sale or advertisement of dogs in certain public places, passed on a partisan 5-2 vote out of the Assembly Public Safety Committee. COHA, which provided testimony against the measure, is opposing the bill due to its impact on legitimate dog breeders and sellers, as well as non-profit conservation groups which auction hunting dogs at their fundraising events. The bill will next be heard in Assembly Appropriations Committee.

ii) AB 809, which would require the permanent registration of all shotguns and rifles when purchased or even when simply being transferred between family members, passed the Senate Public Safety Committee by a 5-1 vote. COHA and our partners helped defeat a similar bill (AB 1810) in the last days of the 2010 Legislative Session. Current law requires that paperwork filled out when purchasing a long gun is destroyed after a short period of time. AB 809 bill will next be heard in Senate Appropriations Committee.

iii) SB 798, which would require that all BB and pellet guns - including those legally used for hunting wild turkey and small game - be manufactured with bright colored exteriors to help identify them as "toy" guns, was defeated in the Assembly Public Safety Committee by a 2-5 vote. Passage of the measure would have resulted in a loss of hunting opportunity and wrongly encouraged children to treat air guns like toy guns, creating significant safety issues.

For more information on other bills and issues that COHA is actively working visit our website at www.outdoorheritage.org

COHA Supports San Joaquin River NWR Expansion

COHA is supporting the expansion of the San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) and strongly urging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to offer new public hunting opportunities there. Click here for COHA's support letter.

Similar to the recently established Sacramento River NWR, an expanded San Joaquin River NWR could provide new waterfowl, wild turkey, quail, dove and deer hunting opportunities for the public. It would also greatly aid riparian and wetland habitat conservation efforts, as these important habitats for game and other species have declined by over 90% from their historical acreage.

Should the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service expand the Refuge boundaries, acquisition would be on a willing-seller basis only. In addition to fee-title acquisition, conservation easements on private land would also likely be pursued.