My fellow outdoorsmen and women,

The League of Kentucky Sportsmen has been made aware of an egregious attempt to take over the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, and our Commission, by placing them under the administrative regulatory authority of the Department of Agriculture.

Not only does Senate Bill 3 put our Department under the regulatory system of Agriculture, it takes away the ability of the Governor to appoint our Commissioners and gives the sole appointment authority of OUR Commissioners to the Commissioner of Agriculture.

I was made aware of this attempt through a Senator who was approached to sponsor this bill on Tuesday, February 27,2024, but refused because they weren't made aware of what the bill contained. I have been told that this wasn't the only attempt to have a Senator carry this water.

Thursday, February 29, 2024, I received a phone call that implored me to read Senate Bill 3, sponsored by 1st District Junior Senator Jason Howell, Chairman of the Agriculture Committee.  After reading it, I immediately reached out to our national affiliate, the Sportsmen’s Alliance. Mr. Todd Adkins, Vice President of Government Affairs at the Sportsmen’s Alliance, immediately agreed that Senate Bill 3 must be stopped and took swift action. Less than twenty-four hours after Senate Bill 3 was published they posted this response:

https://sportsmensalliance.org/news/kentucky-zombie-bill-to-hobble-fish-and-wildlife-dept-returns-action-needed/

Please read and respond to their “take action” request. The more sportsmen and women who make their voices heard, the better our chances are to defeat this terrible bill.

Later Friday afternoon, I was contacted by the Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation. They also wanted to defeat Senate Bill 3. In addition to their push, they wanted to partner with the League and other Kentucky conservation groups. Their call to action can be found here:

https://csf.salsalabs.org/kentuckyactionalert/index.html

Again, please click on the action button! It takes seconds, and those seconds can impact years for our wildlife and fisheries!

We have rallied the troops well, but the folks over at Meateater invited Colonel (Ret) Mike Abell from Kentucky Backcountry Hunter's and Angler's, to speak on this quick action by our coalition in fighting this bad bill! You can listen at the link below and you really need to hear this!

https://www.themeateater.com/listen/cals-week-in-review/ep-255-kentucky-special-sb3-with-col-mike-abell

Finally the folks over at Howl for Wildlife published their public opposition to Senate Bill 3 and yet another action alert. Please also consider using this action alert. Again, the seconds you spend to “take action” could positively impact our future and our legacy. Thanks to LKS 3rd District President Ed Morris for working with Howl for Wildlife to make this happen.

https://www.howlforwildlife.org/kentuckysb3

This attempt to take our Department and its regulatory authority is blatantly egregious. It is a slap in the face of 75 years of solid management based on SOUND, DATA DRIVEN, BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE!

We need YOU, the sportsmen and women and outdoor recreationalists, to click on all the links above and TAKE ACTION!

It will take less than 10 minutes of your time to answer my plea and all of the calls to action above. Yet if we do nothing, it could take years for our wildlife to recover from the impacts of this terrible bill. Please read that again, it would take a few minutes of your time to defend against decades of future bad policy that would hurt our wildlife, wildlands, fisheries, and what we leave behind.

The choice is yours. I humbly ask for your support in this fight, if not for us, then for our children, our grandchildren, and our legacy.

Sincerely, 

Edwin Nighbert
President
The League of Kentucky Sportsmen
502 598 6041