Pucky Freak
Well-known member
I know this may be small potatoes to most forum members, but please consider getting involved to help defend hunting opportunity for the common sportsperson in Iowa. For over a decade now, every IA legislative session there is an assault on this opportunity, and 2022 is no different. There is a bill to effectively prevent public land acquisitions (SSB 3134), a bill permitting LO deer tags to be transferred and sold (SF 2219), and a pile of other bills aimed to reward campaign contributors and industry lobbyists. Iowa has a Republican Governor, and strong Republican majorities in both the House and Senate. Despite a streamlined path to pass legislation, relatively few changes are made each year, due in large part to effective lobbying of the Iowa Bowhunters Association, as well as significant numbers of Iowa hunters voicing strong opposition to the proposals. Iowa hunters are overwhelmingly satisfied with our current game and fish laws, and we are not the ones pushing these bills! It is rather organizations such as Iowa Farm Bureau, Ravin Crossbows, etc.
The IA legislative session is Jan 10 - Apr 19, and things are moving quickly on numerous bills. Two places where natural resources bills are tracked and updated are https://iowawhitetail.com/forums/legislative-forum.24/ and https://www.iowabowhunters.org/news.html . Each bill is introduced as a Senate File (SF) or House File (HF), and then moves to 3-member subcommittee, as a Senate Subcommittee Bill (SSB) or an House Subcommittee Bill (HSB). If passed out of subcommittee, it moves to the full committee, typically the Natural Resource Committee. If passed there, it gets renamed as a Senate Bill (SB) or House Bill (HB), and gets discussed, and sometimes put to a vote by the whole chamber. If approved, goes to the other chamber, and then the governor's desk. Right now most bills are in the Subcommittee, Committee, or full chamber. To date, all natural resource bills have advanced along party lines.
New this year, the DNR's lobbyist may declare "for" or "against" bills. Previously, they were only permitted to declare "undecided", because they are a government agency supposedly representing "the resource", rather than whichever party is in power. Sad and disheartening as it is, the agency has now moved into position that could potentially be abused as a political arm of the governor's office. The DNR lobbyist, Todd Coffelt, has declared being "for" a number of bills. To his credit, all the bills he has declared being "for" relate to environmental cleanliness and protection, and he appears to be firmly representing the resource itself, rather than any party political agenda. Hopefully, no upcoming change in that respect.
How to get involved:
1. Most subcommittee and committee meetings may be joined via Zoom, open to the public, and there may be an opportunity to speak or comment via IM. It is also possible to leave written comments in advance of the meetings via https://www.legis.iowa.gov/committees . Please note that the .gov website is hard to navigate, so links to comment from the IA whitetail forum or the IA Bowhunters Assoc. are typically easier to follow.
2. Call or email IA legislators. Emails are listed at https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislators/informationOnLegislators/allLegislators . If you click on the name often their cell # is listed as well. When calling or texting please try and be respectful. IA is a small town state and nearly everyone is quite neighborly. You might actually get someone who answers the phone or calls you back.
Thanks again everyone! It is no secret that IA highly restricts non-resident deer hunters, even non-resident landowners. We are sort of a last stronghold of resident opportunity in the midwest. A NR buck license is expensive, and takes years to draw. One consequence of this is it allows residents to gain access to hunt on private land with relative ease, and our tiny amount of public lands are not overly-crowded. I wish this was the case everywhere in NA. Anyone who wants to come hunt IA you are more than welcome! If you are a self-guided public land hunter feel free to PM me and I can try and help in any way. I've lived in SE, SW, central, and eastern IA, and have hunted public ground in all those areas. I am just not in favor with ripping the doors off the barn to allow a deluge of commercialized interests take over our resources, which is pretty much what would happen if all these bills were passed this year (read:MT)
The IA legislative session is Jan 10 - Apr 19, and things are moving quickly on numerous bills. Two places where natural resources bills are tracked and updated are https://iowawhitetail.com/forums/legislative-forum.24/ and https://www.iowabowhunters.org/news.html . Each bill is introduced as a Senate File (SF) or House File (HF), and then moves to 3-member subcommittee, as a Senate Subcommittee Bill (SSB) or an House Subcommittee Bill (HSB). If passed out of subcommittee, it moves to the full committee, typically the Natural Resource Committee. If passed there, it gets renamed as a Senate Bill (SB) or House Bill (HB), and gets discussed, and sometimes put to a vote by the whole chamber. If approved, goes to the other chamber, and then the governor's desk. Right now most bills are in the Subcommittee, Committee, or full chamber. To date, all natural resource bills have advanced along party lines.
New this year, the DNR's lobbyist may declare "for" or "against" bills. Previously, they were only permitted to declare "undecided", because they are a government agency supposedly representing "the resource", rather than whichever party is in power. Sad and disheartening as it is, the agency has now moved into position that could potentially be abused as a political arm of the governor's office. The DNR lobbyist, Todd Coffelt, has declared being "for" a number of bills. To his credit, all the bills he has declared being "for" relate to environmental cleanliness and protection, and he appears to be firmly representing the resource itself, rather than any party political agenda. Hopefully, no upcoming change in that respect.
How to get involved:
1. Most subcommittee and committee meetings may be joined via Zoom, open to the public, and there may be an opportunity to speak or comment via IM. It is also possible to leave written comments in advance of the meetings via https://www.legis.iowa.gov/committees . Please note that the .gov website is hard to navigate, so links to comment from the IA whitetail forum or the IA Bowhunters Assoc. are typically easier to follow.
2. Call or email IA legislators. Emails are listed at https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislators/informationOnLegislators/allLegislators . If you click on the name often their cell # is listed as well. When calling or texting please try and be respectful. IA is a small town state and nearly everyone is quite neighborly. You might actually get someone who answers the phone or calls you back.
Thanks again everyone! It is no secret that IA highly restricts non-resident deer hunters, even non-resident landowners. We are sort of a last stronghold of resident opportunity in the midwest. A NR buck license is expensive, and takes years to draw. One consequence of this is it allows residents to gain access to hunt on private land with relative ease, and our tiny amount of public lands are not overly-crowded. I wish this was the case everywhere in NA. Anyone who wants to come hunt IA you are more than welcome! If you are a self-guided public land hunter feel free to PM me and I can try and help in any way. I've lived in SE, SW, central, and eastern IA, and have hunted public ground in all those areas. I am just not in favor with ripping the doors off the barn to allow a deluge of commercialized interests take over our resources, which is pretty much what would happen if all these bills were passed this year (read:MT)
