Please Call Your State Senator Today!
On Thursday, June 7, the Senate Environment and Energy Committee passed House Bill 2971 as amended to the Senate Floor with no recommendation. The bill allows the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to establish by rule a program whereby they can designate volunteers to act as “Agents of the State” for the purposes of hunting Cougar and Bear with dogs. This bill has gone through many amendments but is still a step in the right direction towards better management of the Cougar and Bear resource. The National Rifle Association’s position from the start has been that hunting license and tag fee dollars should not be spent to pay people to hunt Oregon’s big game animals when there are volunteers willing and able to do it.
The bill DOES not overturn Measure 18, but works within the framework of that law, and within the framework of the Bear and Cougar Management Plans. Measure 18, was passed in 1994 by Oregon voters, which bans the hunting of bears with dogs or bait, and the hunting of cougars with dogs. A list of Senators and their email address is below. If you need help identifying your State Senator please click here. Senator Jason Atkinson, sen.jasonatkinson@state.or.us Senator Brad Avakian, sen.bradavakian@state.or.us Senator Alan Bates, sen.alanbates@state.or.us Senator Roger Beyer, sen.rogerbeyer@state.or.us Senator Kate Brown, sen.katebrown@state.or.us Senator Ginny Burdick, sen.ginnyburdick@state.or.us Senator Margaret Carter, sen.margaretcarter@state.or.us Senator Peter Courtney, sen.petercourtney@state.or.us Senator Ryan Deckert, sen.ryandeckert@state.or.us Senator Richard Devlin, sen.richarddevlin@state.or.us Senator Ted Ferrioli, sen.tedferrioli@state.or.us Senator Gary George, sen.garygeorge@state.or.us Senator Larry George, sen.larrygeorge@state.or.us Senator Avel Gordly, sen.avelgordly@state.or.us Senator Betsy Johnson, sen.betsyjohnson@state.or.us Senator Jeff Kruse, sen.jeffkruse@state.or.us Senator Rick Metsger, sen.rickmetsger@state.or.us Senator Laurie Monnes Anderson, sen.lauriemonnesanderson@state.or.us Senator Rod Monroe, sen.rodmonroe@state.or.us Senator Bill Morrisette, sen.billmorrisette@state.or.us Senator Frank Morse, sen.frankmorse@state.or.us Senator David Nelson, sen.davidnelson@state.or.us Senator Floyd Prozanski, sen.floydprozanski@state.or.us Senator Kurt Schader, sen.kurtschrader@state.or.us Senator Bruce Starr, sen.brucestarr@state.or.us Senator Joanne Verger, sen.joanneverger@state.or.us Senator Vicki Walker, sen.vickiwalker@state.or.us Senator Ben Westland, sen.benwestlund@state.or.us Senator Doug Whitsett, sen.dougwhitsett@state.or.us Senator Jackie Winters, sen.jackiewinters@state.or.us For updates on this hunting issue and other Second Amendment issues in Oregon and around the nation please visit www.NRAILA.org.
