Identify the wildlife champions and allies in your state legislature. Work with them to draft and pass legislation that does the following:
Aligns state wildlife policy as expressed in statute with the Public Trust Doctrine. Here’s an example from draft legislation in New Mexico: “It is the purpose of this act to provide for the conservation and management of the state’s wildlife as a public trust with intrinsic and ecological value, for the equitable benefit, use, and enjoyment of all residents and visitors, including future generations.”
Give’s the state’s wildlife agency legal authority to regulate the take of all species and their habitats, including invertebrates.
Abolishes the state’s wildlife commission (three states–MN, NY, CT–currently don’t have commissions), or alternatively…
Changes the criteria for selection of commissioners to ensure that non-consumptive users are represented in proportion to their demographic in the general population, and eliminates the requirement that commissioners be license buyers.
Establishes a new, recurring, and dedicated funding source for non-game conservation that is not tied to the sale of hunting and fishing licenses or to Pittman-Robertson and Dingell-Johnson federal grants.
Don’t get discouraged if your efforts are not immediately successful. It often takes years to get bills through state legislatures.
