2022-2023 Bills for Environmental Law 1

2022-2023 Bills for Environmental Law

BY: Madeline Dietrich and Lochlyn Martin

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTANABILITY (SUST 2100)

FALL 2022

STOCKTON UNIVERISTY
SUSTAINABILITY, ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND GEOLOGY PROGRAMS
Instructor: Dr. Tait Chirenje
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Introduction
Bill SCR72 Session 2022-2023

This bill proposes a New Jersey constitutional amendment to preserve the right of people

to fish, hunt, trap, and harvest wildlife as a valued part of state heritage. Its primary sponsor is

Steven Oroho of the Republican party. This bill has a companion bill, ACR15, which was also

introduced in the 2022-2023 regular session. The only difference between the bills is that SCR72

was referred to the Senate Environment and Energy Committee while ACR15 was referred to the

Assembly Agriculture and Food Security Committee.

This Bill was introduced to protect American heritage through hunting, fishing, and

harvesting wildlife. This Bill was created to combat anti-hunting organizations like PETA who

have mislead much of the public into believing that hunting, fishing, and harvesting wildlife are

only necessary to human survival in prehistoric times. PETA describes hunting as “killing

animals merely for the thrill of it, not out of necessity” and goes on to say “this unnecessary,

violent, form of ‘entertainment’ rips animals’ families apart and leaves countless animals

orphaned or badly injured…”. What these organizations don’t understand is that hunting benefits

the economy by providing funding for conservation and wildlife management while directly

connecting human life with other life on the planet. Hunting contributes to the economy by

providing over 305,400 jobs. This Bill proposes that the taking of fish and wildlife by fisherman,

hunters, and trappers, by traditional means and methods, shall always be preferred and available

way of controlling all invasive or overpopulated species.

I feel that Bill SCR72 would be beneficial and is overall a good idea. My family is built

on hunters and fishermen so I feel very strongly about this topic, but it is important to understand

where bias is placed. Yes, I think hunting, fishing, and the harvesting of wildlife is great, but
2022-2023 Bills for Environmental Law 3

only when it is done responsibly and morally. This means hunting animals in response to the

states guidelines and doing so in a humane matter. In my family, hunting and fishing not only

feed us, but is an activity that creates bonds. Hunting and fishing taught me how to appreciate

wildlife and is essentially what made me what to begin an education in sustainability.

This Bill being passed seems very likely, though it may be revised a few times before

then. In the past, many states have amended their constitutions to protect hunting and trapping.

According to the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, “Currently, 23 states have enacted

legislation that protects the right to hunt and fish”. Recently in 2020, the Utah State legislature

passed Bill HJR15, proposing that the state constitution be amended to protect the right to hunt,

fish, and harvest wildlife. This made Utah the 23rd state to enact a right of this sort. Hunting in

guidelines to each state keeps nature at equilibrium and allows a habitat to support a population

of organisms. Sustainable fishing helps preserve an aquatic environment by guaranteeing

populations of wildlife for the future. An example of sustainable fishing is spear fishing which is

used in many indigenous cultures like the Tagbanua people of the Philippines. The Tagbanua’s

fish for certain species of fish at specific times of the year to allow fish to naturally restock.

There is a New Jersey law, NJSA 23:7A-1 to 23:7A-3 that I feel may work well with this bill.

This law states that no person may prevent or hinder the lawful taking of wildlife. This in a way

protects the rights of hunters to lawfully do so.

Overall, I feel that this Bill would be beneficial to the New Jersey constitution. Passing

this bill would help eliminate any disinformation spread by wildlife conservation organizations

that may say that hunting is cruel and obsolete. It would also add more legal protection to the

many people that rely on hunting, fishing, and capturing wildlife to survive.
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Bill S.2372 – Recovering America’s Wildlife Act of 2022

On July 15th, 2021, Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM) introduced the Recovering

America’s Wildlife Act of 2022 to the Senate. Senator Martin Heinrich is part of the Democratic

party and has been a Senator representing New Mexico since 2013. Senator Heinrich is also on

the Committee of Environment and Public works. Although the bill was introduced in 2021 it

still needs to pass through both the House and Senate, and many of the details of the bill are still

being recognized. This bill amends the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act and aims to

create supplemental funds for managing fish and wildlife species. The reason this amendment

was created for the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration was to allocate responsibilities of

fish and wildlife towards agencies that specialize in those animals as well as providing funds for

those agencies.

A report to the Senate on April 4th, 2022, states that “this bill provides financial and

technical assistance to states…for the purpose of recovering [endangered] species…, avoiding

the need to list [endangered] species, and to establish the Endangered Species Recovery and

Habitat Conservation Legacy Fund.” What this entails is the creation of a Subaccount to which

funds from the beginning of the fiscal year 2022 consisting of environmental fees and fines will

be transferred into. From there, the Subaccount must use 10% of it’s funds to create competitive

grants that help accelerate creative strategies in species recovery efforts. These funds are also

more broadly used to develop, revise, enhance, and implement the Wildlife Conservation

Strategy of a State. Before this amendment, the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Conservation Act

only had funds for state wildlife agencies. The amendment makes a more specified and a more

comprehensive environmental plan for state wildlife.

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This bill appears to be in good faith, as it aims to help create a more sustainable

environment for the state while also not limiting hunting. Additionally, within the Pittman-

Robert Act there is little mention of how much fish may be hunted, which in the long run can

lead to overfishing. There are many ways in which overfishing could impact the ecosystem of the

area in a negative way, therefore it is best to avoid any actions that would lead towards it. While

this bill has already passed through the House of Representatives, there is still a chance it could

be held back by votes in the Senate. There could be strong opposition from Senates that deal with

finances and the treasury. But it seems mostly in favor since the most recent report written on

August 2nd, 2022, by Senator Carper from the Committee on Environment and Public works

seems to hold the amendment to pass.

What this bill reveals is the increased attention on environmental issues pertaining

wildlife in general. This amendment is not simply giving more money to the Pittman-Robertson

Wildlife Restoration Act, it is allocating funds that it already has readily available and

transferring it into dynamic opportunities to help conserve wildlife. Additionally, it also focuses

on endangered species and not just species that are hunted, which emphasizes the attention of

conservation efforts. The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act of 2022 seems necessary for

keeping the balance between humans and nature if humans want to continue to live on Earth for

years to come.
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References

Bill SCR72. New Jersey legislature. (2022). Retrieved October 5, 2022, from
https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/bill-search/2022/SCR72

Carper, T. (n.d.). S. Rept. 117-135 - the recovering America's wildlife act of 2021. Retrieved
October 7, 2022, from https://www.congress.gov/congressional-report/117th-
congress/senate-report/135

Hunting. PETA. (2022, May 18). Retrieved October 5, 2022, from

https://www.peta.org/issues/animals-in-entertainment/cruel-sports/hunting/

Martin Heinrich | congress.gov | library of Congress. (n.d.). Retrieved October 7, 2022, from
https://www.congress.gov/member/martin-heinrich/H001046

Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act explained. Wildlife for All. (2022, August 10).
Retrieved October 7, 2022, from https://wildlifeforall.us/resources/pittman-robertson-
wildlife-restoration-act-explained/

Right to hunt, fish and Harvest Wildlife. CSF. (n.d.). Retrieved October 5, 2022, from
https://congressionalsportsmen.org/policies/state/right-to-hunt-fish

State senator Steven Oroho. BillTrack50. (n.d.). Retrieved October 5, 2022, from
https://www.billtrack50.com/legislatordetail/16270

Sustainable fishing. National Geographic Society. (n.d.). Retrieved October 5, 2022, from
https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/sustainable-fishing

S.2372 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): Recovering America’s wildlife act ... (n.d.). Retrieved
October 7, 2022, from https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/2372