Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Announces Study Panel

Conservation Commissioner M. Barnett Lawley announced the formation of a panel of individuals to meet and discuss issues related to Alabama’s game laws and regulations. Lawley said, “It is our intent to bring in a wide range of interested parties for input into decisions on a variety of topics related to hunting and wildlife management. Several bills regarding wildlife regulations were introduced during the session; these ranged from supplemental feeding by Senator Myron Penn to extending the deer season by Representative John Rogers. It is evident our regulations need to be reviewed and adjusted where necessary to accommodate the ever-changing environment.”

The panel consists of representatives from landowner groups, hunting interests and resource management professionals. The panel will be meeting over the coming months, and will listen to input from professional staff in the Department as well as outside experts.

In a House of Representatives Agriculture, Forestry, and Natural Resources Subcommittee meeting on April 22, Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Director Corky Pugh told members of the Legislature, “We would like to take the initiative to create opportunities for roundtable discussion of the issues with all interested parties.”

According to Lawley and Pugh, “The guiding principle of Alabama’s game and fish management program is to do what is in the best interest of the resource first and foremost, and then to accommodate as many lawful users of the resource as we can. This sounds simple, but the resource itself constantly changes, and there are many diverse individuals and interests who don’t all want the same thing.”

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