Habitat & Conservation,Hunting & Heritage  |  05/04/2018

Action Alert Update: Oklahoma SB 1488 Defeated


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In the wake of a flood of phone calls and e-mails to state leaders, a bill that would have severely curtailed the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation’s future ability to purchase public hunting and fishing land has been soundly defeated. 

In its original form, Oklahoma SB 1488 would have created a new class of lifetime fishing and hunting licenses for large, wealthy landowners.  The bill then morphed into an anti-public lands bill that would have prevented the wildlife department from buying public land without approval. The possible ramifications for ODWC were quite alarming, as it could have potentially severely limited future lands being purchased for public hunting.

However, this most recent version of the bill was defeated on Thursday in committee by a 13-23 NO vote and is now dead for the year. Thank you to all who responded to our Action Alerts. Quail Forever member voices were clearly heard across the state. 

Your voice in this organization has grown tremendously over the past few years, but we must remain vigilant and continue to communicate with legislators regularly to let them know that we care about our public hunting and our wildlife.
 

Related Coverage:

Action Alert Update: Oklahoma SB 1488

Bill Threatens Oklahoma Hunting Traditions