News Releases for October 2004
October 15, 2004
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Hoeven, Stenehjem Urge Congressional Leadership To Support State Hunting Rights Legislation
Senate Bill Would Ensure The Rights Of States To Regulate Wildlife Management
BISMARCK, N.D. - Gov. John Hoeven and Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem today sent a letter to U.S. Senate Majority Leader William Frist and U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert calling on them to support S. 2978, a bipartisan U.S. Senate bill that would ensure states retain the right to regulate their own wildlife resources. Hoeven and Stenehjem copied the state’s Senate delegation, encouraging their support for the bipartisan legislation, as well.
The legislation, which was introduced by Nevada Sens. John Ensign and Harry Reid, would prohibit courts from using the federal Commerce Clause to interfere with a state’s right to manage its own hunting and fishing seasons.
“This legislation deserves our support,” Hoeven said. “It makes clear that each state has the authority to manage its wildlife for the good of its sportsman and citizens. I will do all I can to support this bill, and to encourage the administration to sign it when passed by Congress.”
“While I believe North Dakota has strong arguments in defending the lawsuit brought against us by the Minnesota Attorney General,” Stenehjem said, “this bill would make it abundantly clear that Congress does not intend that the Commerce Clause interfere with the role states historically have exercised to administer game and fish resources within their own borders.”
Management of wildlife has traditionally been left to the states, until a recent federal court ruling that held that states’ wildlife management practices are subject to the Commerce Clause of the U.S. constitution. North Dakota has long opposed that position, contending that natural resource management is a state right. The issue is currently being litigated in a suit the state of Minnesota has brought against North Dakota, which challenges certain North Dakota Game and Fish Department waterfowl regulations.
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