Bill would protect limits on nonresident hunting tags

Benjamin Grove

Thursday, Feb. 10, 2005 | 9:11 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and John Ensign, R-Nev., have re-introduced a bill that would protect Nevada's right to set limits on nonresident hunting and fishing permits.

States have long guarded their authority to regulate wildlife programs. But the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in 2002 ruled in an Arizona case that if states are going to put limits on the number of hunting tags offered to out-of-state residents, the limits must be made in the "least discriminatory" way possible.

That poses a problem for Nevada, where the state has reserved 90 percent of its big-game tags for residents. In the wake of the court ruling, three hunters in New Mexico last year sued Nevada for discriminating against non-residents. Meanwhile the Nevada Board of Wildlife Commission is trying to draft new rules that would both comply with the federal court ruling and still offer Nevada hunters a reasonable number of tags.

The Reid-Ensign bill would allow the state to continue limiting nonresident tags.

"What the bill does is it gives Nevadans a reasonable opportunity to hunt," said Nevada deputy attorney general Bryan Stockton, who monitors the legal issues for the state.

Nevada receives about 75,000 applications a year for permits to hunt big game like big-horn sheep, elk, deer and antelope. But the state can only grant about 18,000, with between 5 and 10 percent granted to non-Nevada residents, according to the Nevada Department of Wildlife.

But lots of Nevada hunters can't hunt in the state, either, simply because there are more requests than tags, state officials said.

It's a simple state's rights issue, Ensign said.

"Nevada's incredible wildlife resources make it a natural attraction for hunters and fishermen, and our state has managed its recreational programs to the benefit of all Nevadans," Ensign said. "That's how it should continue to be."

Nevada sportsmen donate their time and money to wildlife conservation efforts, Senate Minority Leader Reid said.

"Nevadans pay the cost of conserving and developing our resources, and they should be rewarded for these efforts," Reid said.