The “Yes on 2” campaign officially launched this week. Florida anglers, conservationists, and hunters have launched the effort to preserve fishing and hunting in the Florida constitution.
Last year, the Florida Legislature passed the bipartisan amendment with a vote of 154-1, and on November 5th, voters will decide the future of fishing and hunting in the sunshine state. The amendment would enshrine the right to do both according to Florida’s Constitution.
According to the verbiage of Amendment 2, the effort will propose an amendment to Florida’s Constitution “to preserve forever fishing and hunting, including by the use of traditional methods, as a public right and preferred means of responsibly managing and controlling fish and wildlife.”
The campaign also “specifies that the amendment does not limit the authority granted by the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission under Section 9 article IV of the State Constitution.”
Some of the leading Florida anglers, hunters, and conservationists commented on the “YES on 2” campaign, urging Floridians to protect both fishing and hunting as “a way of life in Florida.”
Rodney Barreto, the chairman of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, expressed that “the traditions, conservations practices, outdoor lifestyle and economic opportunities that fishing and hunting bring to the people of our state are on the ballot in November.” “It’s hard to imagine a more common sense, quintessentially Florida thing to fight for.”
Luke Hilgermann, the Executive Director for the International Order of T. Roosevelt as well as the Yes on 2 National Chairman, further commented that “anglers and hunters are the greatest conservationists in the world.” “They fund billions of dollars in conservation programs to protect our traditions for the next generation.”
Hilgermann added that “the formation of this committee will help support Florida’s efforts to protect anglers and hunters from radical animal rights activists who want to ban hunting and fishing.”
