WHEREAS, the operating budget for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) is funded in large part by the sale of hunting and fishing licenses and related grants from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and
WHEREAS, in April of 2010, a terrible tragedy struck as a deep-water oil drilling platform suddenly exploded and sank in the Gulf of Mexico near the Louisiana coast, followed by the largest oil spill in U.S. history, and
WHEREAS, in the interest of public health and safety, the LDWF was subsequently forced to close most of Louisiana’s coastal waters to commercial and recreational fishing for several months during the spill, and
WHEREAS, due to the unavoidable closure of its fishery, far fewer Louisiana fishing licenses were sold to the public in the year 2010 than in previous years, and
WHEREAS, each year, funds from the Sport Fish Restoration Trust Fund are divided among state and territorial wildlife agencies, using a formula that is based for the most part on the number of fishing licenses sold by each state.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Louisiana Wildlife Federation (LWF) urges the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Interior to consider basing Louisiana’s share of the Sport Fish Restoration Trust Fund on an annual average of fishing licenses sold over a period of three full years prior to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the LWF urges the Members of Louisiana’s Congressional Delegation to petition the U.S. Secretary of Interior to take such consideration; or, put forward federal legislation as necessary and appropriate to achieve this end.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the LWF urges members of the Louisiana Legislature to adopt a concurrent resolution in support of this request during their 2011 Legislative Session.
Adopted by the Louisiana Wildlife Federation in Convention Assembled, March 20, 2011 in Alexandria, Louisiana